Nigel Farage has admitted Ukip has 'slipped back a bit' in the polls as the sense of euphoria among the party's supporters has waned.

But the Ukip leader said he expects to recover momentum in the run-up to next month's election as its key campaign issues like EU membership are now very much 'back in play' with voters.

Asked if he was panicking after a poll showed support for the party has fallen, Mr Farage said: 'Good Lord no!'

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Nigel Farage today admitted Ukip has 'slipped back a bit' in the polls as the sense of euphoria among the party's supporters has waned

Ukip has seen its support slump from 16.75 per cent in November to just 12.25 per cent today with voters appearing to switch to the Tories in the run up to the election

Mr Farage is facing a fight to win his own election battle after falling behind the Tories in South Thanet, Kent - despite enjoying a 12 point lead of his Conservative rival just two months ago

The Ukip leader has seen support for his party drop from 16.75 per cent in November to just 12.25 per cent today, with voters appearing to switch to the Tories in the run up to the election.

Mr Farage is also facing a fight to win his own election battle after falling behind the Tories in Thanet South, Kent - despite enjoying a 12 point lead over his Conservative rival just two months ago.

Speaking on a tour of the Midlands, he added: 'We are exactly where we were last August, having won the European elections - we were on 14-and-a-bit per cent.

'We won the European elections, we found that level and we did have a rally in the Autumn through the remarkable events of first Clacton and then perhaps more remarkably the Rochester by-election

'We've slipped back a bit since then, there are 30 days to go and I think the issues Ukip is campaigning on are back in play.'

Mr Farage poses for a selfie with a group of girls during a visit to Himley Hall, near Dudley in the West Midlands

The Ukip leader was joined on the campaign trail by a car painted in his party's colours of purple and yellow

MEP WHO DEFECTED TO TORIES TAKES LEGAL ACTION AGAINST UKIP Nigel Farage is facing a possible libel case from a former Ukip MEP who defected to the Conservatives. Mr Farage attempted to play down Amjad Bashir's decision to switch sides in January by insisting that the former communities spokesman had already been sacked over alleged financial irregularities and claims of the employment of illegal immigrants in his restaurant business. Solicitors' firm Atkins Thomson confirmed it has sent a 'letter before action' to Ukip warning of High Court action against the party and its leader. Mr Bashir, who was elected Ukip MEP for the Yorkshire and Humber region in the 2014 European Parliament elections, is awaiting a response and no date has been set for a court case. A Ukip spokesman said the party was making no comment on his case. After quitting Ukip in January, Mr Bashir branded Mr Farage's party 'pretty amateur' and accused it of a 'ridiculous' lack of policies. Questioned at the time about Mr Farage's accusations, Chancellor George Osborne said he was 'absolutely comfortable' about Mr Bashir becoming a Conservative MEP. Advertisement

Mr Farage described the party's support as having 'peaks and troughs', adding: 'Share prices have peaks and troughs, we all have peaks and troughs.

He blamed the poll slip in recent months on a declining sense of euphoria from members and said: 'There was a degree of slightly euphoric Ukip support round about the time of the result of Rochester, which was a remarkable event.'

But he added: 'The trend over the last week is we are beginning, as the short campaign for the General Election has begun, the vote is beginning to harden.'

During a campaign stop in Dudley, Mr Farage spoke out against so-called 'super mosques'.

Proposals for a mosque in the town that will accommodate 750 worshippers have been the subject of a long-running battle between the local council and the local Muslim association.

Asked about the row, Mr Farage said he preferred 'smaller and proportionate mosques'.

He said: 'People need places of religious worship. It's just a question of whether that scale is the right one or not.

'I'm not going to for one moment advocate that we should ban people from being able to worship their religion. I think it's very important they do.

'Whether super mosques are the way forward is a separate question. I personally don't necessarily think it's a great idea.

'I would rather see more smaller and proportionate mosques going ahead.'

Mr Farage also expanded on his controversial remarks in the televised leadership debate last week that foreigners with HIV should not be allowed to come to this country for free treatment.

He said that he believed people with cancer and tuberculosis should also be stopped.

'HIV is one of the big one, cancer and certain resistant strains of tuberculosis, which you ask the doctors about, they have got some real problems,' he said.

Mr Farage leaves an election campaign event in Carrick, central England, after becoming stuck in traffic

Ukip sources privately admitted raising the issue in the TV debate, which drew criticism from other party leaders, was part of a 'shock and awful' strategy to shore up the party's base.

But Ukip's poll rating has not shown any signs of picking up following Mr Farage's outburst - with some experts predicting it will fall below 10 per cent by the time of the election.

The latest national polls have put the Conservatives and Labour virtually neck and neck.

A YouGov poll on Sunday had the Tories on 34 per cent, one point ahead of Labour, and Ukip in third place with 13 per cent of votes.

A poll in Tory-held South Thanet – where Mr Farage is running for Parliament – shows him in second place, and pollsters now believe Ukip will win just a handful of seats.

David Cameron, pictured in Cardiff today, has issued an impassioned plea for Ukip voters to 'come back home' to the Conservatives

Speaking yesterday in Bristol, David Cameron conceded that he understood the 'frustrations' of Ukip voters. It is a significant peace offering by the Prime Minister, who once dismissed Ukip as 'fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists'.

He said to those who had left the Tory fold: 'Look, we've heard the message loud and clear about the things you want to see changed and we'll change those things. Come with us, come back home to us, rather than risk all of this good work being undone.'

But there are deep concerns that support for Ukip, fuelled by the Conservatives' failure to meet their pledge to cut immigration to 'tens of thousands', could swing enough votes in other seats to hand Ed Miliband a victory.

Mr Cameron, who also promised a referendum on Europe, said the Government had turned around the economy and cut taxes for working people.

'To keep generating the jobs and the growth our country needs, come back to us, come back home to us,' he pleaded.

The PM warned those who voted for 'a minor party' risked ending up with Ed Miliband propped up by the SNP's Nicola Sturgeon, 'driving him into even more spending, welfare unlimited, debt bloat'.

Mr Cameron said the prospect of a minority Labour government held in power by the SNP was a 'nightmare scenario' and said the Conservatives 'need' Ukip support.

'We are 23 seats short from an overall majority,' he said.

'We can provide that clear, decisive and frankly more accountable government that a majority Conservative government would deliver. We need those 23 seats.'

Mr Farage immediately attacked the Prime Minister and said he would not win Ukip voters back. He said former Labour and Tory voters have found a 'more authentic home' where they do not get 'roundly abused by their hosts'.

Meanwhile, the 'defection' of a Tory parliamentary candidate to Ukip descended into farce yesterday when it was revealed he had already been dropped by the Conservatives.