Outspoken former MEP Godfrey Bloom claims UKIP is "run by fear and intimidation".
As reported yesterday, Mr Bloom has resigned from the party with a warning to its first elected MP Douglas Carswell to watch his back.Mr Bloom, who quit as a UKIP representative in the European Parliament last year after joking that female party activists were "sluts", said he was leaving the party with a "heavy heart".
The politician, known for his colourful language, said he had "had enough" of UKIP, which had "gone astray" after the party hierarchy prevented him from speaking in a number of public forums.
Mr Bloom first aired his feelings in an interview with LBC Radio.
He does not believe Tory defector Mr Carswell's alliance with part leader Nigel Farage will last long.
Speaking to the Mail, Mr Bloom said: "The whole organisation now is run by fear and intimidation – you do as you are told.
"I don't think it will be very long before Douglas Carswell and Nigel Farage start to fall out. It is all about personalities now."
Mr Bloom was once a close friend of Mr Farage, with the two men sharing an apartment in Brussels. However, he said on the radio they no longer speak to each other.
Despite losing his whip as an MEP, he remained a UKIP member until becoming convinced the party was now too politically correct.
Mr Bloom said: "Why has UKIP become so successful over the years?
"It's because we didn't care what the London metropolitan press elite said.
"We weren't politically correct. You could make a joke about sluts without being reprimanded. That was the whole point."
Mr Bloom ruled out a return to party politics.
Ballot box successDouglas Carswell was elected as a UKIP MP earlier this month after defecting from the Conservatives.
The former Tory then resigned his Clacton-on-Sea seat, triggering a by-election which he won for his new party.
Mr Carswell secured 60 per cent of the vote, pushing the Conservatives into second place with 25 per cent.
In a by-election held on the same day at Labour stronghold Heywood and Middleton, a UKIP candidate came within 650 votes of beating the traditional winner.
UKIP will be seeking to claim another seat at the Rochester and Strood by-election triggered by the defection of ex-Tory Mark Reckless.
Voters go to the polls on Thursday, November 20.
Although Mr Carswell is the first UKIP MP to be elected, he is not the first one it has had in Parliament.
Conservative Castle Point representative Bob Spink switched over without a by-election in 2008.
He was ousted in 2010.
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