DOUGLAS Carswell claims he “put Clacton first” when defecting from the Conservatives to UKIP.

The Clacton MP also resigned his seat - triggering a by-election.

He hopes to stand in that election as a UKIP candidate.

“I have always put my constituents and Clacton first,” Mr Carswell told the Gazette.

“Clacton deserves better than the kind of Government we have.

“I was not prepared to sit there for another nine or ten months.

“The readers of the Gazette – the voters of Clacton – are my boss and I will be asking their permission to return to Parliament.

“It is up to them if they want someone else for the job.

“I wanted to put my principles on the table,” added the Eurosceptic MP.

He added that there had been a number of recent local issues that had “tipped him over the edge”.

They included planning inspectors rejecting of Tendring Council’s Local Plan – insisting on many thousands more homes.

And the failure of Government to deal with overcrowding at GPs surgeries.