The UK Independence Party has made huge electoral gains and declared itself the "official opposition" - largely at the expense of the Tories - as Prime Minister David Cameron vowed to win back Conservative voters who had defected.
With UKIP averaging 26% of the vote in county council polls, leader Nigel Farage said he was "astonished" by the party's breakthrough, and put it down to what he described as the "total disconnect" between the "career politics" of Westminster and ordinary people on the streets.
"UKIP is actually speaking the language of millions of ordinary voters," he told Sky News' Boulton & Co programme.
Speaking in his Oxfordshire constituency, Mr Cameron said he would "work really hard" to win back voters who switched support.
The Conservative leader said all the mainstream political parties had "major lessons" to learn.