UKIP's only member of British Parliament quits party

FILE - In this Monday, Oct. 13, 2014 file photo, newly-elected U.K. Independence Party member of Parliament Douglas Carswell gives a double thumbs-up as he poses for the media upon his arrival to take his seat at the Houses of Parliament in London. Carswell said Saturday. March 25, 2017 that he's leaving UKIP and will serve in Parliament as an independent. He said his departure won't trigger a new election because he isn't joining another party. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File) (The Associated Press)

FILE - In this Monday, May 18, 2015 file photo, Nigel Farage, left, the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and his party's only Member of Parliament Douglas Carswell shelter from the rain under a UKIP umbrella as they attend a petition signing and publicity event to call for electoral reform across the street from the Houses of Parliament, before the petition was then handed into 10 Downing Street in London. Carswell said Saturday. March 25, 2017 that he's leaving UKIP and will serve in Parliament as an independent. He said his departure won't trigger a new election because he isn't joining another party. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham, File) (The Associated Press)

LONDON – The UK Independence Party is losing its only member of the British Parliament in a blow to the upstart anti-Europe party's future.

Douglas Carswell said Saturday that he's leaving UKIP and will serve in Parliament as an independent. He said his departure is amicable and won't trigger a new election because he isn't joining another party.

Carswell had recently clashed with the party's most generous financial donor, Arron Banks, who is allied with former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Carswell said UKIP has achieved its goal of getting Britain out of the European Union, making the party successful even though it hasn't fared well in parliamentary elections.

The party had campaigned fiercely for years to convince Britons to leave the EU. That goal was met in the June referendum.