TWO men who were once senior Conservatives in Basingstoke are to stand as UKIP candidates in the May 2 elections to Hampshire County Council.

The former deputy leader of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Harry Robinson, will try to unseat his old Conservative colleague Stephen Reid in the Basingstoke North West division, which covers Buckskin, Winklebury, West Ham, and Rooksdown.

And former deputy mayor Phil Heath, who once led the Tory group on the borough council, will attempt to take Basingstoke South West, which covers Hatch Warren, Kempshott, and Beggarwood, from sitting Conservative Rita Burgess.

Mr Robinson, who retired from local politics in 2010, said he is “excited” to be standing again.

“It was not a difficult decision,” he said. “I still have issues that I would like to address in Basingstoke and north Hampshire, and this is the way to do it.”

UKIP kicked off its county council election campaign on Tuesday with a press launch outside its Basing-stoke office in Church Street.

The party, which is seeking withdrawal from the European Union, is fielding candidates for all 10 county seats that cover Basingstoke and Deane, while across Hampshire it is challenging for 73 of the 78 seats up for grabs.

The other UKIP candidates within the borough boundaries are: Mike Tatam in Basingstoke North; Duncan Stone in Basingstoke Central; David Watson in Basingstoke South East; Alan Stone in Loddon; Peter Johnson in Cand-overs; George Garton in Whitchurch and Clere; Stan Oram in Calleva and Kingsclere, and Stephen West in Tadley and Baughurst.

Mr Heath, who was a county councillor for Basingstoke South West for 12 years, said the party hopes to build on its recent success in the Eastleigh parliamentary by-election where it came second with a 27 per cent share of the vote.

“What we have found here, as in Eastleigh, is there are people who have not voted for years, and they have found a vote. Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat voters have found a voice through UKIP.”