Harjit Gill, the former Labour mayor of Gloucester, will be a keynote speaker at UKIP's spring conference.
Mr Gill left Labour to join Nigel Farage's party in December.
He has been personally invited by Mr Farage to be a keynote speaker at the party's Spring Conference in Margate.
Mr Gill, 59, will speak on immigration and social cohesion. He said: "I'm delighted and honoured to be invited to speak."
Richard Ford, the UKIP candidate for Gloucester in the general election in May, added: "It's a wonderful accolade for Harjit, who is a huge asset to us in Gloucester. He is greatly respected, liked and experienced in the city's civic life and the prestige of speaking a major conference in the run up to the election can only raise the profile of Gloucester on the national stage.
"He recently addressed the South West Young Independence conference in Bath and got a great reception. He speaks from the heart, with experience and authenticity, something sadly missing in Westminster's Punch and Judy political culture. We're all very excited by the invitation."
