Westministenders: EARRRTHHHHHQQQUUUAAKKKKEEEE

[RedToothBrush]

Well.

Thats a surprise!

I agree Mistigri on France - a good result for Macron. Normally sitting governments get bad results and this is one that has been dealing with weekly rioting and very low approval ratings. Le Pen lost ground, Melechon on way down, good showing for the Greens. Plus 52% turnout: 10 points more than last time. A bit disappointed Marine topped the poll in my village but in my department it was En Marche in front, and the Greens managed to squeeze past Le Pen. As furriners we are on a separate list but our little mayor's office was very quick to find it.

We can see political shake ups all over Europe but generally the right is being held off and they are not surging in the way we feared might happen, with a few exceptions. .

Someone on Twitter said the UK results are like one of those Rorschart tests: everyone sees something different. I thought turnout was extremely disappointing given what is at stake and a third of those who could be arsed to show up went for a far right party whose election manifesto is to wreck the institution to which they have been elected. The EU turnout average was 50% and the UK 37% . I don't really see how people can spin a positive remain story: the country is divided as ever and there is still no viable plan either to leave or to stay. How quickly can Labour wake up?

Is she not racist and reactionary?

Mind you when she converted to Catholicism because she didn't like the CofE ordaining women, a Catholic friend mused about how she would feel if the RC church started to do likewise,which he thought not impossible.

I agree with you 101% Misti. Nige is a Faragist not a Brexiter. He has shifted from:
1.Norway. >
2.No deal. >

1. Not about the EU, about democracy.

You can see it in his eyes if leaving the EU gets mentioned. His eyes flash 👀 sideways. Even his leaflets try and distance Faragism from a Leave standpoint.

He's a political Katie Hopkins.Just an unlikely celebrity figure-whose modus operandi is to translate being mouthy into income.

Theresa May @ theresa_may
A very disappointing night for @Conservatives. Some excellent MEPs have lost their seats, some excellent candidates missed out. But Labour have also suffered big losses. It shows the importance of finding a Brexit deal, and I sincerely hope these results focus minds in Parliament

JUST tweeted.

First reply.

"and its all your fault"

Someone on Twitter said the UK results are like one of those Rorschart tests: everyone sees something different. I thought turnout was extremely disappointing given what is at stake and a third of those who could be arsed to show up went for a far right party whose election manifesto is to wreck the institution to which they have been elected. The EU turnout average was 50% and the UK 37% . I don't really see how people can spin a positive remain story: the country is divided as ever and there is still no viable plan either to leave or to stay. How quickly can Labour wake up?

I agree with this.

The results were in line with my expectations tbh. (Labour maybe did a bit worse than I'd thought.)

It's amply clear that Brexit is now a minority sport. About a third of the population is racist, stupid or venal (or all three). That shouldn't come as any surprise because it's not new; they just have a different flag to rally behind.

No one else seriously wants Brexit, but we need a single flag to rally behind and that will be difficult because the remain camp covers a much larger spectrum of political opinion than leave does.

Actually it's not a third of the population, it's a third of a low turnout. If turnout had been similar to France, Farage would have scored a similar result to Le Pen.

{A humiliated Tommy Robinson declared he “wants a second vote” in a bizarre video posted from his bed after he failed to secure a seat in the European Parliament.}

Oh dear,, More tea anyone?

Darren Marshall @ darrenmarshall
New

SDLP rallies suggest Diane Dodds will top the poll. UUP will lose seat.

Dodds 102,000
Anderson 97,000
Long 75,000
Eastwood 55,000
Allister 47,000
Kennedy 40,000
Bailey 7,000

#EuropeanElections2019
@BBCNewsNI

The SDLP rallies have Conservative candidate @AmandeepBhogal on zero votes

We are a long way of a result but everyone here is calling this for @DianeDoddsMEP @MAndersonSF & @naomilong

DUP tallies have just one thousand votes between @DianeDoddsMEP & @M_AndersonSF .

A completed tally has just one thousand votes between DUP & SF. With Alliance a strong third.

SDLP 4th
TUV 5th
UUP 6th on about 50,000 votes

This is ongoing.

They reckon about 120,000 each for SF and DUP and 100,000 alliance when they are done.

I think off the back of this we should be careful what we wish for in terms of a referendum. Especially if no deal is on the table...

PMK.

NI uses the STV system so the raw votes may well change as votes get redistributed.

David Cameron feels desperately sorry for Theresa May, but doesn't go so far as to blame her for the mess he dropped us all into because of his stupid Referendum.

Didn't the UUP have that MEP seat until now ?

If so, dropping from 3rd to 6th would continue their poor showing in the locals

I don't think a second ref is a very good idea. The likes of the north east do not seem particularly bothered about the threats to the car industry after Brexit. Its currently a battle for revoke vs no deal or permanent can kicking.

Party politics is out and people are now wearing leave or remain as a rosette.

But Boris Johnson in a seat where the Tories came fourth has decided that the results show that we just want to get on with Brexit. Perhaps I could be reminded about how he voted with the WA? He came on board in the end, I think?

red The PV has always been very risky
For me, it is something I have only supported when No Deal looks likely to happen by default anyway

..... still quite a high chance of ND, including by accident

I suspect a second referendum would still lead to Brexit. We are going to leave. It will be a disaster.

I think even if there were to be a big change and an overwhelming vote to Remain, the Leavers would still not accept it. They refused to accept the result of the first referendum after all, and seem unwilling to accept that we have a Parliamentary democracy.

Anne Widdecombe is 71. She’s of a different generation to Farage and despite having reactionary politics is a devout Christian with strongly held moral principles and an ethos of public service. I don’t think she’ll last long in the Brexit party. She might even go native given enough time, and turn up in some centre right grouping.

How any Tory leader is going to move forward is beyond me

The same way politicians always do - with spin, mendacity and bad faith, but most of all with focus on their own interests above all else

Scotland
Labour has lost both its MEPS now 3 SNP, 1 brexit, 1 lib dem 1 conservative ( before it was 2 SNP, 2 Labour 1 Cons 1 Brexit)

Labour got even less than the conservatives in Scotland they have a problem!!

I would support a second referendum/Peoples vote IF:

• Voting was compulsory and a real representation. (people could apply to abstain if they really wanted to- for example some religions don't participate in voting). Obviously with exemptions for people with ill health etc. Minimum age for vote 16- because this will affect young people well into the future. All people with indefinite leave to remain etc to be allowed to vote. (not people with residence/work visas- but those that plan to stay here for the long term) That way we'd get a real sense of what people wanted.

And also if the campaigns were well run and factual, with independent fact checkers, but that's entering into the realms of fantasy.

The only way forward for the next Tory PM is to advocate no deal in the hope of clawing back voters lost to the Brexit Party. Whether this is good for the country is irrelevant to the Tories as shown by the disastrous referendum and triggering A50.The WA is toxic now.

Meant to add- if, after all that, leave were to win, then everybody would have to accept it. I was going to add, need for a super majority, but that's hardly fair after the first ref was run on a "higher amount of votes" ticket.

About 35% wants to leave with no deal, it is ridiculous that this number is so high but it is no where near a majority.
Given we have been told that a large majority of the country just wanted us to do Brexit with or without a deal at least this number means that can be challenged with figures.
Last night Hesltine made the most sense, highlighting that there are still huge risks for the country.
There is no sensible way out of this mess but if voters were offered a PV and voted to leave either with a WA or no deal then I would think that they had chosen this at least knowing what they had voted for.