UKIP's conference in England was electrified yesterday after Conservative MP Mark Reckless announced he had defected to Nigel Farage's right-wing party.
The Rochester and Strood MP said he had not taken the decision lightly but claimed the Conservative leadership was "part of the problem that is holding our country back".
He is the second Tory to defect to Ukip following a switch by Douglas Carswell.
Appearing on stage to a rapturous reception at the Ukip party conference in Doncaster, Reckless said voters felt "ripped off and lied to".
"Today I am leaving the Conservative Party and joining Ukip," he said, adding that he will quit as an MP to trigger a by-election and fight the Kent seat as a Ukip candidate.
He told activists he answered to his constituents and wanted to seek their permission to change allegiance. As well as backing withdrawal from the European Union, Ukip supports curbs on immigration.
"They are the boss and if I am to seek to represent them under different colours, I hope in a party that is closer to their values, then I shall ask their permission," he said.
"So I will resign my seat in Parliament, trigger a by-election and, your national executive allowing, stand for Ukip."
The surprise announcement, on the eve of the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, is another blow to David Cameron.
As Reckless was introduced on stage by Ukip leader Farage, the crowd broke out into whoops and cheers, and continued to chant "Ukip, Ukip" throughout his speech.
Reckless said he had endured sleepless nights over the decision, telling the conference he had been a Conservative "as long as I can remember".
Reckless faces a tough battle to return to Westminster under the Ukip banner and appealed for activists to support his campaign.
At the 2010 General Election, he held the Rochester and Strood seat with half of the vote. Ukip did not even field a candidate. Reckless said he had made promises to constituents at the last election that the Government was failing to keep.
He said: "I also promised we would make Government live within its means like the rest of us had to. Yet we will see in this Parliament in just five years a Conservative-led Government adding more to our national debt than even Labour managed in 13 years. And two weeks ago the three Westminster leaders promised to give £1600 extra to every Scot.
"I promised to help restore order to our public finances, yet I find I cannot do that as a Conservative but I can do it as Ukip."
However, a Conservative spokesman said: "Mark Reckless's decision to join Ukip is completely illogical. He says he wants action on a European referendum, tax and immigration. The only party capable of delivering on these issues is the Conservative Party, and a vote for Ukip is a vote for Ed Miliband."
Meanwhile, Ukip's sole MEP for Scotland has called on First Minister Alex Salmond to accept the result of the independence referendum.
David Coburn told delegates at the Ukip party conference: "If it's going to be fair, let him accept the result of the referendum. We would have had to accept [it] if it had been Yes; let him accept it now it's No."
He also claimed that foodbanks were the result of years of socialist Labour and socialist SNP government in Scotland. "The way to eradicate foodbanks in Scotland is not by wringing your hands but by creating real jobs in the private sector.
"Free enterprise creates jobs, socialism breeds poverty and unemployment … We need to take the dead hand of socialism from the back of the Scottish young entrepreneur."
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