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Farage wins in UK but pro-EU parties make huge gains

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Monday, 27 May, 2019, 11:20
Farage wins in UK but pro-EU parties make huge gains

The Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage was on course to win Britain’s European election — but there was huge surge for the pro-EU Liberal Democrats as voters hardened their stance after three years of political deadlock.

Both the governing Conservatives and main opposition Labour Party took a drubbing, losing most of the seats held since the last election.

There was also a surge in support for pro-EU nationalist parties, particularly in Scotland where the SNP was on course to gain a number of seats.

In at least two regions, the Conservatives won no seats at all, punished by pro-Brexit voters for failing to take the country out of the EU as promised — a failure that led May to announce her resignation on Friday.

Labour was facing a backlash over an ambiguous policy that has seen it torn over whether to support a new referendum that could halt Brexit.

In northeast England, the first of the U.K.'s 12 regions to report, the Brexit Party got 39% of the vote.

Farage's party, which is barely a few weeks old, picked up almost all the votes that went to his former party, UKIP, in 2014. The Liberal Democrats, campaigning to stop Brexit, more than doubled their share to 17% of the vote. Britain is participating in the EU election because it is still a member of the bloc, but the lawmakers it elects will only sit in the European Parliament until Brexit. That is currently scheduled for Oct. 31. After three defeats for her Brexit deal in Parliament, May threw in the towel on Friday, announcing that she will step down as party leader on June 7. Britain's new prime minister will be whoever wins the Conservative race to replace her.