HINDSIGHT is a wonderful thing and it clear now that many of us underestimated Nigel Farage and Ukip - and The Northern Echo is included in that assessment.

If the local elections pointed to the emergence of a fourth political force which might have enough momentum to stick around, the European elections have confirmed a seismic shift in the political make-up of Britain.

It is more than 100 years since a national election was won by a party other than the Conservatives or Labour so it is hardly surprising that Mr Farage is wearing a fixed grin. A year ago, no one could have predicted the breadth of his achievement in winning seats not just in every English region but in Wales and Scotland too.

And, while it will be much harder to transfer his success to a general election, the tremors from the political "earthquake" of his victory will have immediate repurcussions on the other parties. They can no longer sit back and wait for Ukip to implode.

David Cameron, for one, will now have to be much more bullish on Europe. The British people have sent a clear message that they have had enough of the status quo and they will want to see evidence that the UK's relationship with the EU is going to be renegotiated, and immigration lifted up the agenda.

The results of the last few days will also be of concern to Labour voters. Ed Miliband should be doing a lot better than going into mid-term elections neck and neck with the Tories and he too has made the mistake of dismissing Ukip as a flash in the pan.

As for Nick Clegg, it is hard now to see what else can be done to revive the fortunes of the Liberal Democrats other than a change of leadership. As we said at the start of the week, he has paid for a share of power with the credibility of himself and his party.

One thing is for sure, we are now in for an election race that is the most interesting for a long time.