Newly arrived migrants are responsible for Ukip’s underwhelming electoral performance in inner London, the party’s leader has said.

Nigel Farage argued that it was difficult for his party to beat Labour in the capital because of the city centre’s high proportion of foreign-born residents.

“The fact is that the inner ring of London is very difficult for anybody but Labour. It’s the only part of England in which the Labour vote continues to rise,” he told BBC radio.

“The Labour vote falls everywhere but rises in central London. The reason for that is a lot of newcomers with new passports vote Labour.”

Mr Farage argued that his party could have more success in outer London, noting some limited success in a number of parliamentary constituencies.

Ukip performed poorly in the 2012 mayoral elections in the capital, receiving 2 per cent of the vote and coming in sixth place behind the Green Party, Liberal Democrats, and an independent candidate.

The party’s fortunes have continued to rise nationwide since then, though it is not clear to what extent this will feed through to support in the capital.

In pictures: The rise of Ukip Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: The rise of Ukip In pictures: The rise of Ukip 1993: Alan Sked forms Ukip History professor Alan Sked had been active in anti-EU politics for a while beore he founded Ukip in 1993. He resigned from the party after the 1997 election, concerned that it was attracting far-right members, and has been critical of Ukip since. Picture: Reuters Reuters In pictures: The rise of Ukip 2005: Kilroy defects Former TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk founded Veritas in 2005, after a failed bid to become leader, and took many of Ukip's elected members with him. But the party slowly lost its popularity and didn't put forward any candidates in the last election. Picture: REUTERS/Kieran Doherty REUTERS KD/RUS In pictures: The rise of Ukip 2010: Farage becomes leader, again Farage had led Ukip from 2006 until 2009, when he stood down to fight against the Speaker, John Bercow, for his Buckingham seat. He failed to win the election and returned to lead the party in November 2010. Picture: REUTERS/Kieran Doherty REUTERS/Kieran Doherty In pictures: The rise of Ukip 2010: Ukip fights for election Nigel Farage was injured in a plane crash on polling day in the 2010 general election, but his party increased its success in the votes. It fielded 572 candidates and took 3.1% of the vote, though failed to win any seats. REUTERS/Darren Staples REUTERS/Darren Staples In pictures: The rise of Ukip 2013: Eastleigh gains Ukip's candidate Diane James got the highest ever number of votes for any candidate from the party, but was beaten by the Liberal Democrats. The surge in support gave Ukip confidence ahead of local and European elections later in the year. Picture: Reuters In pictures: The rise of Ukip 2013: Bloom kicked out Godfrey Bloom, who served as an Ukip MEP from 2004 to 2014, had the whip withdrawn in 2013 after sexist comments and an attack on a journalist. He sat as an independent MEP until 2014, when he ended his term in office. Picture: REUTERS/Luke MacGregor In pictures: The rise of Ukip 2014: European election success Ukip got a higher proportion of the vote than any other party in 2014's European elections, adding 11 new MEPs and taking its total to 24. REUTERS/Luke MacGregor In pictures: The rise of Ukip 2014: Carswell defects Douglas Carswell defected from Ukip at the end of August, and was followed by Mark Reckless at the end of September, who resigned from the Tories amid rumours of many more defections to come. Picture: REUTERS/Toby Melville

The party does not have any London Assembly members despite the deliberative chamber’s proportional representation system of election. One of London's eight MEPs is from Ukip.

The 2011 census suggests that 36.7 per cent of London's population was born overseas.

The Ukip leader has previously courted controversy for making comments about migrants, in 2014 branding parts of Britain "unrecognisable" and "like a foreign land" because of their cosmopolitan character.

Mr Farage’s party is holding its autumn conference today in Doncaster. It has so far mainly focused on the question of the European Union and the expected upcoming referendum.