Nigel Farage quits: Shrewsbury's Suzanne Evans wants to run for Ukip leader - if her suspension is lifted

The 52-year-old, who has been kicked out of the party for six months after falling out with its leadership, has asked for the decision to be reviewed.

That would enable her to take part in the race - and bookmakers today installed her third favourite behind Paul Nuttall and Steven Wolfe.

Ms Evans stood for Ukip in her home town of Shrewsbury in the 2015 general election

She fell out with the establishment of Ukip – but today the party's Shrewsbury-based former deputy has found herself as favourite to succeed Nigel Farage.

Following the announcement that Nigel Farage is to step down as leader, Ms Evans said she has made no secret of her desire to stand.

She says she hopes the party's leadership will lift her suspension in order to make it a possibility.

She said: "I'm currently suspended from UKIP because I stood up against homophobia I saw in the party and for some reason our national executive committee saw that a fit reason to suspend me and to put me out into the cold for six months.

"And although my social media feed and my inbox has been filling up with lots of calls for me to actually stand for the leadership of Ukip, I simply can't at the moment, I'm not in a position to be able to do so."

She called on Ukip's ruling National Executive Committee to lift her ban and , speaking following the announcement of Mr Farage's departure, she said: "I would very much like to stand, I've never made any secret of the fact that if Nigel Farage did step aside for any reason I would like to put myself forward.

"And yes I would like to have the opportunity to do so.

"So I hope if the NEC is able this is something they will consider."

Ms Evans was born in and lives in the Shrewsbury area and stood as the party's candidate for Shrewsbury and Atcham in the 2015 general election.

She was suspended for six months in March.

She said a new UKIP leader needs to help the party "grow up" in order to have its place in party politics.

Speaking about Mr Farage's announcement she said she wanted to give him "full credit" for his help in leading the campaign to get Britain out of the European Union.

Ms Evans said: "Nigel has contributed to this momentous achievement of a vote by the British people to get us out of the European Union and I would absolutely like to pay my full credit to him for helping to do that and give him my heartfelt thanks."

Mr 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.

Ms Evans isn't the first high profile party member Mr Farage has fallen out with.

She today said the party needs to "clean up its act".

And she has called for the party to improve its image in order to be taken seriously in the future.

She said that up until now Ukip had been a single issue party which had to stop.

With the votes cast for Britain to leave the EU, she said now was the time for representatives from all political parties to come together so that the "will of the people" could be carried out and that the process was eased through.

In March, after Ms Evans' suspension was announced, Mr Farage described the move as "unfortunate" but did not go into the reasons for the action.

Ms Evans had been at loggerheads with Mr Farage over her support – along with Ukip's only MP, Douglas Carswell – for the Vote Leave campaign to become the official lead Out campaign in the referendum while he backed the rival Grassroots Out group.

She has already been removed from her posts as party deputy chairman and welfare spokesman,

Mr Farage denied he was taking revenge for critical comments she had made about his leadership.

Following his resignation, she appealed to the party's NEC to lift the suspension in order to allow her to put herself forward as the new party leader.

If she was able to stand, Ms Evans said she would like to help improve the party's image so that it become a key party political player in the future.

She said: "Ukip has an image problem.

"I know that there are so many very good people im Ukip who are not racist, who are not homophobic, who simply have the country's best interests at heart.

"And we have to clean up our act. The fact is, for whatever reason, rightly or wrongly we have a reputation as being a party that isn't necessarily as open and accommodating to people as it should be and yes if I can stand for the leadership and I certainly hope I do that is one of the things I will be campaigning on because we have to broaden our appeal.

"I feel absolutely strongly that there is a place for Ukip in party politics. I think we have a great offering.

"I'd definitely want to show Ukip as a sensible, common sense party that can appeal to left and right on the political spectrum."

Elsewhere in the county, fellow Ukip members have said that it is too early to say who should be the new leader.

Jill Seymour, MEP for the West Midlands and a former parish councillor in Kynnersley, said discussions would now need to take place between members before a decision was made as to who should be the new party leader.

She said Mr Farage should be "very proud" of his term as leader, a post he had held since 2010.

She said: "He has achieved his goal and I think he has earned a well-deserved rest.

"We now need to look to the future for Ukip and how we can move the party forward."

When asked if she would think about stepping forward as the new leader she said: "At the moment, we will have to have a meeting with all the MEPs and we will have to talk about it.

"At the end of the day it is all about working for the benefit of the party and the country."

Mr Farage announced his departure in a speech in London setting out Ukip's strategy for the post-referendum period.

He 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."

Mr Farage added: "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.

"My aim in being in politics was to get Britain out of the European Union.

"That is what we voted for in that referendum two weeks ago, and that is why I now feel that I've done my bit, that I couldn't possibly achieve more than we managed to get in that referendum.

"So I feel it's right that I should now stand aside as leader of Ukip. I will continue to support the party, I will support the new leader, I will watch the renegotiation process in Brussels like a hawk and perhaps comment in the European Parliament from time to time."