Lord Pearson of Rannoch resigned as leader of UKIP two weeks ago because: "UKIP deserves a better politician than me to lead it." He also (seriously) stated that he wanted to concentrate on “the relationship between good and evil”.

Today he officially stands down. To mark Pearson’s eccentricity therefore Total Politics has compiled a list of his top quotes of the last year:

On being a background figure to media-friendly Nigel Farage

"Obviously Nigel’s a genius. He’s a great man and a great politician and I don’t pretend to be. He was a Derby winner. UKIP have now got a sort of carthorse. We know that and I accept that and I have said that all the way through the hustings."

On not changing his gaffe-prone image

"I’m not going to stop shooting and stalking and I’m going to carry on because I never wanted to be a politician. I’ve always said I’m not a politician and I’m not and I can’t pretend otherwise. And so I make gaffes ... I’ve accused the Muslims of breeding ten times faster than us when what I really meant was their population is going up and so on. I’ve made mistakes but I will probably make more."

Courting controversy

In 2009, Lord Pearson invited Dutch MP Geert Wilders to show his "anti-islamist" film Fitna in the House of Lords. Wilders was turned away in February on the grounds that it would stir up protestors. However, Pearson argued free speech and Wilders was allowed into the UK later that year.

On Wilders’ arrival Pearson commented that it was "a celebration of the victory of freedom of speech over those who would prevent it in this country, particularly the Islamists, the violent Jihadists who are on the march across the world and in the UK".

In the words of a friend

Jonathan Aitken told The Daily Telegraph:

"In my first week at Eton in 1956 I saw this tiny little boy on the football field, not only playing with skill but also tackling boys three times his size."

Tenacious from an early age, Peason has continued in this vein. In his time, as well as strongly fighting the EU, he has attacked the Home Office, Marxism and Lloyd’s of London.

Of course he’s no superhero, but from the football fields of Eton to the House of Lords, this peer will continue his fight against evil. Whatever that is...

Image credit: Getty images