Hardline Euro-sceptics celebrate UK gains

The hard-line Euro-sceptic UK Independence Party was today celebrating a night of stunning gains in the European elections as Labour and the Tories saw their support crash to record lows.

With all 10 regional results in for England and Wales, UKIP had quadrupled their tally of MEPs to 12 and collected 17% of the vote, pushing the Liberal Democrats into fourth place.

Although the UKIP gains were not as great as some polls had predicted, it still represented a major breakthrough for a fringe party which had previously struggled to make an impact on the polls.

The successful candidates included former TV presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk, whose recruitment to the party helped galvanise their campaign as they capitalised on a potent mix of Euro-scepticism and disillusion with the major parties.

“We are the only party that throughout the campaign has talked about Europe and not lied. We are the only party that has talked to the British people about the issue that concerned them,” Mr Kilroy-Silk declared in his victory speech in Northampton in the East Midlands region.

“The issue here is who governs us and the British people agree on its importance.”

In contrast it was another grim night for Labour which saw its support fall six points to 22% – its lowest level in any national elections since 1918.

However the biggest losers were the Conservatives who saw their share of the vote fall 10 points to 27%.

After Labour’s hammering in local council elections, UK Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt admitted that they faced another “disappointing” night but said the results were even worse for the Tories.

“We have always known that there’s a minority of the British people who are adamantly against the European Union and would like Britain to come out,” she said.

“But that poses a huge strategic problem for the Conservative Party. Do they go on becoming more and more Eurosceptic, pandering to UKIP in order to shore up that part of their vote? It is the Conservative Party for whom this result looks like a disaster.”

The strength of the UKIP vote is likely to lead to demands for Tory leader Michael Howard to take a harder line on Europe in a bid to win back the Euro-sceptic vote.

Deputy leader Michael Ancram immediately signalled that they would step up their campaign against the European constitution which is expected to be agreed at the EU summit in Brussels later this week.

“We have got to look very carefully at how we strengthen our attack on the constitution in the months ahead which I think is key to this,” he said.

“We’ve got to show that we are going to use everything we can ahead to try and make sure that this constitution is not ratified and adopted by this country, first of all in parliament and then if we fail that, we have to make sure that in the country when it comes to a referendum there is a big ‘no’ vote.”

At the end of the night, the Conservatives has 25 seats, Labour 17, UKIP 12, the Liberal Democrats 11 and the others three.

The Liberal Democrats saw their share of the vote edge up two points to 15%.

Despite falling behind UKIP, Charles Kennedy expressed satisfaction at their performance in elections which they traditionally find difficult.

“In yet another set of elections the Liberal Democrats’ share of the vote is up while the other main parties are down to unprecedented levels,” he said.

“It is now clear, on the evidence of all these elections, that the story of the next General Election is one of three party politics.

“The Liberal Democrats have emerged stronger while the other two main parties have been deeply wounded.”

The result for Scotland will not be declared until later today.