UKIP was this morning being blamed for the failure of the Elvis Loves Pets Party (ELPP) to win the Eastleigh by-election.
The party's leader David Bishop said that without the intervention of UKIP, ELPP - which received 72 votes - was poised to win the seat from the Lib Dems.
'Our kind of party was denied victory because of UKIP's greater resources which took votes from us,' he said.
But UKIP's leader Nigel Farage claimed the party - which came second after the Lib Dems- had 'seen off' the threat from ELPP.
'Our next big challenge is this year's county council elections,' he said,'when we'll be faced with fighting the Beer, Baccy and Crumpet Party.'