DAVID Cameron was last night urging Tory MPs not to panic after a dramatic opinion poll suggested the UK Independence Party will easily win next month’s euro elections.
UNDERSTANDING: PM accepts voter ‘frustration’[REUTERS]A YouGov survey showed Nigel Farage’s anti-EU party heading for 31 per cent of the vote in elections for the European Parliament on May 22.
The Tories were on course for third place with 19 per cent behind Labour on 28 per cent.
And the Lib Dems were in danger of losing all 12 MEPs after the poll suggested they will get just nine per cent.
It suggests Mr Farage has not sustained significant damage from rows over expenses, “racist” posters, campaign literature, comments from party activists and fresh embarrassment at the weekend over Ukip council candidate William Henwood.
He posted on a social media site that black comedian and actor Lenny Henry should emigrate “to a black country” after he said ethnic minorities were under-represented on television.
The poll surge triggered fresh jitters among Tory MPs yesterday.
Senior backbencher David Ruffley said the party needed to do more to make voters aware of the Prime Minister’s pledge of an in-or-out referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.
“What we need to do in the next 12 months is to demonstrate very clearly that David Cameron has made this pledge of in/out,” he said.
“The fact is not enough people understand it.”
Others called for Mr Cameron to elaborate on his plans for renegotiating Britain’s membership.
It’s very important the Prime Minister comes out with a specific programme on Europe
Former Tory minister Gerald Howarth said: “It’s very important the Prime Minister comes out with a specific programme on Europe.
"Everything we touch, we find that Europe wants to influence or, worse, control us.”
But Mr Cameron was understood to be urging calm.
Downing Street insiders accepted that the European elections would be “difficult” for the Tories because of public frustration with the EU.
Yet the Prime Minister is said to be convinced that many who back Ukip at next month’s poll can be won back before the General Election.
Another poll yesterday gave further evidence of the depth of voters’ hostility to the EU.
Research from ComRes for the Electoral Reform Society found widespread disaffection with European institutions.
Some 59 per cent believe the European Parliament does not represent the views of voters, rising to 68 per cent among those over 55.
More than half of 18 to 24-year-olds are not planning to vote next month.
Electoral Reform Society chief executive Katie Ghose said: “These results show that people still feel alarmingly distant from European affairs.”
Mr Henwood’s comments drew criticism from Tory Cabinet minister Jeremy Hunt, who called the remarks “disgusting” yesterday.
But in a radio interview Ukip deputy chairman Neil Hamilton, a former Tory MP, said they were a “complete distraction” from the campaign.
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