UKIP Leadership.

The battle looks very much like it is going to turn very rapidly into a two horse race between Steven Woolfe, who may have good financial backing for his campaign, and Paul Nuttall who has been Nigel's deputy for six years and whose profile is surely much greater throughout the membership.
Steven has what may well be the advantage of being of mixed race in such a contest. Paul is the leader of the UKIP MEPs in the EU Parliament.

I have only ever seen Steven speak on the one occasion and he certainly did very well at the Party Conference the year before last.

Of the UKIP leading figures, he is one of the few I have never met nor had any direct dealings with. 

Friends have told me that he has been noted as speaking very well in the media but it is still difficult to believe that he could garner sufficient votes to beat Paul.

The leading political figures will, in my view, inevitably endorse Paul's candidature by a significant majority if two horse race it doth become - or perhaps even more so if it does not. 
But UKIP is a democratic party and the final decision will be taken by the members.

I would not expect Nigel to endorse anyone as his successor because that might well be construed as meddlesome interference by the ever anti-UKIP media.