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| Liberal Democrats reap Tory and Labour remain voters | Liberal Democrats reap Tory and Labour remain voters |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The Liberal Democrats’ “Bollocks to Brexit” slogan paid dividends on a night in which they established themselves firmly as the remainers’ party of choice. | The Liberal Democrats’ “Bollocks to Brexit” slogan paid dividends on a night in which they established themselves firmly as the remainers’ party of choice. |
| The party which has only 11 MPs sitting in the House of Commons, took its number of MEPs in England and Wales from one to 15, in its most successful European election campaign ever, beating Labour to second place by more than 1m votes. It made significant inroads in Labour heartlands in particular, as voters abandoned Jeremy Corbyn’s party over its failure to unequivocally offer a second referendum. | |
| A clear, honest, unambiguous message has won @libdems our best ever European election result. We have shown ourselves as the strongest Remain force in British politics. Thank you to everyone who put their faith in us. We will stand up for you and keep campaigning to #StopBrexit. | |
| Ed Davey, a potential successor to Vince Cable when he stands down as leader, said the party was “back in business” and the results overall showed that people want to halt Brexit. | Ed Davey, a potential successor to Vince Cable when he stands down as leader, said the party was “back in business” and the results overall showed that people want to halt Brexit. |
| He told the BBC: “The Liberal Democrats are the leading remain party, we have managed to garner a lot of votes from remain Conservatives and remain Labour and so I am very pleased the Liberal Democrats have had a fantastic night.” | He told the BBC: “The Liberal Democrats are the leading remain party, we have managed to garner a lot of votes from remain Conservatives and remain Labour and so I am very pleased the Liberal Democrats have had a fantastic night.” |
| He said that it was legitimate to add up the Lib Dem vote with all the other votes for parties wanting to remain. “People want a chance to vote again, they want a final say,” he said. | He said that it was legitimate to add up the Lib Dem vote with all the other votes for parties wanting to remain. “People want a chance to vote again, they want a final say,” he said. |
| The party’s resurgence was exemplified by its performance in London where it went from zero MEPs to three. Its striking performance in the capital came on the back of a huge jump in its share of the vote in Labour strongholds such as Islington, where Corbyn is MP, with the Lib Dems share of the vote there up 18.6 points and Labour’s down 21.2 points. It was a similar story in neighbouring Haringey where Cable’s party’s share of the vote was up 20.2 points and Labour’s was down 17.7 points, placing the Lib Dems first. | The party’s resurgence was exemplified by its performance in London where it went from zero MEPs to three. Its striking performance in the capital came on the back of a huge jump in its share of the vote in Labour strongholds such as Islington, where Corbyn is MP, with the Lib Dems share of the vote there up 18.6 points and Labour’s down 21.2 points. It was a similar story in neighbouring Haringey where Cable’s party’s share of the vote was up 20.2 points and Labour’s was down 17.7 points, placing the Lib Dems first. |
| The Lib Dem vote was up a stunning 30 points in Kingston Upon Thames and a similar amount in Kensington and Chelsea, both areas where the Tory share was down by over 20 points. The party also swept Camden, Lewisham and Sutton, helping to make it the largest in London, the only region in England and Wales where that distinction did not go to the Brexit party. Overall the Lib Dems vote was up 20 points in the capital. | |
| The party also made telling gains outside the capital, in some firmly remain areas but also acting as a counterweight to the Brexit party in leave-voting areas. In the East of England for instance, where Ukip and the Tories shared the six seats equally between them last time out, the Lib Dems won two and the Greens also picked up one, with the Brexit party taking the remainder. The Lib Dems won two seats to the Brexit party’s three in south-west England and one in Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands respectively, both areas where the Brexit party won the largest share of the vote. | The party also made telling gains outside the capital, in some firmly remain areas but also acting as a counterweight to the Brexit party in leave-voting areas. In the East of England for instance, where Ukip and the Tories shared the six seats equally between them last time out, the Lib Dems won two and the Greens also picked up one, with the Brexit party taking the remainder. The Lib Dems won two seats to the Brexit party’s three in south-west England and one in Yorkshire and Humber and the West Midlands respectively, both areas where the Brexit party won the largest share of the vote. |
| It was not just the general public who deserted the two main parties for the Lib Dems as Alistair Campbell revealed that he had not cast a vote for Labourand instead voted for the party pledging to try to stop Brexit. | It was not just the general public who deserted the two main parties for the Lib Dems as Alistair Campbell revealed that he had not cast a vote for Labourand instead voted for the party pledging to try to stop Brexit. |
| Tony Blair’s former spin doctor told the BBC: “I didn’t vote Labour for the first time in my life and it was a very, very strange feeling. But I just felt on this issue, at this time, the Labour party has let its own supporters down, it has let its own members down and I think it has let the country down in the way that it has failed properly to devise a policy that the country and the party could unite around, and the way that it failed to campaign.” | Tony Blair’s former spin doctor told the BBC: “I didn’t vote Labour for the first time in my life and it was a very, very strange feeling. But I just felt on this issue, at this time, the Labour party has let its own supporters down, it has let its own members down and I think it has let the country down in the way that it has failed properly to devise a policy that the country and the party could unite around, and the way that it failed to campaign.” |
| I confirmed to @lbc I voted Lib Dem, as did @schooltruth - for both of us the first time ever we did not vote @Uklabour - I’m not a Lib Dem. I’m Labour and I hope that in voting as I did I will help the Labour Party see sense and do right thing for the country @peoplesvote_uk | |
| Michael Heseltine, who had the Tory whip suspended after saying he would vote for the Lib Dems, confirmed that he had gone ahead with his threat. “I did what I believed to be in the national interest, and it fulfilled a warning that I gave to my party many months ago that the Lib Dems would take a significant number of Conservative votes, which they have done.” | Michael Heseltine, who had the Tory whip suspended after saying he would vote for the Lib Dems, confirmed that he had gone ahead with his threat. “I did what I believed to be in the national interest, and it fulfilled a warning that I gave to my party many months ago that the Lib Dems would take a significant number of Conservative votes, which they have done.” |
| The Lib Dems deputy leader Jo Swinson, another potential successor to Cable, tweeted: “So it turns out the LibDems got votes from Michael Heseltine and Alistair Campbell. How’s that for bringing people together for a common cause?” | The Lib Dems deputy leader Jo Swinson, another potential successor to Cable, tweeted: “So it turns out the LibDems got votes from Michael Heseltine and Alistair Campbell. How’s that for bringing people together for a common cause?” |
| EU elections: Tories and Labour savaged as voters take Brexit revenge | |
| By contrast Labour was reduced to recriminations. with the party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, saying it urgently needed to rethink its position and the shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, saying Labour should have campaigned to remain. “We should have said quite simply that any deal that comes out of this government should be put to a confirmatory referendum and that remain should be on the ballot paper and that Labour would campaign to remain,” she told the BBC. | |
| European parliamentary elections 2019 | European parliamentary elections 2019 |
| Liberal Democrats | Liberal Democrats |
| Vince Cable | Vince Cable |
| Jeremy Corbyn | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Labour | Labour |
| European elections | European elections |
| Brexit | Brexit |
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