David Cameron and Tory party elites 'obsessed with gay marriage and climate change,' fail to focus on crime and immigration so are losing ground to UK Independence Party-BBC

.
3/2/13, "Eastleigh by-election: Politicians out of touch - Tory," BBC

"A senior Conservative MP has criticised Westminster politicians, saying many have lost touch with the people.

Bernard Jenkin warned against calls to oust David Cameron, after the party came third in Thursday's Eastleigh by-election, behind UKIP. But Mr Jenkin said politicians must actively engage with "ordinary people".

The Lib Dems held on to the Hampshire seat with a reduced majority of 1,771....The party's candidate, Mike Thornton, won despite a fall in the Lib Dems share of the vote of more than 14 percentage points since the 2010 general election.

Tory backbencher Colonel Bob Stewart said there was widespread dismay among the rank-and-file about the direction the party was taking and warned the leadership could not afford to ignore their concerns....

"This isn't a crisis for a government but a crisis of governance. We're living in a country where politicians talk about fixing things... but they seem powerless to deal with it. There is a real sense that the whole of the Westminster village is living in its own world talking in its own terms and has lost touch. A small professional managerial class is running British politics and they have very little to do with the ordinary lives of ordinary people up and down the country."...

A UKIP spokesman told BBC News David Cameron was out of touch with the country and with his party. 

"Traditional Tory policies are being ignored by the prime minister," he added.

On Friday UKIP's Nigel Farage said the prime minister was a "problem" for the Conservatives and some Tory MPs said there were lessons for the party.

But Mr Cameron dismissed UKIP's comments and promised to "stay true" to his principles.

Tory Party vice chairman Michael Fabricant said the party had struggled to present a distinctive message while UKIP had managed to connect with traditional blue-collar Tory voters on issues such as immigration and crime in a way that the Conservatives had not."...image above, "A UKIP billboard from the European elections in 2009"

===============================
 
3/1/13, "Eastleigh by-election: Margaret Thatcher, not Barack Obama, must be David Cameron’s role model for 2015," UK Telegraph, Nile Gardiner

"A remarkable night for UKIP in the Eastleigh by-election, narrowly losing to the Liberal Democrats while beating the Conservatives by more than a thousand votes, and Labour by over 7,000 votes. This is a humiliating defeat for David Cameron’s “modernising” agenda, and a slap in the face for the metropolitan elites in the Tory Party whose obsession with gay marriage, foreign aid, climate change, and a multitude of big government initiatives have alienated large sections of the party’s grass roots."...

-------------------------------------------------

3/1/13, "Ukip leader Nigel Farage: Eastleigh by-election result is 'sign of things to come'," UK Telegraph, James Kirkup

"Ukip stunned the Conservatives by beating them into third place in Eastleigh and came within 2,000 votes of the Liberal Democrats, who retained the seat."...

=====================

3/1/13, "How UKIP became a British political force," BBC, Alex Hunt

================================ 

Ed. note: UK's equivalent of the GOP, the Tory party, is taking a beating in the UK from the upstart Independence Party. It's unlikely the Tories will make changes just as it's certain the US GOP won't change. The one difference is the beaten Tories  didn't run out and say they have to change to "appeal more to immigrants" as the US GOP claimed when they lost badly in 2012 elections. The UK Independence Party has focused on crime and immigration. The Tories have an "obsession with gay marriage, foreign aid, climate change, and a multitude of big government initiatives."  

 .