LISTEN ABOVE: Nigel Farage announces his resignation.

UPDATED 9.46PM: The leader of Britain's anti-European Union UK Independence Party (UKIP) Nigel Farage says he will stand down after having realised his ambition of winning last month's referendum in favour of Brexit.

"I have never been, and I have never wanted to be, a career politician. My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union," he said.

"So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of UKIP."

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Farage, 52, has had two stints as leader of the Eurosceptic party since 2006, and announced he was quitting the post after failing to win a Commons seat in the 2015 general election, only to change his mind days later.

In a speech in London setting out UKIP's strategy for the post-referendum period, Mr Farage said: "During the referendum campaign, I said I want my country back. What I'm saying today is I want my life back, and it begins right now."

In a statement released by UKIP, Farage said: "The victory for the Leave side in the referendum means that my political ambition has been achieved. I came into this struggle from business because I wanted us to be a self-governing nation, not to become a career politician.
"UKIP is in a good position and will continue, with my full support, to attract a significant vote.

"Whilst we will now leave the European Union, the terms of our withdrawal are unclear. If there is too much backsliding by the Government and with the Labour Party detached from many of its voters then UKIP's best days may be yet to come".