Tory MP Douglas Carswell defects UKIP and seeks re-election

Tory MP Douglas Carswell has switched his allegiances to UKIP, and could become the party’s first MP in Westminster.

In a surprise announcement in central London, the Eurosceptic MP said that he will stand down as Tory MP for Clacton and seek re-election in a by-election as a UKIP politician.

Sitting next to UKIP leader Nigel Farage, Carswell said that the Conservatives under David Cameron were not “serious about real change”, and that it was “nice to be a member of a party where I agree with the leader”.

The backbench MP entered parliament in 2005 and has frequently rebelled on issues relating to the European Union, and said that his defection to UKIP was designed to shake up British politics.

At the last general election, Carswell won with a majority of 12,068 votes, and could now become UKIP’s first MP.

Carswell’s announcement comes days after Farage announced that he would stand to become an MP for South Thanet in Kent at the 2015 general election.