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:
Lib Dems have won in Jeremy Corbyn’s home turf of Islington – coming out on top with 27.5 per cent of the vote, with Labour reduced to 26.3 per cent. Embarrassing for the Labour leader.
RESULT: The Lib Dems have won the London region, increasing their vote by 20 per cent. They have gained three MEPs. Labour comes second and now have two MEPs. The Brexit Party take two MEP seats for London, while the Greens take one.
More on the London results. The Brexit Party surge means UKIP Leader Gerard Batten has lost his seat for the city.
A lot of results coming in from the rest of Europe. One of the most interesting ones will be France, where far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen has already declared victory based on preliminary results.
Here’s our Europe correspondent Jon Stone with more.
RESULT: The Brexit Party has won the Wales region. They have two new MEPs.
Plaid Cymru has come second, retaining one seat, while Labour is pushed into third, also retaining a seat. The Lib Dems finished fourth, ahead of the Tories in fifth.
RESULT: The Brexit Party has won the West Midlands region. They have three new MEPs and took 38 per cent of the vote.
Labour has come second, and now have only one seat, while the Lib Dems finished third, retaining one. The Green Party and the Tories also won a seat each.
Here’s more from Jon Stone on comments made by Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who has suggested her party now needs to come out strongly in favour of a second referendum.
Incidentally, Tommy Robinson came in eighth place out of 11 candidates in Manchester, polling only 2,171 votes.
He conceded defeat in his bid to become an independent MEP before the first council area result was declared at the North West count. Before leaving the Manchester Central venue, he told his followers on the Telegram private messaging app:
“Disappointed to say the least. They (the votes) are not in but they are in ... at the same time what do you expect? Going through the votes we have certainly not got a place as a MEP but I want to say a special thank you to every single person who supported.”
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