Ukip looks to the left in search for Labour votes in general election

Nigel Farage is expected to commit to ring-fencing the NHS budget

Nigel Farage is expected to commit his party to a series of populist policies (AFP/Getty )

Ukip is preparing to roll out a series of populist policies to woo Labour voters in the run up to the general election and move the party away from its traditional right-wing roots.

Nigel Farage is expected to commit his party to ring-fencing the National Health Service budget, raising the income tax threshold for lower earners and opposing a new runway at Heathrow.

The move is designed to combat Labour’s charge that Ukip are “more Tory than the Tories” and help expand its support among working class voters who agree with its anti-immigration message but are uncomfortable with its right-wing image.

Recent polls have put Ukip’s national support at between 12 and 16 per cent. But party strategists have long believed they have maximised their support from the right – and need to look to the left for further gains.

A Ukip source told The Independent: “We are looking at the world as it is – and not how we might like it to be.”