Diane Martine James (born 20 November 1959) is a British politician who was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2014 to 2019.

At the time of her election to the European Parliament, James was one of three UKIP MEPs for South East England, before joining the Brexit Party in 2019.

James was the party's Home Affairs spokesperson, represented UKIP on the BBC's Question Time, and took part in debates at the Cambridge Union Society.

[13] However, a few hours after making a speech at the 2015 UKIP Spring Conference in Margate, Kent, she stepped down from the Westminster candidacy "for personal reasons".

"[20] Upon signing the document that notified the Electoral Commission of her election as UKIP leader, James added the Latin term vi coactus (under duress) after her signature.

[21] She resigned her party membership on 21 November 2016, stating "it was time to move on" and that her relationship with UKIP had become "increasingly difficult", although she would continue to sit in the European Parliament as an Independent.

In autumn 2016, she said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of her political heroes: "I admire him from the point of view that he's standing up for his country.