Douglas Carswell takes centre stage after Ukip conference bust-up

Ukip's only MP will take centre stage at the party's annual conference today after he stormed out of the gathering following a row with one of the party's biggest donors.

Douglas Carswell was at the centre of a storm on the first public day of the meeting in Doncaster that overshadowed leader Nigel Farage's call for anti-European Union unity.

The Clacton MP clashed with millionaire businessman Arron Banks over the campaign to pull Britain out of the EU.

Mr Farage accused Mr Carswell of having "residual loyalties" to the Conservatives because he had not joined Mr Banks's umbrella organisation Leave EU as the tensions at the top of the party spilled over at the annual conference.

The ill feeling between Mr Carswell and Mr Banks boiled over in a furious corridor bust-up. Mr Banks called the incident a "hissy fit in a corridor" and was later overheard saying the MP was "borderline autistic" - a comment he later apologised for.

The confrontation overshadowed the leader's keynote speech at the conference where he told activists that the new Leave EU group, led by Mr Banks, would unite eurosceptics.

Mr Carswell is currently a central part of a separate eurosceptic group, Business For Britain (BfB), which has refused to sign up to the overarching organisation.

The MP branded Mr Banks undemocratic for threatening to deselect him unless he joined the businessman's group.

All eyes at the conference will be on the MP as he takes to the stage today in a speech about reforming the electoral system.