Labour trounced by SNP in Euro election

LABOUR suffered a mauling at the hands of the SNP as disastrous European election results across the UK dealt another shattering blow to Gordon Brown's insistence that he will not step down as Prime Minister.

After all but one of the results had been declared, the SNP was heading for about 29 per cent of the popular vote in Scotland, well ahead of Labour, which had around 21 per cent. However, Labour held on to its two seats.

The SNP also took two seats, with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats on one each.

In Wales, Labour was beaten by the Conservatives for the first time in any popular vote since 1918, with the Tories claiming to have "killed the lie that Wales will always be Labour".

Across the UK, Labour was heading for about 16 per cent of the popular vote, down from 22.9 per cent in 2004. With four results in, Labour looked set to trail UKip (UK Independence Party) in third place in the share of the popular vote, according to a BBC projection.

It put the Tories first with 27 per cent, followed by UKip on 17 per cent, Labour on 16 per cent, the Liberal Democrats on 14 per cent, the Greens on 9 per cent and the BNP on 6 per cent. In a further blow to the government, the BNP won its first European seat, as "veteran nationalist" Andrew Brons was elected for the far-right party in Yorkshire and Humber.

The grim picture will offer further ammunition to rebel MPs, who are set to confront Mr Brown at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party tonight. Yesterday, the Prime Minister sent a defiant message to party activists, insisting he would not abandon the British public at a time of crisis.

But Labour MP John McDonnell said the writing was on the wall. "If Labour MPs and Gordon Brown don't get the message from these results we are finished," he said. "The message is clear – we need a complete change of political direction."

He added: "New Labour is being eliminated at the ballot box. People are telling us that they want the Labour Party to become a people's party again. Only then will we regain voter trust."

Labour languished far behind the Conservatives in the results for most of the English regions declared last night. In some regions that had not declared by midnight, it was speculated that Labour could come as low as fifth.

Deputy leader Harriet Harman admitted: "We are bracing ourselves for very dismal results, there is no doubt about that."

She sought to deflect blame from the Prime Minister, instead seizing on the row over MPs' expenses as the catalyst for the electoral slaughter.

"Our supporters are absolutely furious with us about expenses," she said. "They expect us to have higher standards than the Tories."

But the results for Labour were ominous in Scotland, a heartland for the party and Mr Brown's home ground. With results in for all but one council areas, the Nationalists surged to 29.2 per cent, pushing Labour to just under 21 per cent, while the Tories were on 16.9 per cent and the Liberal Democrats 11.5 per cent and the Greens 7.5 per cent.

First Minister and SNP leader Alex Salmond said: "This is a historic result for the SNP, up ten points on the last European election and the first time we have ever won a UK-wide election in Scotland."

In the last election, the SNP, Labour and the Tories had two seats each and the Liberal Democrats one. But the number of Scottish Euro seats has since been reduced to six through European enlargement.

Mr Salmond said the SNP's margin of victory was much greater than in the knife-edge 2007 Holyrood elections.

He said it was Labour's worst share of the vote in Scotland since World War One and the emergence of the modern Labour Party.

"In the contest between two governments, the SNP in Scotland and Labour at Westminster, the people of Scotland have delivered a massive vote of confidence in the SNP and a massive rejection of Labour," he said.

Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael said: "The people of Scotland are walking away from Labour in their droves. We go back more than half a century to find a result as bad as this for the Labour Party in Scotland."

Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray admitted the results were "disappointing" for Labour, but said lessons had been learned from the European campaign.

"The public have been deeply disillusioned by the expenses scandal and Labour, as the government, has taken the main hit," he added. "But, as Gordon Brown said, Labour's priorities are to clean up politics and work towards economic recovery."

David Martin, Labour's lead candidate in Scotland, said: "It's a disappointing night for Labour, but if we can take any comfort it is the fact that our initial analysis suggests that the Labour vote stayed at home, as opposed to coming out and voting against us. With a backdrop of political crisis, Westminster expenses and the economic crisis, this was not the worst result."

Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP deputy leader and Deputy First Minister, said it was a "fantastic result" for her party.

The Conservative MP David Mundell said: "We've polled very well in the areas we need to, to win additional seats at Westminster."

In East Renfrewshire, the constituency of Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy, Labour was hammered into third place on 20.8 per cent of the vote, behind the first-place Conservatives on 28.6 per cent and the second-place SNP with 22.8 per cent.

In Mr Brown's home patch of Fife, Labour squeaked ahead of the SNP, but only by a 200-vote margin – 21,248 to 21,043.

By late evening, with most of the results in, Labour outpolled the SNP in only two other areas – Glasgow and North Lanarkshire.

Falkirk also saw a swing of 11 per cent to the SNP, with the Nationalists securing 36 per cent of the vote and Labour on 24 per cent. Among several blows for Labour was East Lothian, the area represented in Holyrood by its Scottish leader, Iain Gray. Here, Labour was outpolled by the SNP by a margin of 25 per cent to 22 per cent.

Labour's leader in the European Parliament said that the expenses scandal at Westminster had "overshadowed" her party's election campaign.

Glenis Willmott said the attempts of candidates and activists to talk about policies and Labour's track record in Brussels had been "frustrated" on the doorstep by people's anger at the revelations of expense claims.

OLD FACES RETURNED AGAIN

SCOTLAND'S MEPs elected last night showed little change on those elected in 2004.

Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith, the two SNP MEPs, were re-elected, as were the two Labour MEPs, David Martin and Catherine Stihler.

Struan Stevenson, also already an MEP, was the sole Conservative elected, while the only new member of the European Parliament will be George Lyon, the Liberal Democrat former MSP.

The results from each council area did throw up some interesting little cameos, though. In the Scottish Borders, not a Labour stronghold, Labour's 6.8 per cent was only enough for fifth place – behind UKip.

The SNP won in Edinburgh, with the Conservatives in second and Labour in third – just ahead of the Lib Dems.

And in Falkirk, a Labour stronghold, the SNP won 36 per cent of the vote, 13 per cent ahead of Labour – perhaps a reflection of the fact that both Labour MPs in the area have been embroiled in the expenses scandal.

The results from the Western Isles will be declared this morning.

BNP LEADER GRIFFIN 'OUTRAGED'

BNP leader Nick Griffin was briefly prevented from attending last night's Euro election count in Manchester by protesters.

Placard-waving anti-BNP demonstrators surrounded a number of cars – one of which was thought to be carrying Mr Griffin – when they arrived at Manchester Town Hall.

The cars drove away without anyone getting out.

But Mr Griffin, who is hoping to become the far-right BNP's first MEP in the EU-wide election, later entered the town hall via a rear entrance, having arrived in a police van.

He said: "It's outrageous what the left Labour Party are doing."

He was surrounded by minders and police officers as he entered the building.

Small crowds of noisy demonstrators had gathered at the town hall carrying "Don't Vote BNP" banners and chanting their protests.

BNP WINS FIRST EUROPEAN SEAT

THE British National Party won a seat in the European Parliament last night for the first time in its history.

Andrew Brons, the far right party's candidate in the Yorkshire and Humber region, took the seat from Labour with 120,139 votes.

Cabinet minister Andy Burnham said the result was a "sad moment for British politics".

The BNP was also hoping to win a seat across the Pennines in the north-west region where party leader Nick Griffin stood, taking up to 16 per cent of the vote.