Mike Whitehead was standing against Labour 's Alan Johnson in the Hull West and Hessle constituency in Yorkshire . Nigel Farage today insisted the Tories had suffered a 'hammer blow ' after a former parliamentary candidate defected to Ukip - only for it later to emerge that he had already been sacked from the party last week . Mike Whitehead , who was standing against Labour 's Alan Johnson for the Tories in Hull , claimed he was joining Ukip after becoming 'disgusted ' at the behaviour of the ruling Conservative group in his area . But the Tories this morning revealed they had already dropped Mr Whitehead as their candidate after he revealed he was planning to stand as an independent against a Tory councillor . A spokesman for the Tories said : 'This man is not our candidate for Hull West and Hessle . He was sacked last week . 'We wrote to him last week to say that his position was untenable and could not stand for us at the General Election . We were already selecting a new candidate for this constituency . This is typical Ukip – cynical , misleading and utterly calculating to try and score political points . ' Mr Whitehead , speaking on BBC 5 Live this morning , confirmed he was sacked last week . He said : ' I got an email on Wednesday evening to say that if I did n't stand aside from my intentions to stand in the local elections , they would remove my candidacy in West Hull and Hessle . ' I said I was n't prepared to do that and so as I would n't give them that guarantee they terminated my candidacy in West Hull & Hessle . ' Mr Whitehead said he had been increasingly worried about the behaviour of the controlling group of Tories in East Yorkshire since 2011 , when seven Conservative councillors from Haltemprice and Howden resigned , citing bullying and intimidation . He added : 'In my opinion , the behaviour of the ruling group has only gotten worse since then . ' Mr Whitehead said he could no longer carry on 'in good conscience ' . Scroll down for video . Responding to the news , Mr Farage said : ' I am delighted to be welcoming Mike to the party at this exciting time . 'His move to Ukip just underlines that today the real party of opposition to Labour in the north is Ukip . It is another hammer blow to Tory pretensions in the north of England ' . Ukip Yorkshire and Humber MEP Mike Hookem said : 'Mike has shown himself to be a man of principle in standing up for what he believes in and I am looking forward to working with him in the near future . ' Nigel Farage claimed the scalp was 'another hammer blow ' for David Cameron , just a month before the general election . Fellow Ukip MEP Jane Collins said : 'Both Mike and his colleague Mick Burchill , who defected earlier this week will be standing for Ukip in the local elections . ' I think they will both be a great addition to the Ukip team in this area and I am also looking forward to working with them closely . ' Hull West and Hessle is safe Labour territory - former home secretary Alan Johnson is defending a 5,700 majority from the 2010 general election when the Conservatives finished third .
Nigel Farage was standing for the Tories in Hull West and Hessle . He resigned as a councillor last week in 'disgust ' at local party politics . The Tories claim Mr Whitehead was sacked as a candidate last week . But Mike Whitehead this morning insisted it was a 'hammer blow ' for Cameron .