Ukip’s only MP has denied a rift with leader Nigel Farage, but admits the party failed to connect with voters in Kent on key local issues.

In an interview before his appearance on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions recorded in Faversham, Douglas Carswell said the party’s general election candidates should have been selected earlier to improve their prospects.

He also expressed disappointment over Ukip’s performance in east Kent, which had been a core target for Mr Farage, who failed to become South Thanet MP.

Mr Carswell, who represents Clacton in Essex, says the Ukip leader would have won the seat had he declared himself a Kent candidate 18 months earlier.

He said: “In Kent, we should have selected candidates earlier and focused more on local issues than we did.

“There’s no dispute in terms of who is the leader of Ukip. I have made it very clear from the beginning that I never wanted to be leader" - MP Douglas Carswell

“While we did so well in the European elections, we should have recognised that those elections require a particular tone, and that tone isn’t appropriate for being a constituency MP.”

Mr Carswell, who has been regarded as a potential leader of Ukip, dismissed reports of a personal clash with Mr Farage.

He added: “There’s no dispute in terms of who is the leader of Ukip. I have made it very clear from the beginning that I never wanted to be leader.

“Where there are differences, it is over tone and tactics, but it is very sensible for a party that hasn’t done as well as it wanted to, to have that debate.”

Despite the Ukip leader’s failed bid to represent the party at Westminster, Mr Carswell says Mr Farage has a mandate to lead through his status as an MEP.

“Nigel has a profile and eloquence, and he can reach parts of the electorate that mainstream parties are not able to, so I am disappointed we didn’t make it in Thanet,” added Mr Carswell.

On the issue of a potential Ukip leadership contest after Mr Farage had offered to resign earlier this month, he said it would not be necessary, as Mr Farage commanded a strong majority.

Speaking on Ukip’s wider general election campaign performance, he admitted that nationally some of its candidates had been “disgraceful, and should never have got through the selection process”.

Mr Carswell also denied Ukip was now a party without a purpose in the wake of a Conservative majority in Parliament, which will spark a referendum on Europe within the next two years.

He added: “We had four million vote for us, compared with nine million who voted for Labour, so we are not so far behind.”

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