Labour vote plunges in EU elections
Labour vote slips seven per cent in European elections
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Monday, 08, Jun 2009 11:00
Labour has borne the brunt of voter disenchantment with mainstream politics after losing seven per cent of its vote in elections for the European parliament.
With votes counted in ten of the 12 UK regions (Scotland and Northern Ireland publish their results later on Monday), Labour had won 2.15 million votes, equal to 15.3 per cent of the total and resulting in the loss of five MEPs.
In depth: EU election results 2009
In the south-west and south-east the party was pushed into fifth by the Green party, which once again returned two MEPs, plunging Gordon Brown's Westminster government into more turmoil.
While Conservative and Liberal Democrat support was largely static, the night will largely be remembered for the performance of Ukip and the BNP.
Ukip gained 2.44 million votes, a 0.5 percentage point increase on 2004, that saw it add one MEP to the 12 it gained last time round.
"This time we have come second in a major national election," said party leader Nigel Farage.
"That is a hell of an achievement especially given that over the last three or four weeks we have not really had a proper debate about the European question."
And in results described as a sad day for UK politics from across the political spectrum, the British National party won two seats.
The far-right party's leader Nick Griffin won one of the seats on offer in the north-west, while Andrew Brons was elected in Yorkshire and Humberside.
For the Tories, a 1.2 per cent rise in votes to 4.01 million saw the party gain one MEP and claim a popular vote victory in Wales - where Labour's vote fell 12 per cent - for the first time since 1918.
And the Lib Dems gained one MEP to give them ten in Brussels, despite a 1.1 per cent fall in vote.
On a European level, socialist and centre-left parties took a pounding, with surprise boosts for the ruling parties of Italy and France.