EU elections: Tories and Labour savaged as voters take Brexit revenge

[brooklynite]

Source: The Guardian

An insurgent Brexit party and reinvigorated Liberal Democrats have delivered a harrowing night for the Conservatives and Labour at the European elections, prompting profound soul-searching at the top of both major parties.

Nigel Farage’s Brexit party humiliated the Conservatives in their rural heartlands but also made sweeping gains in cities such as Cardiff, Leeds and Sheffield, as well as in Hillingdon, the home of Boris’ Johnson’s seat where the Tories were pushed into fourth.

The night also confirmed an extraordinary revival of the Lib Dems, who overtook the Tories in Theresa May’s Maidenhead seat and came first in Jeremy Corbyn’s north London home of Islington.

Overnight, the Brexit party gained 28 seats, with the Lib Dems in second on 15 seats, Labour held 10, having lost seven so far, the Green party held seven, a gain of four, and the Tories were languishing in fifth place, with just three seats.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/may/27/eu-elections-tories-and-labour-savaged-as-voters-take-brexit-revenge

[Initech]

1. This gives me hope for 2020!

[OneBro]

2. Did we read the same article?

“A triumphant Farage, re-elected to the European parliament in the South East, said his party had achieved a historic result. The Brexit party won all of the regions in England, apart from London, as well as Wales, and took almost 2 million more votes than their closest rivals, the Lib Dems.”

I don’t see how this could end well for the UK.

[chowder66]

3. The Brexit Party is like the Far Right in the U.S. Are you sure you're hopeful? nt

[Initech]

5. Well, actually I am not.

I thought Hillary was a sure thing in 2016, now there's no such thing.

[chowder66]

6. I just read further on this and while the Brexit Party took a major leap anti-brexit parties

actually did better overall. So maybe there is hope somewhere in all of this.

Link to tweet

[Initech]

7. Oh no, the battle may be won, but the war is far from over!

[Tiggeroshii]

4. This has very little consequence on actual policy anywhere.

Overall the euro skeptic parties are looking to actually lose seats in the overall EU parliament while the more leftist blocks have almost nearly taken a controlling portion of the European parliament without the help of the moderate pro EU EPP. The UK results are only the delegation for the UK, and don't affect EU or UK policy as their representation in the EU is still very negligible.

[brooklynite]

8. UPDATE: UK results

Tories lost 15 seats, but Labout lost 10.

Lib dens won 16, but Brexit won 29.

FWIW - the middle of the road/remain "Change UK" Party didn't win anything.

Translation: voters picked a Party that took a position, but "leave" is still a strong sentiment.

[johannsyah]

9. I'm just going to paste a comment from one of the Guardian articles.

"The fact of the EU election result shows the Brexit Parties of: Brexit & UKIP took 35.9% of the vote, while the Remain Parties of: Lid Dems, Greens, Change UK, SNP, PC took: 42.4% of the vote. Remain has majority while Brexit does not."

[BlueIdaho]

10. Business Insider Agrees

LONDON - Remain voters have surged to anti-Brexit parties in the European elections in the UK, with the Liberal Democrats on course for their best ever result. The Lib Dems came second in London and topped the poll in a number of councils where the Labour Party had won in the last European Parliament elections in 2014. The party - which is campaigning to cancel the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union - came into the elections with just one representative in the European Parliament but are set to end the night with at least 15. Overall, explicitly pro-Remain parties are on course to win more votes than the pro-Leave Brexit Party.

[Blue_Tires]

11. Who the hell would even vote for a "Brexit Party"

when it has been a massive failure up to this point?