European Elections 2009: Labour Loses 1.5m Voters
As America shifts toward the left, the United Kingdom and Europe shift to the right.
The full scale of Labour’s electoral disaster became clear with the final results, published in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Third overall behind the Tories and the UK Independence, Labour was defeated in many of its traditional heartlands, and beaten into fourth and even fifth place in many parts of the country.
Labour took 15.7 per cent of the votes cast, its worst ever showing in a national election. That was almost seven percentage points down on the last European election results in 2004.
The 2004 result was Labour’s worst result in a national poll since 1918. This year’s result is unprecedented in the party’s history. Turnout was expected to be around 34 per cent, four points down on 2004. Detailed analysis figures suggest that the majority of previous voters who stayed at home this time were Labour supporters.
