FOR years, UKIP was regarded as something of a joke by its political opponents.
But with next year's general election looming on the horizon, the party is threatening to turn conventional political thinking on its head.
Tory defector Douglas Carswell this month became the country's first UKIP MP. That result was followed by the party coming a close second in the safe Labour seat of Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester.
Led by Nigel Farage, the party is also riding high in the polls, which put UKIP above the Liberal Democrats.
So can the party eat into the traditional Labour vote in Hull and the Tory strongholds in the East Riding?
Last year's European and local council results suggest a close battle could be on the cards.
In the city council elections, UKIP's Richard Barrett won a seat in the Southcoates East ward. Across the city, the party won 25.7 per cent for the overall vote.
Significantly, UKIP also finished second in the majority of wards it fielded candidates in.
In the European elections, UKIP's local vote in both Hull and the East Riding outstripped both Labour and the Tories.
Two East Riding Council by-elections held early last year also saw UKIP come close to ousting the Tories.
Hull UKIP MEP Mike Hookem, who stood against Labour's Karl Turner in the 2010 general election, has already indicated he is likely to stand for a seat in the House of Commons next May.
"Being an MEP doesn't discount you from standing in the general election," he said.
"In the past, as a party, we probably took our foot off the gas after Euro elections, but not this time.
"We will be contesting every seat at both the general election and the local elections.
"We have got a good team on the ground and people want us to be challenging the other big political parties."
He said recent changes to the party's Hull branch executive had created a "determined team" ready for next year's election campaigns.
"With the help of the Hull public, this is the team that will convert many of these results into first place next May," he said.
"The Hull public are great. They know we are a grass-roots party coming from the working people and so they see right through the bogus and increasingly desperate claims of our opponents.
"The public know that we are about common sense policies, like giving their children the best start in life and ending the open borders policy of the other parties that has done so much damage to the living standards of the working people of this country."
Cllr Barrett is also upbeat about his party's prospects next May.
"The level of positive feedback I'm getting, particularly over the past month or two, is huge," he said.
"The contrast between the level of support UKIP commanded locally during the EU elections and now is significant.
"When I'm walking around the city – not just in my own ward – everybody is talking about UKIP."
While Hull may not be a key election target for his party, he believes Labour-held council seats are up for grabs.
He is keen to counter Labour's claims that UKIP is against the investment by Siemens in the city.
"What concerns me is that Labour have made a number of claims about the jobs Siemens would bring to the city," he said.
"Hull North MP Diana Johnson was quoted in the Hull Daily Mail recently speaking of 1,000 jobs in East Yorkshire – a far distant, diluted figure from Karl Turner's 20,000."
He said he also wanted to see new jobs for local people and "not Germans getting on a ferry coming into the city".
For her part, Ms Johnson believes that UKIP are a "protest vote" of the sort that typically emerges during a by-election.
She said: "In Hull the protest vote used to go to the Lib Dems and I assume that, as the Lib Dems have now been in government, those voters will go elsewhere.
"When it's a general election, it's quite clear that UKIP are going to target their resources.
"I imagine they will focus their election campaign on key seats like Thurrock, which Nigel Farage is contesting and across the Humber in Grimsby."
Hull East MP Karl Turner said he was relishing taking on UKIP over its policies.
"It's time to take on UKIP and tackle the very real fears people have about immigration," he said.
"I'm not convinced people really support UKIP for its policies, like charging to see your GP or more tax breaks for the richest. I believe people feel that they do not have a say over immigration.
"I believe people are feeling insecure, pessimistic and powerless and are worried about low pay, falling wages and job insecurity.
"This is fertile ground for the politics of division and UKIP have exploited this.
"Labour needs to reassure people that we have listened to their concerns on immigration and we have proud, patriotic policies that work for all."
Expert: Don't dismiss UKIP as a 'protest vote'Rob Ford, political lecturer at Manchester University and a UKIP expert, warned against dismissing a vote for the party as a protest.
"The term 'protest vote' gets bandied about to suggest no one knows why people are unhappy and are voting for a certain party but actually it's very clear why," he said.
"These voters are socially conservative and economically liberal – many are themselves struggling economically and have genuine concerns about identity and values.
"They want people like them to have a voice in politics that resembles the sort of people they are. That is part of UKIP's appeal."
He said he believed the threat posed by UKIP in East Yorkshire is minimal – for now.
"I don't think UKIP are likely to pose significant problems for Labour in Hull on this occasion and I can't see them making a serious bid for the city next year," he said.
"However, if UKIP get established further down the coast, that's when they may pose a real threat to Labour cities like Hull."
He said Grimsby was the most likely target for UKIP, with any success there providing the potential to "spread like ink along the coast".
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