A Conservative parliamentary candidate has defected to UKIP, Nigel Farage's party has claimed.
While the switch took place in a constituency neither party is expected to win, Mr Farage called it "another hammer blow to Tory pretensions in the north of England".
The Conservative Party denied Mike Whitehead had defected, saying he had been sacked.
Mr Whitehead, who is standing in the Hull West and Hessle constituency in Yorkshire, is a councillor on East Riding Council.
He said he was "disgusted" with the behaviour of the ruling Tory group in East Yorkshire and the "wilful refusal" of the party to intervene at a national level.
He insisted the "secretive" council should be "opened up" and made more transparent.
Responding to the news, Mr Farage said: "I am delighted to be welcoming Mike to the party at this exciting time.
"His move to UKIP just underlines that today the real party of opposition to Labour in the north is UKIP," he said.
"It is another hammer blow to Tory pretensions in the north of England".
Mr Whitehead said he had been increasingly worried about the behaviour of the controlling group of Tories since 2011, when seven Conservative councillors from Haltemprice and Howden resigned, citing bullying and intimidation.
He added: "In my opinion, the behaviour of the ruling group has only gotten worse since then.
"Now, that same group have managed to gain control of the local party structures by ensuring they are responsible for the organisation of the local election campaign.
"However, the Conservative Party at national level has declined to get involved in what it sees as a remote internal squabble out in the shires."
"I also hope that with the election of other UKIP councillors, I can help open this secretive council up and make it more transparent and work better for the residents rather than to the benefit of the few."
Mr Whitehead later claimed he was fired by the Conservative Party as a "pre-emptive strike" because the Tories knew he planned to leave.
He said he was informed on Wednesday his candidacy would be removed if he did not stand aside from his intention to run in the local elections.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, he said the Tory party knew he was outside the Conservative group on the local council when he was selected as the parliamentary candidate in August of last year.
He said: "It's a bit odd, but I believe the reason they did that is because they knew I was standing up against the Tory group that was off side with the Conservative Party itself."
Hull West and Hessle is safe Labour territory - former home secretary Alan Johnson is defending a 5,700 majority from the 2010 general election when the Conservatives finished third.
A Conservative Party spokesman said UKIP's announcement was "cynical, misleading and utterly calculating to try and score political points".
He said: "This man is not our candidate for Hull West and Hessle. He was sacked last week.
"He refused to support the local Conservative council candidate and so we wrote to him last week to say that his position was untenable and he could not stand for us at the general election.
"We were already selecting a new candidate for this constituency.
"This is typical UKIP - cynical, misleading and utterly calculating to try and score political points."
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