Ukip’s East Mids Euro election success echoes national triumph

The party enjoyed regional success, which includes the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland after voting on Thursday, May 22.

Ukip won 32.9 per cent of the vote, ahead of the Conservatives, who finished second on 26 per cent. Both parties will send two MEPs to Brussels.

Labour came third with 24.9 per cent, meaning the party has had one MEP elected.

The Green Party finished fourth, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fifth.

East Midlands’ lead candidates included MEP Emma McClarkin, Conservative, Bill Newton-Dunn, Lib Dem, MEP Glenis Willmott, Labour, Katharina Boettge, Green, MEP Roger Helmer, Ukip, and Kevin Sills, English Democrats. Conservatives were offering an in-out Euro referendum. The Lib Dems said they felt the EU will create jobs. Labour believes the EU will support business. The Greens hoped to address climate change. Ukip and the English Democrats both outlined how they want to secure Britain’s withdrawal from the EU.

Results, announced by David Cook, the chief executive of Kettering Borough Council, which acted as the lead authority for the region, mean three incumbent East Midlands MEPs will be making a return to the European Parliament.

Sitting Ukip MEP Roger Helmer, from Lutterworth in Leicestershire, is joined by party colleague Margot Parker, from near Corby in Northamptonshire.

Conservative Emma McClarkin, from Market Harborough in Leicestershire, was re-elected, and will sit alongside new Tory MEP Andrew Lewer, from Matlock in Derbyshire.

Labour’s Glenis Willmott, from Lockington near Derby, also retained her seat.

However, Lib Dem Bill Newton Dunn, Britain’s longest-serving MEP, will not be returning to Brussels.

Margot Parker paid tribute to the hard work of the Ukip team. She said: “We had a tremendous campaign thanks to the team’s hard work and tenacity.

“We have been campaigning for almost six months. We gauged that we were speaking the language of the people out there. The nonsense we have had thrown at us by the other parties has been cast aside by the voters.

“I’m privileged to have received those votes, which I hold very dear.”

Conservative candidate Stephen Castens said he was pleased the Conservative vote had held up across the region and predicted UKIP would not perform as strongly in next year’s Westminster election.

He added: “If we are managing to perform like this a year before a General Election, we have got everything to play for.”

Glenis Willmott, for Labour, said: “I am disappointed to get a second seat. Ukip were always going to do well, but that’s not because of the issue of Europe, it’s because people are disengaged. They feel they have been left behind.

“We have got to reach out to those people. It’s about us giving the message that Ukip isn’t the answer.”

The full results are below:

Ukip: 368,734 (32.9 per cent, +16.4)

Conservative: 291,270 (26.0 per cent, -4.2)

Labour: 279,363 (24.9 per cent, +8.0)

Green: 67,066 (6.0 per cent, -0.8)

Lib Dem: 60,772 (5.6 per cent, -6.7 per cent)

An Independence from Europe: 21,384 (1.9 per cent)

BNP: 18,326 (1.6 per cent, -7.0)

English Democrats: 11,612 (1.0 per cent, -1.3)

Harmony Party: 2,194 (0.2 per cent)

Ukip.

In Great Britain, Ukip took 27.5per cent of the vote to clinch top place in the national polls of the European Elections.

Conservatives took 23.9per cent, Labour 25.4per cent, Libe Dems 6.8per cent, Green 7.8per cent with 8.2per cent of the vote was shared between remaining others parties.