Senior Tories 'in talks to defect'

The United Kingdom Independence Party said today it was holding talks with senior Conservative politicians about switching allegiances as a poll placed it ahead of Labour in the capital.

The survey found UKIP was now second only to the Conservatives as the preferred choice of those likely to vote in the European elections.

A breakdown of a YouGov poll placed UKIP on 23 per cent in London, Labour on 21 per cent and the Lib Dems on 19. The Conservatives were on 32 per cent.

The UKIP seized on the findings, which also showed a majority of Britons in favour of quitting the EU as further evidence that its campaign was gathering momentum.

The party's Nigel Farage confirmed UKIP was in negotiations with Tory MEPs, peers and councillors about defecting. He refused to rule out the possibility of an MP joining the party.

Confirmation that talks were taking place came after UKIP candidate Robert Kilroy-Silk called on Tory MPs to "come out of the closet" and join his party.

Mr Farage, one of UKIP's three MEPs, refused to speculate on how many Conservatives might be willing to cross over but said talks were taking place at all levels of the party. "It's mainly retired MPs and peers but if things continue to gather momentum then it's not impossible it might be more widespread," he said.

Mr Farage said a number of Tory MEPs had also indicated they could join the UKIP after the European elections on 10 June. He added: "There's deep disenchantment." Mr Kilroy-Silk claimed there were at least a dozen Tory MPs who shared common cause with UKIP. He said that Tory leader Michael Howard had called such MPs "gadflies and extremists". Mr Kilroy-Silk added: "That's what your party leader thinks of you because you want Britain to be a sovereign independent state. Why don't you put your courage where your convictions are?

"Why don't you stop sulking in secret in the corridors of Westminster and come out of the closet? This is the best opportunity you will ever have to get our country back from Brussels."

Asked if a defection was a serious possibility, Mr Kilroy-Silk replied: "I would have thought so. We are in talks."

The appeal to disaffected Tories came as the UKIP announced Sir Richard Body, the former Tory MP, would share the party's platform at a campaigning event tonight.