Most Ukip voters 'expect to govern'

Two-thirds of Ukip supporters think their party will be in government after the general election, according to a new poll.

A quarter - or 24% - of Ukip supporters think the party's leader Nigel Farage will become prime minister in May, while 67% believe the party will be in Government, according to a new ICM poll published in a report from independent think-tank British Future.

The report shows that expectations are higher among the 10% of the public who say they will "definitely" vote Ukip - with 35% of them expecting Mr Farage to be prime minister, compared with just 27% who say that David Cameron will occupy 10 Downing Street.

A quarter of Ukip supporters expect Nigel Farage to be prime minister after May's election

The new research finds that most people overall - 54% - think the Conservatives will be in government after the election, while 25% think this is unlikely.

But in a country that has become disenchanted with politics, more than 39% of respondents would prefer it if every party could lose the election.

The poll also found that only 26% of Britons believe the country will come through the election campaign with good community relations between multi-faith and multi-ethnic societies due to immigration being such a key issue.

Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, said: " Uncertainty about the outcome of an election is no bad thing in a democracy - uncertainty about whether we can handle having the debate, however, is not. It's worrying that only a quarter of Britons think we can come through an electoral debate dominated by immigration with community relations intact.

"Britain as a country can handle this debate and we will. If politicians want to achieve a majority, they will need to reach outside their partisan support and debate the issues that matter most to people - but in a constructive and decent way."