- Brexit Party is the big winner
- Tories and Labour punished for prevarication
- Gains for Lib Dems and Greens
- SNP continues to dominate in Scotland
- Labour slips to SIXTH in Edinburgh – loses both Scottish MEPs
The United Kingdom remains as divided as ever this morning as the results of Thursday’s European elections were announced.
With the votes from Northern Ireland and Scotland’s Western Isles still to be counted later today, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party was the big winner on the night, winning 31.6% of the vote across the UK and topping the poll in all but one of the regions declared so far.
Formed just six weeks ago with no manifesto other than getting out of the EU, the Brexit Party is now demanding a seat at the table at Brexit talks.
As expected it was a miserable night for the ‘Big Two’ political parties, who were punished for their inability to deliver on the European Referendum result of June 2016.
On a humiliating night the Tories fell to fifth place overall with a vote share of less than 10%, their worst ever result
Labour, too, has taken a drubbing. A lack of clarity over Labour’s position on Europe saw the party plunge to third place behind the Brexit Party and the Lib Dems. Labour’s share of the vote is just 14% across the UK and the party will have no Scottish MEPs.
In Edinburgh, Labour plummeted to SIXTH place, trailing behind the SNP, the Lib Dems, the Greens, the Conservatives and the Brexit Party.
Smaller parties with a clear message on Europe fared well. The Lib Dems claimed a vote for them would ‘Stop Brexit’ – it won’t – and the party will be delighted with a vote share of over 20% across the UK, a clear second only to The Brexit Party.
The Greens, too, have made significant gains attracting 12% of the vote – and beating the Conservatives into fourth place.
In Scotland, the SNP’s pro-EU stance has seen the party advance once again. On a very good night for the SNP the party’s share of the vote has risen to 38% and will see the SNP gain a third MEP. This is mostly at the expense of Labour, who’s vote collapse has seen the once-dominant party dropping to fifth place north of the border and losing both MEPs.
The UK is electing 73 MEPs from across 12 regions, of which Scotland is one. With Northern Ireland and Scotland’s Western Isles results to be declared later this morning, the current state of the parties, with ten regions declared, is:
Brexit Party 28 MEPs
Lib Dems 15
Labour 10
Greens 7
Conservatives 3
Plaid Cymru 1
- Scotland and Northern Ireland still to come.
Scotland elects six MEPs. With one Scottish council still to declare it’s result it’s looking likely that the SNP will pick up three seats with the Lib Dems, Scottish Conservatives and the Brexit Party winning one each.
CONFIRMATION:
With the final Scottish result declared,
SNP – 3 seats (37.7%)
Brexit Party – 1 seat (14.8%)
Lib Dems – 1 seat (13.8%)
Conservatives – 1 seat (11.6%)
Labour – 9.3%
Greens – 8.2%
Turnout across the UK was 37% which looks pretty poor but is actually the second highest ever in our European elections.
Across Europe, the turnout topped 51% – the highest for twenty years.
Background Notes:
Scotland’s six MEPs elected in May 2014 were:
Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith – SNP
David Martin and Catherine Stihler- Labour
Baroness Nosheena Mobarik CBE – Conservative
David Coburn – was elected as a UKIP MEP but subsequently quit the party in December 2018.
European Referendum result June 2016
Leave 17 410 742 (51.9%)
Remain 16 141 241 (48.1%)
Electorate 46 501 241
Turnout 72.2%
Didn’t Vote 13 000 000
EU Referendum results in Scotland
Leave 38.0% – 1 018 322
Remain 62% – 1 661 191
Electorate
Turnout 67.2%
Edinburgh – EU Referendum results 2016:
Leave 25.6% – 64 498
Remain 74.4% – 187 796
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