European election results: Ukip leader Gerard Batten loses his seat

Gerard Batten's advisor Tommy Robinson and YouTuber Carl Benjamin also fail in bids to be elected

Ukip's leader has lost his seat at the European Parliament elections, in the latest blow for the disintegrating eurosceptic party.

Gerard Batten has held his seat in London for a decade but was defeated on Sunday night after his voters switched over to the Brexit Party.

The party lost all of its MEPs as its vote share collapsed to only 3.3 per cent nationally after Nigel Farage’s new breakaway group came top of the polls.

The party’s controversial candidate Carl Benjamin, second on the party’s South West regional list, was one of many who failed to get elected. Labour MP Jess Phillips sarcastically responded “what a shame” after YouTuber who joked about her rape was defeated.

Tommy Robinson, a Ukip adviser, blamed government “interference” with social media companies for his failure to secure a seat in the European Parliament. The independent candidate polled 2.2 per cent of the vote in the North West region, finishing in eighth place behind all the major parties and losing his deposit.

Mr Batten was already expected to step down after the elections to make way for a new leader in light of a poor performance in the polls. His leadership was partly responsible for the Brexit Party’s breakaway – with Mr Farage citing Mr Batten’s anti-Islam rhetoric and closeness to Robinson as reasons for his departure.

Ukip also suffered heavy losses at council elections last month, which the Brexit party did not contest. The party's has seen a major exodus of members, activists, and high-profile members since the founding of the Brexit Party.

As polls closed on Thursday Mr Batten said he hoped that “a large number of UKIP MEPs will be elected - so that we can work to help bring about our country’s complete and total exit from the European Union as quickly as possible”.

With at least 28 MEPs, Nigel Farage will now lead one of the very largest parties in the European Parliament. The Brexit Party took 32 per cent of the vote share and topped the poll in nine of the 10 regions declared.

“Never before in British politics has a new party launched just six weeks ago topped the polls in a national election,” said Mr Farage.