DORSET'S first ever UKIP county councillor has spoken of his “shock and delight” upon realising he had secured a historic victory.

Ian Smith was the only UKIP candidate to win in Dorset, topping the poll in Ferndown with 23.29 per cent of the vote.

See all the results here

But the stunned 66-year-old admitted he hadn't entertained the thought of winning, conducted a low-key campaign and didn't even own a UKIP rosette.

The retired IT worker, who lives in Casterbridge Road, Ferndown, was not in Dorset on polling day and had no idea he had won until he checked his emails the following day.

“I got back early this morning, turned on my PC and discovered an email congratulating me on being the only Dorset UKIP councillor,” he said.

“I was utterly amazed.”

He said Peter Lucas, who came fourth in the poll, was UKIP's primary candidate for Ferndown, and he was there to represent UKIP and make up the numbers.

“I hadn't even properly told my sons I was standing,” he said.

“As for my wife, well, she can't believe it.”

However, he insisted he would be a committed councillor and said: “Obviously I'll be finding out what people feel are the most important local issues. I did a lot of leafleting and as I met the odd person on their drive, many people were immediately interested that I was delivering a UKIP leaflet.

“They all said the same thing, that they are completely disillusioned with the two major political parties who don't represent them and who they believe have damaged the country.

“UKIP has gone from being an outsider to seriously worrying the current government.”

UKIP's success across England prompted East Dorset district council leader Spencer Flower to label them a “bucket party” who benefitted solely from protest votes.

But Cllr Smith said: “The major political parties need to find excuses and a reason to discredit UKIP, they can't accept the real reason why they're being successful, which is that we are much more aligned with what the normal British public want and are prepared to talk about it.”

UKIP had also previously been described as the party for “fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists” by Prime Minister David Cameron but Cllr Smith said: “People will always look for some way of twisting something to denigrate people. Nigel Farage isn't a racist, I'm not a racist, but having no border control and controlled immigration is not a sensible option for any country.”