Europhobe UKIP wins first seat in parliament
Clacton-on-Sea (United Kingdom) (AFP) - Britain's anti-EU UK Independence Party won its first seat in the House of Commons Friday, sending jitters through Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives seven months before what is likely to be a tight general election.
Conservative defector Douglas Carswell's victory in Clacton came as UKIP also narrowly lost out on a shock victory in a second by-election on Thursday in Heywood and Middleton, traditionally a stronghold of the main opposition Labour party.
Support for UKIP, which wants Britain to leave the European Union and to restrict immigration severely, has soared in the last two years amid increasing disenchantment with mainstream political parties. ...