UKIP leader Nigel Farage today launched his bid to rock the Westminster establishment by winning a seat in Parliament.
He confirmed that he will seek to stand as the party’s candidate in South Thanet in Kent at next year’s general election.
“I have thrown my hat in the ring, but so have others, including a top-class barrister and friend of mine,” he said.
Mr Farage was born in Kent and has represented the area in the European Parliament since 1999.
The Tory incumbent Laura Sandys won the South Thanet seat with a majority of 7,617 in 2010 but is standing down at the general election.
Eight other candidates have been shortlisted by Ukip for the seat and Mr Farage claimed that it was not certain that he would be picked.
“It may seem silly to some that the leader of a party would have to go through the process of being approved and selected but, I assure you, rank means nothing in Ukip,” he wrote in a column in The Independent.
He added that he believed that he had a good chance of winning.
"Just as I applied to stand again as a Ukip MEP and went through the same assessment as other candidates and faced the vote of the membership with everyone else, I believe that the power to select the person they will be pounding the streets in all weathers for lies with the members of the branch themselves.
"Of course I think I stand a good chance of winning. I have fought the seat before and it is in my home county of Kent and an area I have represented in the European Parliament since 1999. But with Ukip members, nothing is ever for certain. And that's just fine by me."
A senior Ukip source said Mr Farage was one of eight candidates on the shortlist for the seat.
Hustings will take place later this month.
