UK anti-EU party leader says won't stand as MP now as focus on Europe

LONDON (Reuters) - Nigel Farage, leader of Britain's anti-European Union party UKIP, on Wednesday ruled out standing for a parliamentary seat freed up by a lawmaker's resignation, saying he did not want to distract attention from next month's European elections. Farage had fuelled speculation that he would stand in the Newark by-election to seek the first parliamentary seat for his UK Independence Party (UKIP) whose rising popularity is eroding support for Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative party. But Farage, who wants Britain's immediate withdrawal from the EU, said he would not contest the seat as he wanted to focus on the May 22 European elections at which UKIP is expected to top the poll, beating the Conservatives and even opposition Labour. "I think UKIP could cause an earthquake in British politics (at the European elections) from which we can go on and not just win one parliamentary seat, but win quite a lot of parliamentary seats," Farage told BBC radio. "There is a much bigger prize than the Newark by-election and that is the general election in 2015." An opinion poll of voting intentions at the May 22 European election released by pollster TNS on Wednesday showed UKIP's support had risen by 7 percentage points to 36 percent over the past three weeks, giving the party a 9 point lead over Labour. Cameron's Conservatives were forecast to win only 18 percent of the vote, according to the poll of 1,199 people. The by-election in Newark in central England will take place after the European elections. The vote was triggered by the resignation of former Conservative lawmaker Patrick Mercer who stood down on Tuesday after reports he was to be suspended for six months for breaking lobbying rules.[ID:nL6N0NL6LL] (Reporting by William James, Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)