Riding high on an unprecedented success in the recently concluded local polls, Britain's far-right UKIP leader Nigel Farage today vowed to cause a "earthquake" in June's European parliamentary elections.
Amid growing calls from Tory MPs for Prime Minister David Cameron to respond to the looming threat by bringing forward legislation on an EU referendum, the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) leader warned that his party would not go away even if No 10 "starts singing the same song".
As the Tories work out their response to UKIP, which won nearly a quarter of the vote in wards it contested in the local elections, Farage said he would not be standing in any by-election over the next year as he focuses on the European parliamentary elections.
The UKIP leader told BBC, "UKIP is here to stay. June 2014 we have a European election. That is the day on which Ukip can cause an earthquake in British politics. I want to lead the party into that."
Asked whether he would stand for parliament in the 2015 general election Farage said, "Yes I will stand for a seat in 2015. I have been rather busy for the last few weeks doing other things [to decide which seat to contest]. But I will think about it."
He was defeated by the House of Commons Speaker, John Bercow, in Buckingham in the 2010 elections.
Farage pointed out that UKIP was picking up votes not just from the Tories, saying his party won 24 per cent of the vote in the South Shields by-election, a traditional labour stronghold which recently fell vacant after David Miliband, the brother of Labour leader Ed, quit politics.
"Please don't think that Ukip is just some little pressure group that will go away because somebody in Downing Street starts singing the same song," he added.
The UKIP leader has said he will refuse to negotiate with Prime Minister Cameron after the Tory leader called his party "fruitcakes".
"If David Cameron gets removed and somebody else was put in place who wanted to come and talk to us and say, 'Shall we find an accommodation?' we would consider it. But it is not my priority. My priority is to build a new political party, a movement in this country that actually wants to stand up for the interests of ordinary people," Farage said.
Meanwhile, Philip Hammond, the defence secretary, said many UKIP voters were "frustrated Conservatives". Hammond acknowledged that UKIP presented a threat to the Tories, but said it would be difficult for the government to bring forward legislation for an EU referendum in this parliament in the face of Liberal Democrats opposition.
UKIP is a political party with far-right views and plans to implement a five year freeze on immigartion if voted to power. It also wants Britain out of the 27-member strong Eurpean Union.
