Success for UKIP in European election

The party performed particularly strongly in Lincolnshire, winning in every one of the individual district and borough council areas - including a strong show in Boston.

The five MEPs to represent the region will now be Roger Helmer and Margot Parker of UKIP, Emma McClarkin and Andrew Iain Lewer of the Conservative Party and Labour’s Glenis Willmott.

UKIP’s share of the vote rose 16 per cent, with the Conservative Party down four per cent to 26 and Labour on 25 per cent, eight per cent up.

Lib Dem Bill Newton-Dunn lost his seat, marking an end to a stint in the European Parliament which dates back to 1979. His party was beaten into fifth place by the Green Party.

The election success builds on the party’s strong performance in Boston at last year’s county council elections, where it won five of the seven available seats in the borough.

The result for the East Midlands, announcedin Kettering, was as follows:

An Independence from Europe: 21,384

British National Party: 18,326

Conservative Party: 291,270

English Democrats: 11,612

Green Party: 67,066

Harmony Party: 2,194

Labour Party: 279,363

Liberal Democrats: 60,773

UKIP: 368,734