Brexit Party dominates the Euro vote across Burnley, Pendle and Ribble Valley

It was a good day for Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party as East Lancashire followed the national trend in the recent European elections.
European Parliament in StrasbourgEuropean Parliament in Strasbourg
European Parliament in Strasbourg

The party won three of the North West’s eight seats available in Thursday’s European elections with the Conservatives taking a hammering, as expected, due to the ongoing impasse over Brexit.

It was a resounding yes for the anti-EU party in Burnley, Pendle and the Ribble Valley though where the Brexit Party topped the polls in each district with 39.4%, 34.4% and 39.7% of the vote respectively.

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Controversial far-right activist Tommy Robinson, standing as an independent candidate, made little impact however, gaining just 4.4% of the vote in Burnley, 2.1% in Pendle and 1.5% in the Ribble Valley.

Results day also proved to be bleak for several well-known local candidates including Burnley's standing Labour MEP Wajid Khan who lost his seat, as well as Pendle Tory and former solicitor Sajjad Karim who said goodbye to the European Parliament after 15 years while his party failed to gain a single MEP in the region.

The East Lancashire results were not as disastrous for Labour as many anticipated with the party gaining 25.6% of the vote in Burnley and 26.1% in Pendle, finishing second in the share behind the Brexit Party.

Nigel Farage's former party, the UK Independence Party, performed poorly as it made little headway across East Lancashire and the region as a whole.

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In perhaps another reflection of the deep split in the country over the Brexit issue, pro-Europe party the Liberal Democrats fared well and gained 17.15% of the vote across the North West where it finished second in the Ribble Valley with 19.9% of the vote.

The Green Party was also celebrating after its Lancashire County Councillor Gina Dowding gained a seat in Brussels.

The East Lancashire share of the votes:

Burnley - Brexit Party 39.4%; Labour 25.6; Liberal Democrats 9.7; Green 8.2; Conservative 4.7; UKIP 2.5; Change UK 1.6 ; Tommy Robinson (Independent) 4.4; English Democrats 0.7; UK European Union Party 3.1; Mohmmad Aslam (Independent) 0.1.

Pendle - Brexit Party 34.4%; Labour 26.1; Liberal Democrats 10.5; Green 7.4; Conservative12.6; UKIP 4.1; Change UK 1.6; Tommy Robinson (Independent) 2.1 ; English Democrats 0.6; UK European Union Party 0.4; Mohmmad Aslam (Independent) 0.2.

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Ribble Valley - Brexit Party 39.7%; Liberal Democrats 19.9; Green 12.8; Conservative 13; Labour 6.4; UKIP 3.2 ; Change UK 2.6; Tommy Robinson (Independent) 1.5; English Democrat 0.5; UK European Union Party 0.3; Mohmmad Aslam (Independent) 0.

The overall elected MEPs for the North West are as follows:

• The Brexit Party - Claire Fox. Henrik Nielsen, David Bull.

• Labour - Theresa Griffin, Julie Ward.

• Liberal Democrats - Chris Davies, Jane Brophy.

• Green - Gina Dowding.