SHIPLEY MP Philip Davies tonight said he would “continue to work” with a Tory MP who has switched to UKIP – while insisting he had no plans to copy him.

Mr Davies described the defection of Mark Reckless as “very sad”, as the coup by Nigel Farage’s party threatened to derail David Cameron’s pre-election conference.

He told the Telegraph & Argus: “Mark is a friend of mine and I am very sad that he has left the Conservative Party - especially as on virtually every issue he and I want to achieve the same outcomes.

“I will continue to work with him to achieve these things, but I believe they can be best achieved from within the Conservative Party.

“I am very sorry he has come to a different conclusion to me.”

Mr Davies spoke as stunned activists in Birmingham heard party chairman Grant Shapps condemn Mr Reckless, telling them: “He lied and lied and lied again.”

David Cameron branded the defection as “senseless and counter-productive”, but was forced to admit his departure made a Conservative victory “less likely” at next year’s election.

Nervous Tory whips were on the hunt for other disillusioned MPs preparing to embrace UKIP.

And, with the resignation of minister Brooks Newmark - after sending explicit pictures of himself to a reporter posing as a female admirer – the conference opened amid ‘Tory crisis’ headlines.

To add to Mr Cameron’s woes, fresh polling by former Tory treasurer Lord Ashcroft, who found Labour was heading for a “comfortable working majority” next May.

Lord Ashcroft found that 37 per cent of Conservative voters in 2010 were no longer planning to back the party, with the vast majority defecting to UKIP.

And, according to a BBC poll, 30 per cent of Conservative councillors support an electoral pact with UKIP at the general election – while 45 per cent would vote to leave the EU.

Amid the turmoil, Mr Cameron attempted a fightback, by: * Indicating he is prepared to recommend an ‘out’ vote in his promised EU referendum if he fails to achieve a meaningful renegotiation.

* Unveiling a pledge to bar 18 to 21-year-olds without children from housing benefit – and strip them of jobseeker’s allowance if they fail to find a job after six months.

* Announcing a plan to cut the annual benefit cap from £26,000 per household to £23,000 – to fund three million apprenticeships.

* Giving his broadest hint yet that he extend air strikes against Islamic State (Isis) to Syria, but for the failure to reach cross-party agreement.

Tomorrow, Chancellor George Osborne will announce plans to abolish the “punitive” 55 per cent tax on death that is charged when people pass on a pension pot.