The UK Independence Party has announced plans to fight for every seat in the forthcoming Northamptonshire County Council elections.
Announcing its plans, the party has said it would scrap the council’s controversial Brussels office and invest more money in street lights and road repairs.
Discussing the meeting where the decision to target every seat was made, Jonathan Bullock, the chairman of the Kettering and Wellingborough UKIP branch, said: “We had a fantastic meeting which has followed tremendous growth in UKIP locally.
“More members have joined, particularly disillusioned Conservatives, and we want to build on the excellent vote for our candidate, Jim MacArthur, in the Police Commissioner elections last November, which was as high as 25 per cent in some areas.
“We are currently developing our policies, but we will certainly stop the funding of a European office by the county council, which has cost £1.6 million.
“This money will instead go into street lights and better roads.”
Mr Bullock represents UKIP on Kettering Borough Council.
He defected to the party after leaving the Conservatives in September last year.
He is joined in the local UKIP branch by Alan Pote, a current member of Northamptonshire County Council, who also defected from the Conservatives in October last year.
The two met with UKIP MEP, Roger Helmer, who is also a defector from the Conservatives, to discuss their election strategy earlier this week.
The meeting was attended by a total of 40 UKIP activists.
The county council election on May 2 will see 57 seats contested after a shake-up of division boundaries reduced the overall number of seats from 73.
The council’s Brussels office costs £200,000 a year to run.
It is designed to bring European business and investment into the county.
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