HE may have missed out on the top job but Sedgley councillor Bill Etheridge said he was "delighted" to have secured third place in the Ukip leadership race.

The West Midlands MEP had hoped to succeed Nigel Farage, who bowed out as the purple party's leader after the UK voted to leave the EU, but lost out to Diane James at today's Ukip conference in Bournemouth.

Ms James, the MEP for South East England, won with 8,451 votes, her nearest rival Lisa Duffy secured 4,591 and cllr Etheridge was third with 2,052 votes.

He said: "I'm happy, upbeat and really pleased to have got nearly 13 per cent of the votes, bearing in mind I'm not a national spokesman, I'm just a West Midlands chap who got out there.

"I don't have the same national profile as Diane, she is in the media and on the television an awful lot and a big part of any election is the recognition factor.

"But good luck to her, I hope she does well for the party - she's a charming person, has smooth presentation skills and good at pouring oil on troubled waters."