TURNCOAT Labour chair Harriet Yeo was unveiled yesterday as Ukip’s replacement candidate for Folkestone and Hythe.

Ms Yeo swooped after original candidate Janice Atkinson was expelled from the party on Monday evening along with her chief of staff Christine Hewitt. 

The pair were dismissed a day after the Sun revealed video footage showing Ms Hewitt fiddling food expenses. 

She asked the owner of a restaurant to treble the £950 bill wracked up during a Ukip conference event so that they could “repatriate” European Parliament money by overclaiming expenses.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage sought to divert attention by naming Labour defector Ms Yeo as the new candidate. 

Speaking in Folkestone yesterday, Ms Yeo said she was standing for Ukip because it was the only party that will “put the people of Kent first.” 

“The Conservatives take us for granted, the Labour Party ignore us and it’s about time that we had a voice that this part of the country needs,” she said. 

But local Labour members pointed out Ms Yeo only defected after she was deselected as the leader of Ashford Council Labour group for not attending meetings. 

And a Labour spokeswoman said: “The truth is Ukip is a party of Tory people, Tory policies and Tory money: it is more Tory than the Tories.”

Mr Farage also faced a backlash over his decision to impose Ms Yeo from local members, who complained they weren’t consulted.