nigel farage has abandoned hopes of winning dozens of seats at the general election and is now targeting just ten, it can be revealed ukip, which will today unveil its manifesto, has reduced the number of constituencies where it is concentrating resources as it loses ground in the polls a party strategist said 'something extraordinary' would now need to happen for it to win in places outside its target list nigel farage has abandoned hopes of winning dozens of seats at the general election and is now targeting just ten  south thanet, kent (majority: con 7,617) clacton, essex (ukip 12,404) rochester & strood, kent (ukip 2,920) thurrock, essex (con 92) great grimsby, lincs (labour 714) boston & skegness, lincs (con 12,426) camborne & redruth, cornwall (con 66) dudley north, west midlands (lab 649) castle point, essex (cons 7,632) heywood & middleton, greater manchester (lab 617) after ukip won the rochester and strood by election last november and gained its second mp, mr farage said the party could go on to win 'dozens of seats' in the election but ukip campaign chiefs have now adopted a 'shotgun' approach with a far fewer targets mr farage will this morning launch the party's manifesto in thurrock, essex a ukip source said: 'it will be a broad and open offer to those on low and middle incomes that's something which no other party is doing' among the seats dropped from the list of hopefuls is folkestone and hythe, where candidate janice atkinson was replaced after allegations of fraudulent expenses claims the target list includes south thanet, where mr farage is standing, along with clacton and rochester and strood, where douglas carswell and mark reckless won by elections after defecting from the tories the party also hopes to win in thurrock, a tight three way marginal where the tories are defending a majority of just 92 another focus is heywood and middleton, in greater manchester, where it narrowly lost a by election to labour last october ukip's election co ordinator chris bruni lowe, who masterminded last year's by election wins, is organising campaigns in the ten targets the party is helping write campaign literature, organising mailshots to voters and putting up billboards, while other candidates are mostly being left to their own devices clacton, where tory defector douglas carswell (left) is standing for ukip, is one of the few seats the party still thinks he can win  ukip's immigration spokesman has admitted that even the leadership of the party has been left confused by its policy on foreigners moving to britain at an event last month steven woolfe said the deputy chairman suzanne evans, who has written ukip's manifesto, did not understand the immigration policy even when he showed her diagrams to explain it it is claimed that mr woolfe, who was speaking after a meeting in dudley, said: 'the problem is, even within my own party, my own deputy chairman, didn't seem to understand it herself despite the fact i actually put picture graphs 'i put the numbers on and the point is people confuse immigration immigration consists of loads of different numbers, the number of students, it's asylum seekers, it's family members' nigel farage was earlier this month accused of 'making up his policies as he goes along' after he called for the number of arrivals to be limited at 50,000 a year, but at the same time claimed overall caps on net migration would be 'ludicrous' miss evans this morning said the manifesto would include an immigration limit of 50,000 skilled workers from around the world, adding she was 'proud' of the policy most pollsters suggest ukip is being squeezed, with an icm poll suggesting the party had slipped to 7 per cent on monday, while a poll by opinium at the weekend put the party on a two year low mr farage has maintained that the party is not losing support but appears to have changed his rhetoric, referring to the election as a 'springboard' in an interview at the weekend he suggested ukip supporters should vote tory in seats where the party has no chance of winning a senior ukip source last night said mr farage could begin discussions with the tories about a post election deal through 'back channels' before the polls close mr farage 'is minded to do confidence and supply with whoever offers an eu referendum', he said ukip's manifesto will include a pledge to fund 6,000 jobs in the police, prison service and border agency for military veterans and mr farage is today expected to pledge that his party would spend 'substantially' more than nato's target of 2 per cent of national income on defence he has previously said that ukip would meet the target the tories have refused to commit to the target beyond next year in a bid to bolster faltering opinion poll ratings, mr farage said ukip was offering 'serious, fully costed policies' aimed at voters who 'believe' in britain an in/out referendum on britain's eu membership 'as soon as possible', a five year ban on unskilled migrants coming in to the uk and a points based system for others are among other key pledges with the party keen to broaden its appeal after a slip in support after surging to victory in last year's european elections, the manifesto also offers boosts for first time buyers, military veterans, small businesses and hospital patients
party folkestone janice atkinson farage hythe
exclusive: farage has abandoned hopes of winning dozens of seats  party officials admit most candidates are being left to their own devices  among the seats dropped from the list of hopefuls is folkestone and hythe  ukip candidate janice atkinson was replaced after expenses scandal 