Day two of Douglas Carswell's defection to Ukip brought the former Tory MP back to his Clacton-on-Sea constituency where, still grinning from ear to ear, party leader Nigel Farage joined his prize capture in the morning sunshine.

Yet even while the two were pressing the flesh of residents on the streets of the north Essex coastal town, unleashing Eurosceptic barrages in the direction of David Cameron as they went, it appeared that all was not quite going according to plan for a party well used to internal implosions.

The most glaring evidence of all was just a stone's throw away from Farage and Carswell on Clacton's historic pier, where the aggrieved Ukip candidate Roger Lord was deep in negotiations with the party after learning on Thursday that Carswell would be standing down and fighting for a byelection wearing a purple and yellow rosette.

"This is one of the poorest postcodes in the country and people here want and need a fighter like me rather than someone like Douglas Carswell who was simply parachuted in here," said Lord, a farmer who claimed his party had been trying to soothe his anger, but had "offered nothing".

"It's not over until a name goes on the nomination papers," added Lord, who said it was "not an impossibility" that he might even stand for the Tories against Carswell.

On a walkabout less than an hour earlier, Carswell said "I stab people in the front, not the back" as he defended his decision to quit the Conservative party on Thursday.

Denying that he had been disloyal to the prime minister, he added: "I like David Cameron. He's a nice guy. He's actually good fun.

"I don't think I've ever stabbed anybody in the back. Maybe I occasionally stab one or two people in the front but I've been frank and straight with people. But I think he's not serious about change in Europe and I've put my political career on the line."

Asked whether he was worried that Tory defections to Ukip would help the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, win the keys to Downing Street in next year's general election, Carswell said: "I don't really see the difference between either frontbench. That's why I am doing this. What would be the difference between his gang being on the sofas of No 10 and the current gang?"

Pressed on whether further defections were imminent meanwhile, Farage appeared to suggest that Ukip's powder was drying at least for now, adding: "I can't think of anybody else being honourable enough not only to defect on principle but also to put their own position at risk in a byelection."

By and large, the reception for the two on Clacton's streets was reasonably friendly. Several cars honked their horns in a show of support and among the locals happy to see the two on their streets was James Hawkins, 43, who said: "I've always voted Conservative but I think Mr Carswell is a good MP."

Also eager to step forward and shake Carswell's hand was Analisa Nelmes, 85, who was born in Germany but identified immigration as one of her biggest concerns: "We just have too many people coming now.

"When I came here I had a job to go to and had to work all the time to support myself."

However, also important for her was keeping the NHS in public hands – a priority on which a significant number of Ukip voters may differ from Carswell, a libertarian-leaning politician who has pressed for the government to "hold its nerve" on NHS reform and has cited Tesco favourably as a model for changes to the way GPs operate.

Carswell was collared outside McDonald's by a former NHS worker who challenged him to pledge that he would stand firm against continued privatisation of the NHS. The woman was unconvinced by his answer.

Nevertheless, there were signs that Carswell might be having a broader rethink about other issues after leaving behind the Conservative whip – namely the so-called bedroom tax.

"I used to be staunchly in favour of the bedroom tax and then I met a man who was living quite near here. He suffers from mental health issues, his partner died and now he is being forced to move out of a place he calls home. My heart actually was telling me about the bedroom tax: 'Hang on a second,' and now I discover that Ukip is against it as well."

Still, there were reminders that the going may still be tough in a byelection for Ukip's most prized new asset, even for a man who previously won a 12,000 majority.

As the would-be Ukip MP greeted other locals, one woman shouted: "The traitor's blocking the street – stop blocking the street, traitor."

Lord, previously the prospective candidate for Ukip, was scathing of Carswell, challenging him to come and debate him.

"There is still a deal to be done but he has not got the guts to come down and meet me," said Lord.

"He has come along just as we were on the cusp of winning, knowing that he might well lose his seat in May and [would] have to join the unemployment line.

"What we have been doing is taking on the establishment here and if we don't get answers then we are going to rip its throat out.

"Douglas has simply jumped ship. He has said that policies should be bigger than the personalities. For now he thinks that his personality is bigger than Ukip."