THE country is waking up this morning to the news that Clacton has Britain's first elected UKIP MP.

Tory defector Douglas Carswell saw a 44 per cent swing from his former Tory party as he secured a decisive win in yesterday's by-election.

But there was little jubilation as the eurosceptic delivered his victory speech on the stage of Clacton Town Hall.

Mr Carswell repeated his campaign assertion that the people of Clacton were his "boss".

He took 60 per cent of the vote.

Conservative challenger Giles Watling trailed by 12,404 votes with 25 per cent.

It was a remarkable night for UKIP.

The party came within a few hundred votes of by-election victory in the Labour stronghold of Heywood and Middleton, in the north.

Labour hung on but with a slashed majority.

Back in Clacton, Mr Carswell said UKIP had to be a "party for all Britain and all Britons".

Labour's share of the vote in the resort plummeted to just 11 per cent.

And it was a dismal night for the Lib Dems, whose vote collapsed to just 483 - less than 1.5 per cent.

They lost their deposit as Andy Graham was pushed into fifth place by the Green Party.