This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/27/liberal-democrats-eu-election-reap-tory-labour-remain-voters

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Liberal Democrats reap Tory and Labour remain voters Labour must get off Brexit fence, says senior Lib Dem
(about 7 hours 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 Democrat surge has shown that Labour needs to get off the fence on Brexit and support remaining in the EU, the frontrunner to be the new Lib Dem leader has said.
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. Jo Swinson, who is leading the race to succeed Sir Vince Cable, said the Lib Dems had shown they could attract both former Labour and Tory voters fed up with their parties for failing to take a stand against Brexit.
She told the BBC’s Today programme: “Clearly Labour has had an atrocious night and absolutely needs to get off the Brexit fence. I spoke to so many former Labour voters, people in some cases who had voted Labour their entire lives, who voted Liberal Democrat for the first time on Thursday.
“We have really been bringing people together as the Liberal Democrats. To be able to get Michael Heseltine and Alistair Campbell united in the voting booth is no mean feat.”
In the results so far, the Lib Dems have finished in second place with 15 MEPs – more than the 11 MPs they have in the House of Commons and up from just one at the last European parliament election in 2014.
Cable, who is stepping down in July, said: “Our clear, honest, unambiguous message has won us our best ever European election result, and pushed Corbyn’s Labour into third place.
“We have shown ourselves to be the strongest remain force in British politics. We will always stand up for the people who have put their faith in us, taking this mandate forward to campaign harder than ever to stop Brexit.
“There is a clear lesson for Labour in tonight’s results. Get off the fence. In trying to please everybody they have pleased nobody.”
The party beat Labour to second place by more than 1m votes. It made significant inroads in Labour heartlands in particular, as voters abandoned it 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.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, another potential successor to Cable, said the party was back in business and that the results overall showed that people wanted 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 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. In the Labour stronghold of Islington, where Corbyn is MP, the Lib Dems’ share of the vote was up 18.6 points and Labour’s down 21.2. It was a similar story in neighbouring Haringey, where it was up 20.2 points and Labour down 17.7, 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 Lib Dem vote was up 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. The overall Lib Dem vote in the capital was up 20 points.
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, where Ukip and the Tories shared the six seats equally between them at the last European election, 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, 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. Alastair Campbell revealed that he had not cast a vote for Labour and 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. Campbell, the people’s vote campaigner and former spin doctor to Tony Blair, revealed that he had not cast a vote for Labour and 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.”
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.”
The Lib Dems deputy leader Jo Swinson, another potential successor to Cable, tweeted: “So it turns out the Lib Dems 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 revengeEU 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. “I didn’t vote Labour for the first time in my life and it was a very, very strange feeling,” he said. “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
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.”
European parliamentary elections 2019European parliamentary elections 2019
Liberal DemocratsLiberal Democrats
Vince Cable Jo Swinson
Jeremy CorbynJeremy Corbyn
LabourLabour
European electionsEuropean elections
BrexitBrexit
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content