UKIP's Nigel Farage said the surge in support for his party was not a "freak result" but a continuation of a trend which had seen it rise in the national polls.
More than a quarter of a century on, Mr Ecevit is feared within his party (now named the Democratic Left) as a control freak who delegates little responsibility.
Labour-supporting pop music entrepreneur Alan McGee has likened the party to Big Brother in George Orwell's novel 1984 and accused Tony Blair of being "a control freak".