PM's party humbled in vote as anti-EU party surges

EASTLEIGH, England (REUTERS) - British Prime Minister David Cameron's ruling Conservative party was humiliated in an election in England on Friday after it was defeated by a scandal-ridden coalition partner and pushed into third place by an anti-EU party.

Mr Cameron and his party had hoped to come second or even win the parliamentary election in Eastleigh, but were pushed into third place by the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a party that advocates taking Britain out of the European Union and strongly opposes immigration.

The result, which saw the Liberal Democrat party take first place, will pile pressure on Mr Cameron from disgruntled lawmakers within his own party who fret he may not be able to lead them to victory in a 2015 general election since, to do so, he will have to win parliamentary seats like Eastleigh.

One senior party figure and a former leadership candidate, David Davis, warned before the vote that "a crisis" would ensue if the Conservatives were beaten into third place by UKIP.