UK Independence Party leader (UKIP) Nigel Farage believes the first wave of UKIP MPs could include at least one representing the Westcountry - but his hopes aren't pinned on Exeter or East or Mid Devon.
His party hopes to win at least 10 seats in next year's general election, and Mr Farage has told the Echo's sister paper the Western Morning News that Plymouth and up to three areas in Cornwall are on his hit-list.
Mr Farage has said marginal seats in Devon and Cornwall are genuine UKIP targets in next year's general election as the region feels "forgotten".
Speaking to the Western Morning News at his party's annual conference in Doncaster, he said "everything is right for us" in Plymouth, and up to three seats in Cornwall were "extraordinarily fascinating".
The South West was one of the first regions where UKIP took hold. The party leader said it remained among the "forgotten parts" of Britain where voters from right and left are drawn to UKIP, as they are fed-up with the ruling political class.
He also dismissed fears leaving the European Union, which is UKIP's abiding mission, would damage a rural region that relies on farming and regeneration subsidies.
Mr Farage said the region has not been handed a "good deal", and said people in the Westcountry were not willing to "sell their souls for a bit of EU money".
His comments came as UKIP said it was targeting voters in Labour's traditional heartlands, with Mr Farage saying it was "now parking our tanks on the Labour Party's lawn".
He said the Eurosceptic party was "tearing vast chunks" out of the Labour vote in the north of England and Wales as his party unveiled a series of policy promises, including cutting income tax from 40p to 35p for people earning up to £55,000, cutting inheritance tax and increasing VAT on luxury goods such as high-end handbags.
Referring to two forthcoming by-elections, where UKIP candidates will challenge previously Conservative and Labour seats, Mr Farage said: "This party is not about left and right – it's about right and wrong."
UKIP secured 32% of the vote in the South West at the European elections and came top in 24 of the 38 districts in the region, but failed to add to the two South West MEPs. It now has council seats across Devon and Cornwall.
Mr Farage publicly identified Plymouth as a target seat after it secured three councillor at this year's local elections.
UKIP's strong vote in the South West has been blamed for the Tories losing seats to the Lib Dems in the region in previous elections but it is now committed to a more focussed campaign targeting its efforts in specific areas.
Mr Farage told the Western Morning News the party was appealing to "forgotten parts" such as the Westcountry. "You're the end of the line down there," he said. "It's five hours 11 minutes from Paddington to Penzance. It's just a joke. That's one of our fundamental objections to HS2 (high-speed rail between London and Birmingham). It links our two booming cities. And does nothing for anyone else at all."
Both Plymouth parliamentary seats are held with narrow margins – Moor View by Labour, Sutton and Devonport by the Conservatives – and majorities in Cornwall are as little as 66 votes.
"Everything is right for us in Plymouth," Mr Farage said. "An extraordinarily patriotic part of England because of its history. Very, very marginal constituency. And we do best in marginals because we take a bit of the vote from everybody. We first saw a specimen of that in the Eastleigh by-election.
"There's Plymouth but there are also two or three Cornish seats that are extraordinarily fascinating. You have some of the most marginal seats in Britain. There are some interesting targets there. "
Cornwall and Scillies has had more than £1 billion of EU money since the 1990s to boost the economy, and farming subsidies have propped up the industry across the Westcountry.
On the impact of leaving Europe, he said: "Any man who is prepared to sell his soul for cash is not a proper man in my opinion, and I don't think most Cornish people are willing to sell their souls for a bit of EU money. It's our money anyway, if it comes back.
"Remember, the EU office for Objective One funding was in Bristol anyway. I don't think Cornwall has had that fantastic a deal. Ok, a few more broadband services, blah, blah blah. Great stuff.
"But if you counter-balance that with the destruction of the Cornish fishing industry, with what has happened to dairying, this is not a good deal."
UKIP also promised a system of immigration control that would only allow in highly-skilled workers. Mr Farage dismissed the idea it would damage farming in the region relying on overseas labour. "The argument that without Poland every piece of fruit in Britain would rot is nonsense," he said.
UKIP South West MEP and trade spokesman William Dartmouth predicted "one or two surprises" in the region in next year's election.
Julia Reed, UKIP's other MEP in the South West, said the party was also attracting Labour supporters who had lent their votes to the Liberal Democrats.
