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 Previous opinion polls have shown UKIP, which has enjoyed a surge
in support due to public concern over immigration from eastern EU
members Romania and Bulgaria, coming top or second, pushing
Cameron's Conservatives into third place for the first time.
But the ICM poll for Tuesday's Guardian newspaper, carried out on
February 7-9, found one in five voters planned to back UKIP in May's
European Parliament elections.
While that would be an increase on the 16.5 percent of the vote it
took in the 2009 elections to the European Parliament, it puts them
third behind both the opposition Labour party, on 35 percent, and
the Conservatives, on 25 percent.
UKIP argues Britain should leave the EU to shake off stifling
bureaucracy and interference in everyday life. Britain could
continue to trade closely with EU neighbors but open itself
increasingly to more distant markets especially in Asia.
 UKIP's past success in opinion polls has produced a shift in the
Conservative Party towards skepticism over the EU and a harder line
on immigration.
In response to the poll, UKIP said that in previous European
elections, it has gained vote share very significantly during the
campaign period.
The results were adjusted for expected low turnout levels, the
Guardian said, with only 27 percent of the 1,002 respondents saying
they were certain to vote.
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UKIP, which has never won a seat in the British parliament but has
13 seats in the European parliament, is expected to split the
center-right vote at a national election in 2015.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, leader of the junior coalition
partner the Liberal Democrats, on Wednesday said political parties
needed to take UKIP seriously.
"Mainstream politicians have made the mistake in the past of not
taking UKIP, or the people who say they will vote for it, seriously.
That time has long passed," he wrote in the i newspaper in a piece
to mark 100 days until the European vote.
Appealing for the public's help in making sure Britain remains part
of Europe, Clegg, whose party is set to attract just 9 percent of
the vote according to Wednesday's poll, warned of the risk to the
economy.
"If (UKIP) were to win this May and take Britain a further step
towards self-imposed exile from Europe, it could wreck the recovery
and destroy British jobs," he wrote.
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