European election results 2019: Brexit Party vow to take on Tories and Labour in general election as Tommy Robinson and UKIP obliterated
Labour hints at supporting second referendum as Liberal Democrats win Remain voters
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Your support makes all the difference.Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has claimed victory in the European parliamentary elections, taking 29 seats and topping the poll in ten of the UK's 11 regions.
On a grim night for the Conservatives and Labour, the pro-EU Liberal Democrats emerged as the other big winners, with leader Sir Vince Cable saying it was “proof that the Lib Dems are the biggest, strongest voice of Remain”.
Theresa May said it was a "very disappointing night" for the Conservatives and once again urged MPs to find a solution to the Brexit crisis.
"Some excellent MEPs have lost their seats, some excellent candidates missed out," she said.
"But Labour have also suffered big losses. It shows the importance of finding a Brexit deal, and I sincerely hope these results focus minds in Parliament"
Boris Johnson, widely considered the frontrunner in the race to replace Ms May, said voters had delivered the Conservative party with a "final warning".
He urged his colleagues to deliver Brexit and "deliver Brexit and set out our positive plans for the country."
At the same time Labour edged closer to support for a second Brexit referendum, after voters in Remain strongholds deserted the party and voted for the Liberal Democrats.
In early-morning messages after seeing the party slump to third place with a 14 per cent share of the vote, both Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that the issue of EU withdrawal must be put to a public vote – which could come in a general election or a Final Say referendum.
Mr McDonnell tweeted: “Can’t hide from hit we took last night. Bringing people together when there’s such a divide was never going to be easy. Now we face prospect of Brexiteer extremist as Tory leader and threat of no deal, we must unite our party and country by taking issue back to people in a public vote.”
If you would like to see how the EU election results night unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:
Nigel Farage has demanded a seat on Britain’s Brussels negotiating team for the Brexit Party after it pulled off a major victory in the European elections on Sunday night.
The new group won the British part of the elections by far, with at least 28 seats – surpassing the former success of Ukip which had won the 2014 elections under Mr Farage’s leadership.
The Brexit Party took 32 per cent of the national vote share and topped the poll in nine of the 10 regions declared. Claiming a “big win”, Mr Farage told reporters as the results rolled in: “We’ve got a deadline for 31 October, that’s the date on which we’re supposed to leave the European Union.
This is from Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, who says the only way now to break the Brexit deadlock is to "go back to the public with a choice between a credible leave option and remain".
Prominent Tory Brexiteer Steve Baker said he would decide whether to stand for the party leadership “in time for next weekend”, but was concerned that he might split the eurosceptic vote by standing, writes political editor Andrew Woodcock.
Mr Baker said that one-third of Tory MPs were eurosceptics, telling Sky News: “We cannot afford to split that vote by having a large array of Eurosceptic candidates for leader.
“You need a third plus one of Tory MPs to guarantee getting somebody into the last two, and that weighs very heavily on me. It’s very flattering that so many activists and members of the public have asked me to stand, but I have to balance that against the practical politics.”
Mr Baker said it was “very difficult to see” how a serving cabinet minister could become leader, because of their record of backing Theresa May’s deal.
He said Boris Johnson was the “stand-out leading candidate”, with Dominic Raab “hard on his heels”, but pointed out that – unlike him – both of them had backed Ms May’s deal in the third meaningful vote.
Tommy Robinson was met with mocking laughter after he failed to win election last night as an independent MEP candidate.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, won just 38,908 votes (2.2 per cent) in his attempt to win a seat in the European parliament and finished in eighth place.
The former leader of the English Defence League was one of a group of MEP candidates who had a milkshake thrown over them during the election campaign, along with Nigel Farage and Ukip candidate Carl Benjamin.
Former cabinet minister and now Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom has responded to the trouncing of the Conservatives at the European elections.
She says: “These results are truly terrible and demonstrate the damage that has been done to the Conservative Party, and to the country, in not leaving the European Union. We should never have been fighting these elections.
"It is now vital we now find a way to decisively leave the EU. Doing so will allow us to focus on other areas people care so passionately about, such as the climate crisis, and social care. I have a three-step plan for how we deliver Brexit which I look forward to discussing further during the leadership campaign.”
Jeremy Corbyn has just done a brief clip to cameras on the European election results.
He says Labour is "consulting all our members, and all our affiliates and listening to the views of MPs and members of the shadow cabinet" after the results.
"The country is very divided and the country has to come together. Nigel Farage's Brexit Party are only offering a no-deal exit... there has to be an agreement with the European Union and there then has to be a public vote."
"We had a very clear policy all along that will call for a general election and a referendum to decide on the future."
Asked whether he would support an internal party ballot on the direction of the party's policy, he replied: "What we'll do is consult members and through the constituency parties and affiliated trade unions and bring the issue back to conference in September".
"What we've tried to do is bring people together - whether they voted Leave or Remain."
He adds that the priority at the moment is for this government to call for a general election, he says.
... Meanwhile, former Ukip deputy leader Mike Hookem called on party leader Gerard Batten to quit immediately, saying he was to blame for the failure to win any seats in the European Parliament.
"His policies and associations directly led to the defeat we suffered on Sunday evening, and for that, he should do the honourable thing and resign," Mr Hookem said.
He added: "For months, I have been advising Gerard against his association with Tommy Robinson; the micromanagement of the party and his candidate choices to fight the European elections."
Pretty horrific result for Labour in Scotland - party now in fifth position, behind the SNP (38%), Brexit Party (15%), Lib Dems (14%) and Conservatives (12%). Labour on 9% with no MEPs.
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