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:
Here’s where we are. So far, the Brexit Party has won 6 of 7 declared regions – South West, Yorkshire & Humber, the West Midlands, Wales, East of England and North East regions.
Alastair Campbell has been talking about why he voted for the Lib Dems. Labour’s former communications chief says that if Jeremy Corbyn’s party don’t now back a second referendum, “they’re facing oblivion”.
RESULT: The Brexit Party has won the South West region. They have three new MEPs – including Anne Widdecombe.
The Lib Dems came second, taking two MEP seats, and the Greens came third. They now have one MEP for the region. The Tories finished ahead of Labour – with Jeremy Corbyn’s party pushed down into a miserable fifth place.
Not a good night for Ukip so far. The party’s leader Gerard Batten has lost his seat at the European Parliament. Here’s our correspondent Jon Stone with the details.
Tory leadership front-runner Boris Johnson has insisted “no one sensible” would exclusively aim for a no-deal withdrawal.
His latest comments came after the former foreign secretary drew fire from senior Tories after he was accused of pushing to quit the EU without an agreement in October.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, the ex-foreign secretary said: “No one sensible would aim exclusively for a no-deal outcome. No one responsible would take no-deal off the table.”
Mr Johnson insisted last week that the UK would quit the bloc on 31 October “deal or no deal”.
The latest projections from the European Parliament estimate that the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) grouping will win 180 of the 751 seats in the European Parliament, followed by the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) with 152.
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and Renaissance (ALDE&R) was projected to win 105 seats, the Greens 67, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group (ECR) 61, Europe of Nations and Freedom Group (ENF) 57, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy Group (EFDD) 54 and the Confederal Group of the European United Left/Nordic Green Left 38.
The latest national vote share shows the Brexit Party on 31.7 per cent – on course to meet Nigel Farage’s expectations for a very, very good night.
As some predicted, the Lib Dems look as though they might do better than Labour. And at the moment the Greens are doing better than the Conservatives, even if the Tories will be relieved they have hung onto two MEPs. The party of government has, however, failed to come top in any single local authority.
RESULT: The Brexit Party has won the South East region. They have four new MEPs – including Nigel Paul Farage.
The Lib Dems came second, taking three MEP seats, and the Greens came third. They now have one MEP for the region. The Tories finished ahead of Labour – with Jeremy Corbyn’s party pushed down into fifth.
Tory MEP Daniel Hannan, having predicted a wipeout, has retained his seat.
In his victory speech, Nigel Farage says the Brexit Party wants to be part of the government’s negotiating team for Brexit. He predicts the excellent results for his party will be repeated at the next general election if Brexit is not delivered.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has responded to his party’s poor results so far. “After three years of Tory failure to deliver a Brexit that works for the whole country, these elections became a proxy second referendum.
“With the Conservatives disintegrating and unable to govern, and parliament deadlocked, this issue will have to go back to the people, whether through a general election or a public vote. Labour will bring our divided country together so we can end austerity and tackle inequality.
“Over the coming days we will have conversations across our party and movement, and reflect on these results on both sides of the Brexit divide.
“We will not let the continuing chaos in the Conservative Party push our country into a No Deal exit from the EU. Parliament can and will prevent such a damaging outcome for jobs and industry in the UK.”
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