West Midlands MEP Bill Etheridge has pulled out of the contest to elect a new leader for UKIP .

He announced he was giving up his dream of replacing Nigel Farage as party leader, and instead would be supporting the leadership campaign of Paul Nuttall, an MEP for the North West of England who was UKIP's Deputy Leader for six years.

Mr Etheridge, who is also a Dudley councillor, said: "When Nigel stood down I felt it was my duty to stand to preserve his legacy against those I felt wanted to hijack the party and change it into something different to its original founding principles.

"I believe that UKIP must remain a patriotic, libertarian party standing for the individual against the over-powerful state."

However, he said he has always made it clear that he could support another candidate if they were "better suited to take this party forward."

Mr Etheridge said: "That candidate has emerged. Paul Nuttall is not only a personal friend and an honourable man but I believe he is the only person who can effectively unite our party after the recent well publicised problems we have suffered."

Mr Etheridge first stood for the leadership after Nigel Farage announced his resignation following the EU referendum in June. He set out a policy platform which included plans for a referendum on bringing back the death penalty.

That election was won by Diane James, but she announced she was standing down from the post 18 days after being elected.

Because she never formally took up the role, Mr Farage continued as leader.

A second contest was held, and this time Mr Etheridge stood as a unifying candidate, highlighting his ability to bring the party together following a series of well-publicised rows which included one MEP, Steven Woolfe, being hospitalised following an incident with another UKIP MEP.

His withdrawal leaves seven candidates in the contest, after former UKIP parliamentary candidate John Rees-Evans announced his intention to stand on Monday.

Mr Rees-Evans once accused a "homosexual donkey" of trying to rape his horse.

He has since apologised for the 2014 comments, describing them as "playful banter with a mischievous activist".

The former Cardiff South and Penarth parliamentary candidate also admitted that he once took a handgun to Ikea in Bulgaria, where he has a home.

"On that particular day I was doing some training, which is quite normal in Bulgaria," he said.

"I do IPSC which is competitive, speed pistol shooting. Of course I was trained by the British army to operate those weapons. It's a waste of taxpayer money if I don't maintain those skills."

Asked if he took a gun into the store, Mr Rees-Evans said: "Yes, in fact I did because it simply wasn't safe to hand it over to the security and there were things I had to get."