The UKIP candidate Richard Elvin came second with 5,988
votes.
The party, which did not even stand in the constituency in the last general
election, won 24% of the vote - marginally lower than its record 28% vote share
in March's by-election in Eastleigh when it also came second. UKIP's deputy leader Paul Nuttall said the performance - which came on the heels of strong showings in other by-elections in the north of England last year - proved it was on "an upward trajectory" and party's appeal spread across the country.
"UKIP is here and it is here to stay," he told the BBC.
And he claimed it would not be long before his party had its first MP elected.
"We have been knocking on the door of Westminster for the past two years. I predict very soon that we will kick that door in," he said. BBC.
Farage hailed the result as "likely to prove more significant than the county council elections" and said it was proof that it could gain the votes of old Labour voters. He said it would refute the story "that Ukip voters are all retired half colonels living on the edge of Salisbury Plain."
Farage had predicted that Ukip would achieve 15-20% of the vote on average in council seats where they have stood, but in some places it was doing better. In Lincolnshire, Ukip was averaging 26% with most of the seats declared, and expecting to take more than 10 seats in the county. That suggested they could win more than 100 seats across England. Guardian online.
