A UKIP member says he will challenge Douglas Carswell to be the party's parliamentary candidate in Clacton, following the MP's defection from the Conservative Party.
Roger Lord says he was due to fight the Clacton seat at the general election before Mr Carswell's decision.
Mr Carswell resigned as the local MP on Thursday, sparking a by-election in which he intends to stand for UKIP.
Should UKIP win the by-election, it would be the party's first elected MP.
Meanwhile, UKIP leader Nigel Farage says some other Tory and Labour backbenchers "support UKIP fully" and could also join the party.
He is due to visit Mr Carswell's Clacton constituency later with the MP.
After Mr Carswell took Westminster by surprise on Thursday, reports suggested as many as eight more MPs could follow suit.
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UKIP MEP Patrick O'Flynn refused to be drawn on the possibility of more Conservative MPs defecting to UKIP but said he was sure they "think about these things"
The maverick backbencher had been unhappy with Prime Minister David Cameron's stance over Europe and his shelving of plans to allow the removal of errant MPs between elections.
UKIP MEP Patrick O'Flynn told the BBC's Newsnight there "may well be other Conservative MPs" in the same position.
'Regrettable'Writing in the Independent newspaper, Mr Farage said: "There are an increasing number of Conservative and Labour backbenchers who not only support UKIP fully in what it is trying to achieve, but view the impact of open-door immigration... with increasing urgency."
He added that if his party was successful in Clacton and those MPs thought they had a better chance standing as UKIP candidates "then more will follow".
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Mr Cameron said the resignation was "deeply regrettable"
Mr Cameron has said he wants the contest to happen as soon as possible and plans "to go early to Clacton" to campaign.
He described the defection as "regrettable" and "counterproductive".
Mr Carswell said his decision to switch parties had given him "sleepless nights" but that he wanted to see "fundamental change in British politics".
Tory cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, himself once a persistent rebel over Europe, said his former colleague had made a mistake leaving the party, as the prime minister had now backed an in-out referendum on EU membership.
"In the course of the next few weeks and months we will have to step up the gas and make sure the public understands this," he added.
"The reality is there is only one party promising that referendum."
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Douglas Carswell: "David Cameron is not serious about change"
BBC political correspondent Ross Hawkins said several Eurosceptic Tories had said they disagreed with Mr Carswell's decision.
"In private some say they haven't ever been approached by UKIP," our correspondent added.
The Clacton MP, who has a 12,000 majority, has been an outspoken critic of Westminster politics since being elected in 2005, calling for more democratic accountability, such as open primaries to select candidates and recall elections for MPs who break the rules.
Explaining his decision to force a by-election - which he did not have to do in order to sit as a UKIP MP - he said: "The only honourable thing to do is to say to the people of Clacton, who I represent in Westminster, it's their choice."
Mr Carswell, who was an early supporter of Mr Cameron when he was bidding for the party leadership, said he had not spoken to the prime minister before announcing his decision.
The chairman of the Conservative association in Clacton, Simon Martin-Redman, promised a tough fight against his former MP.
"A lot of people will be very disappointed in him," he told Newsnight.
"I won't criticise Douglas - I'm only disappointed he has done this."
Meanwhile Tory activists blamed defections to UKIP on the introduction of same-sex marriage "and other unwise and ill-thought through policies".
"These alienated the grassroots of the party," chairman of Conservative Grassroots Robert Woollard said.
"Real consultation has not taken place with Conservative Party members."
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