Nigel Farage has promised the Ukip "people's army" will shake the Establishment in the upcoming general election.

Appearing at the Movie Star Cinema in Canvey Island, Essex, the Ukip leader held a tub of popcorn bearing the party's logo as he launched the drive for the May poll.

He added that the three main parties do not "believe in Britain".

Mr Farage said: "Out there, beyond Westminster, the small businessmen, the backbone of the country, have become victims of a modern form of corporatism.

"We are the only party standing up for the little man."

He added that the party would not engage in "dirty politics" as its opponents "turned nasty".

Mr Farage said his party was digging in to "the ethnic community vote", adding that there would be "lots of Ukip candidates" from minorities in the general election campaign.

He told the crowd: "We have crossed the class barrier in British politics. That is a remarkable achievement for Ukip and we pick up support from across every social spectrum.

"And we are also beginning now to dig quite deep into some of the ethnic community vote in this country as well, because people that have come to this country legally, that have made this country their home, that have integrated within our society, they want the Ukip agenda as much as anybody else.

"And what you will see during this election campaign are lots of Ukip candidates from the ethnic minorities. It is something the commentariat in Westminster probably won't understand but I think all of us in this room do."

The politician, known for enjoying a pint and a cigarette, thanked Jamie Huntman, Ukip's parliamentary candidate for Castle Point, which includes Canvey Island, for an introduction which claimed Mr Farage "refreshed the parts that other politicians cannot reach".

The party leader joked that it was "very nice of him, after a dry January".

He went on: "But the point is this: Ukip, as a political party, our candidates and our activists, are reaching voters that the other parties can't reach because we are bringing back into the political system, we are re-engaging people who have not voted for anybody for the last 20 years and we should be very proud, I think, as a party that we are doing that and we are really connecting."

Mr Farage said Ukip was "a truly national political party", dismissing the Conservatives as a "regional party for the South of England" and Labour as a similar party for the North.

He went on to describe his party as "the challenger in virtually every parliamentary seat from Birmingham up to Hadrian's Wall".

"We are going to give Labour in the North of England a real run for their money, that I have no doubt at all," he added.