The anti-immigration UK Independence Party broke through as a major political force on Saturday following local elections which delivered a bloody nose to Britain's ruling coalition. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said his eurosceptic party could no longer be dismissed as a protest movement as it averaged almost one quarter of the vote in local authority elections in England. "This is a real sea-change in British politics," Farage said shortly before heading to the pub for a celebratory pint of beer.

The anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP) was celebrating some of its best ever results on Friday following local elections which delivered a bloody nose to Britain's ruling coalition. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said his eurosceptic party could no longer be dismissed as a protest movement after winning on average one quarter of the vote in early results from 35 council elections. Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives appeared to have lost most from UKIP's surge, and they were also pushed into third place in a parliamentary by-election held at the same time.

The anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP) was celebrating some of its best ever results on Friday following local elections which delivered a bloody nose to Britain's ruling coalition. UKIP leader Nigel Farage said his eurosceptic party could no longer be dismissed as a protest movement after winning an average of 26 percent of the vote with a fifth of the results declared.

Counting was under way in England on Thursday in local elections which are expected to deliver a drubbing to Prime Minister David Cameron and confirm the rise of the anti-immigration UK Independence Party (UKIP). Cameron's Conservatives are prepared for the loss of between 300 and 700 seats, out of about 2,400 which are up for grabs across 34 local authorities in England, plus another in Wales.