Ukip blames London election performance on difficulty appealing to the 'well-educated'

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While Nigel Farage is busy claiming "the Ukip fox is in the Westminster hen-house", party spokesperson Suzanne Evans has uttered a sound bite Ukip would probably rather forget.

Discussing the party's relatively poor performance in London on Radio 4, Evans seemed to agree with the host that they had difficulty appealing to the "educated, cultural and young."

Elsewhere in the country Ukip had better luck however, taking important seats off the Tories, though at present they are still fifth in the local elections with 102 council seats, lagging behind the independents.

The party has seen a modest surge in support despite a rocky campaign, with shadow foreign secretary Douglas Alexander suggesting people have turned to Ukip as a protest vote.

"We recognise the alienation and the anger that has found expression in a lot of people voting for Ukip last night but we still believe that we are well placed if we do the right things and we take the right steps in the coming 12 months to win that general election," he told BBC Breakfast this morning.

Ukip press officer Alexandra Philips was quick to gloat about their gains on Twitter however, writing: "Dear Other Parties & Their Media Chums and ESPECIALLY to spiteful left wing organisations...IT DIDN'T WORK YO! Love from UKIP Press Office x".