European MEP Nigel Farage kicks off a national campaign today in the Westcountry in a bid to cement his UK Independence Party (UKIP) as a major force in British politics.
Buoyed by recent success in the Eastleigh by-election, where UKIP came second to the Liberal Democrats and pushed the Conservatives into third place, the party leader is visiting Cornwall, Somerset and then Devon.
The national tour is designed to rally support ahead of council elections on May 2, which will be seen as a litmus test of support for the party and its controversial anti-immigration message.
UKIP will be fielding a record 2,000 candidates in the local authority polls and will hope to score victories against the Lib Dems and the Tories, who have a virtual stranglehold on power in the Westcountry.
Mr Farage claims the South West was the first to "rebel" against the UK's membership of the European Union (EU), following the "devastation wrought on its fishing industry by the disaster of the European Common Fisheries policy".
He will tell audiences in Callington, Taunton and Tiverton that Devon and Cornwall – despite receiving a large share of funding handed out to impoverished areas – are leading the campaign to exit the EU.
The MEP for the South East Counties said one of the most serious issues facing the South West in particular is "the impact of migration both in and out", which will affect planning, services and jobs.
He claims the Government is "deliberately relaxing planning controls" so that upwards of 1,500 square miles of greenfield land can be turned over to tarmac and houses, much of this in the South West, which could in part be to accommodate new arrivals from the EU.
The influx of foreign workers at a time of high unemployment is "a social tragedy", he argues.
The party's success in Eastleigh is said to have spooked parts of the Tory party.
UKIP claims the recent debate on immigration from Bulgaria and Romania, sparked by the Prime Minister's speech last week, was as a direct result of its growing electoral threat.
Mr Farage will speak at Callington town hall at midday today before visiting the Bull Head public house.
At 4.30pm, he will tour Taunton town centre before giving a speech at the Best Western hotel in Tiverton at 7.30pm.
