Ukip leader Nigel Farage says he is confident the party will win the forthcoming Rochester and Strood by-election in the wake of its historic breakthrough in the Essex seat of Clacton.

Mr Farage is expected to be in Rochester along with the party's first MP Douglas Carswell tomorrow to build on the momentum from its success and to bolster the campaign for Mark Reckless.

The buoyant party leader has predicted a second win for UKIP at the high-stakes by-election, saying this morning: "We are going on and I am very confident that we will win that by-election too."

The scale of UKIP's victory in Clacton, along with coming close to defeating Labour in Heywood and Middleton, has given the party a huge boost which it hopes will deliver a second MP.

Mr Carswell, a personal friend of Mark Reckless, paid tribute to him in his acceptance speech and said he had done the honourable thing:

"Mark Reckless did not have to face a by-election, he's done the honorable thing. He's one of the most decent people I know in politics. He's a patriot, a diligent constituency MP. I'm confident that local people will vote for the man they know, not for the smears of the Westminster machine."

Meanwhile, the Conservatives have confirmed they will select their candidate for Rochester and Strood using a postal primary, allowing anyone who lives in the constituency a vote regardless of whether they belong to the Conservative party.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “We’re inviting Rochester and Strood residents to help us choose a new candidate through a postal primary election. Ever voter in the constituency will receive a ballot paper for the primary regardless of which political party they usually support.”

In an advert in the Medway Messenger's free paper, the party says it wants voters to have a say in who its candidate should be following what it describes as the illogical decision of Mark Reckless to defect.

However, the decision to hold what is known as a primary will mean that the vote is unlikely to take place quickly, meaning the party is unlikely to have a candidate in place for at least a week.

The by-election results suggest that Labour will face a huge challenge to win in Rochester and Strood. Local party chiefs have denied reports that the national leadership is signalling that it will not pour resources into the campaign.

• For all the latest by-election news and analysis, see this week's Medway Messenger

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