Mediaboss Marketing

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron (L) and London Mayor Boris Johnson (C) arrive for a rally in west London May 21, 2014.

Cameron's assertion that he will leave his European policy unchanged despite UKIP's success will be seen as an attempt to avoid a damaging debate on an emotive issue which obsesses his party and helped topple the country's last two Conservative prime ministers.

Anxious to win a majority in next year's national election, Conservative strategists want to focus on the fact that they lead a coalition government which has nursed Britain's economy back to health, a job they say is only half-done.

Cameron has promised to try to reshape Britain's relationship with the EU if re-elected next year before offering an in/out EU membership referendum by the end of 2017.

Spooked by the rise of UKIP and worried it could split the vote at next year's national election, some of Cameron's own Eurosceptic lawmakers have urged him to bring forward the date of that vote to 2016 and to step up his renegotiation drive.

Cameron, speaking after the UK Independence Party, which wants Britain to leave the EU, rode a tide of Euroscepticism and anxiety about immigration to beat the opposition Labour party into second place and his Conservatives into third, said he was sticking to his original plan.

"I don't think shortening the timeframe for the referendum would be right," Cameron told BBC radio, saying he was "confident" he could secure a significant renegotiation of Britain's EU ties if given the chance.

His party has however already promised a tougher immigration policy, seen as one of the key drivers of UKIP's success.

HUNG PARLIAMENT? Almost complete results from the European elections suggest no single party will score a decisive win in a national election next year, making another coalition government likely.

A different, first-past-the-post voting system and higher turnout will work against UKIP whose support is expected to fall. Sunday's results put Labour and the Conservatives on a similar share of the vote, around 25 percent, suggesting neither will win next year's national vote emphatically enough.

Read this article:
David Cameron Rejects Calls for Early European Union Referendum