Advertisement

  1. National

Ukip's Mark Reckless wins Rochester and Strood by-election

Ukip's Mark Reckless wins the Rochester and Strood by-election with 16,867 votes, and a slim majority of 2,920 votes over the Conservatives.

View all 26 updates ›

Farage: Tories 'tried too hard' in by-election campaign

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has welcomed the election of Ukip’s second MP, as Mark Reckless was voted in after a by-election in Rochester and Strood.

Nigel Farage says the Tories 'tried too hard' in by-election campaign Credit: Pool

In interview today, Mr Farage said he believed the Tories had “tried too hard” in their election campaign, and said he believed Mr Reckless had done the right thing by letting his constituents decide whether to keep him in his seat after defecting.

I think what Mark Reckless did was he didn’t just cross the floor and defect to Ukip, he said ‘I’m resigning my seat, I’m trusting you, the people of Rochester and Strood, to decide to back me or sack me. And people like that – they admire courage, they admire bravery, they admire decency. I think the second reason is - I actually think the Conservatives tried too hard. This full-scale bombardment, the numbers of phone calls houses were getting, that sort of thing.

– Nigel Farage

He denied that he was riding on the back of protest votes, saying people "absolutely believed" in what the party stands for.

  1. Read more
  2. 26 updates
Ukip's Mark Reckless wins Rochester and Strood by-election

More top news