And with a baited breath….
After a disastrous showing for the government, in last Wednesday’s English local council elections, the trend would appear to be continuing as the results of the EU elections come in.
(As of the time of this post, none of the Scottish EU parliamentary seats have declared – keep updated on the Scottish results)
The Tories (Conservative Party), UKIP (UK Independance Party – anti-European Union), Lib Dems (Liberal Democrats) all seem to have achieved similar results to the last set of elections in 2004. Labour, however, seem to have lost out significantly. The Green party being one of the main benefactors.
There was always going to be something of a protest vote, given the recent furore over apparent abuses of the expenses system by MP’s. The big fear being that a marginal party, the BNP (British National Party – right-wing, racist) in particular would gain. The other likelihood being that there would be a low turn-out.
According to figures posted on the BBC news website, (for UK wide results click here) there was a turnout of roughly a third of the electorate (not all results are in yet, so this is not a definite figure). So, it would seem that voter apathy and disgust towards the poltical classes won out. And unfortunately the BNP have been able to return an MEP (Member of the European Parliament).
Only one mind, but still.
Labour’s losses don’t put it in good stead, and only serve to further compund their current position as a weakened government (in an arguably weakened parliament).
**Edited: Monday 8th June @ 11:46pm**
Ok, so the ‘Only one’ was eventually announced as two. I think that it is fair to say that they will get plenty of coverage elsewhere, without needing any further from me.
My interest lies more in a weakened executive (the Prime Minister especially) that seems determined to hang on to the bitter end. I can’t help but wonder whether it’s not just the Parliamentary Democracy system that’s suffering, but also the wider notion of UK democracy as a whole.
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