British parliament swears in first UKIP lawmaker

The first elected lawmaker for Britain's anti-EU UK Independence Party was today sworn in at the House of Commons, watched by party leader Nigel Farage.
Douglas Carswell defected from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives but was re-elected in his old seat of Clacton, southeast England, last week with a majority of over 12,000.
Farage grinned broadly as Carswell was sworn in, promising to be "faithful to her majesty Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according to law, so help me God".
It was not immediately clear where he would sit in the House of Commons as he walked away immediately after the ceremony.

As he arrived at the House of Commons in pouring rain for the first time in his new party, Carswell was in cheerful form, posing in front of the Big Ben clock tower with his thumbs up.
"I'm reinvigorated. Democracy works... I think change is coming -- people in the country feel let down by the two-party system," he said.

In response to questions about the reaction he was expecting from former Conservative colleagues, he said: "I've got a lot of friends in the Conservative party -- I've been slightly taken aback by the number of friendly messages I've had."

The rise of UKIP, who emerged as victors in Britain in May's European elections, has sent jitters through Cameron's Conservative party as it threatens to split the right-wing vote at next year's general election.
The party once dismissed by the prime minister as "fruitcakes, loonies and closet racists" wants Britain to leave the European Union and to severely restrict immigration and has capitalised on increasing disenchantment with Westminster's main political parties.
Carswell's win came on the same day as UKIP narrowly lost out on a shock victory in a second seat, Heywood and Middleton in northwest England, traditionally a stronghold of the main opposition Labour party.

A second former Conservative MP, Mark Reckless, has also defected to UKIP and a by-election in his seat of Rochester and Strood, southeast England, is expected to be held next month.