THE leader of Ukip Nigel Farage came to Hartlepool and declared it was time to end "the one-party state" in the region.

Speaking at the party's North-East conference he said they were now "the opposition to Labour, bringing democracy back to the whole of the north of England."

Hartlepool Borough Hall was the chosen venue for the event as the party believes it can challenge a traditionally Labour seat in May's General Election.

In his speech Mr Farage said the North-East was a "one-party" state under Labour which had made Labour politicians lazy "with no mechanism to keep them honest."

Afterwards Mr Farage said he was not accusing North-East Labour of corruption, although he did mention the 1970s Poulson building-contract corruption scandal involving Labour politicians, but rather laziness and complacency.

In a visit to Yarm last April, Mr Farage declared himself a Thatcherite. However, this time he tempered that message saying; "it was not really relevant."

Nonetheless, he said the way to encourage more manufacturing in the region was not for the Government to invest to stimulate the economy but instead cut energy costs for our major industries.

As well as Hartlepool, the Ukip leader said there was also another seat in the region which he plans to concentrate efforts on, but said he was keeping it under wraps for the time being.