THE man chosen to fight the Hartlepool by-election for the UK Independence Party said last night: "I'll do a better job than Kilroy."

Stephen Allison rejected suggestions he was the party's second choice after former chat show host and UKIP Euro MP Robert Kilroy Silk ruled himself out of the contest.

Mr Allison, a former independent councillor in Hartlepool, said: "Robert would have probably made a good candidate, but he would have been an outsider coming in.

"The people of Hartlepool deserve someone from Hartlepool representing them - someone who knows what they want and what they need.

"I think I'm a much better choice than Kilroy Silk, or anyone else from outside the town."

Mr Allison, 44, a management consultant, also rejected claims his chequered political past could cause a problem.

He was a Labour Party member until 2001, when he became an election agent for Conservative candidate Gus Robinson, and went on to become an independent councillor.

Mr Allison, who joined UKIP last Friday, said: "It has been an evolution. For the past two or three years I have been attending UKIP meetings without being a member and had been asked to join, but,because I was an independent councillor, I felt I couldn't.

"After leaving the council, that was not an issue, and the Conservative aspect was a personal thing for Gus, who I have known for a long time."