Farage hails ‘sea change’ as tide starts to turn in favour of Ukip

The party added 139 councillors in the 34 councils that held elections on Thursday as both the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats suffered losses.

Ukip were also runners-up to Labour in the South Shields by-election to select a new MP following the decision of David Miliband to stand down.

Mr Farage said: “We have been abused by everybody, the entire establishment, and now they are shocked and stunned that we are getting over 25 per cent of the vote everywhere we stand across the country.

“This is a real sea change in British politics.”

In North Yorkshire, Ukip candidate David Simister won one of the two Harrogate and Nidd Gorge seats while Sam Cross clinched Filey for the party.

Ukip also secured 21 second places in results that will give the party confidence for next year’s European elections.

“People want change,” Mr Simister said. “They are fed-up of Labour, the Lib Dems and the Conservatives. We offer something different and our policies are chiming with a huge number of disaffected voters.

“We have started to see Ukip being recognised as a political force.

“The voters have given us a mandate to have a say on local issues. I have lived in North Yorkshire all my life and I want to be a part of doing things that are good for the county.”

Nationally, the Conservatives lost control of ten councils with 335 councillors ousted.

Prime Minister David Cameron said the polls had given “major lessons” to all the mainstream parties.

He said: “For the Conservatives, I understand why some people who have supported us before didn’t support us again.

“They want us to do even more to work for hard-working people to sort out the issues they care about, more to help with the cost of living, more to turn the economy round, more to get immigration down, to sort out the welfare system.

“They will be our focus, they are our focus, but we have got to do more.”

The Prime Minister famously once described Ukip as a party of “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists”.

He also appeared reluctant to refer to the party on the campaign trail but yesterday struck a markedly different tone.

“Well, look, it is no good insulting a political party that people have chosen to vote for... We need to show respect for people who have taken the choice to support this party and we are going to work really hard to win them back.

“Of course they should be subject and they will be subject to proper scrutiny of their policies and their plans.”

The Conservatives lost control of Cambridgeshire, the Isle of Wight, Norfolk, East Sussex, Lancashire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire to no overall control as well as Nottinghamshire to Labour.

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