Rushcliffe MP Ken Clarke has branded UKIP's politicians 'clowns' and said some of the supporters are racist.
The Conservative Cabinet minister said UKIP had no positive policies and was nothing more than a protest party "against" foreigners and immigrants.
He told Sky News that he "wouldn't send most of them to the county council", but that he was sure that "most of the UKIP people are perfectly nice when they are having a drink".
He said: "They of course have not been able to vet their candidates. Fringe right parties do tend to collect a number of waifs and strays ...
"The trouble with UKIP really is it is just a protest party - it is against the political parties, it is against the political classes, it's against foreigners, it's against immigrants. It doesn't have any very positive policies - they don't know what they are for."
He went on: "The temptation to ordinary voters of UKIP is these are very difficult times. The political class are regarded as having got us into a mess.
"The last government left chaos behind them. The present Government's having a long, hard road to follow to get us back to normality.
"It's very tempting to vote for a collection of clowns or indignant, angry people who promise that somehow they will allow you to take your revenge on the people who caused it. You should actually vote for people who you think are going to be sensible county councillors."
