LAST UPDATE | May 27th 2019, 6:59 PM

ALMOST THREE YEARS ago, the British population voted to leave the European Union.

On 2 July, the UK will send 73 MEPs back to Brussels from 12 regions, including Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

However, many of them will belong to the eurosceptic Brexit Party and its leader Nigel Farage as they enjoy a 31.7% share of the vote. The Conservative Party and Labour had a bad night, with many predicting complete collapses in certain areas.

Turnout across the UK was low, with just 37% of registered voters going to the polls. That’s still about three percentage points higher than 2014.

All regions have declared final results now. The votes are based on party preference, and the first candidate of the party who tops the poll gets the first seat, and so on.

The Brexit Party has surpassed expectations securing 29 seats, while the Liberal Democrats has seen 16 candidates elected and Labour 10. The Green Party has seven seats, with the Conservative Party on four, the Scottish National Party on three, and Plaid Cymru on one.

Sinn Féin’s Martina Anderson, the Alliance Party’s Naomi Long and the DUP’s Diane Dodds are Northern Ireland‘s three MEPs.

‘History has been made’

Farage was jubilant, tweeting that “history has been made” and that “this is just the beginning”.

Speaking in Southampton, he said the new party won for a clear reason.

“We voted to leave in a referendum. We were supposed to do so on 29 March and we haven’t. There’s a huge message here,” he said.

The Brexit party leader also said he wants members of his party to be part of the UK’s negotiating team with the EU.

Joy for Liberal Democrats

It wasn’t exclusively hard Brexiteers celebrating the result, however.

The Liberal Democrats also enjoyed a fine election, coming in second place with 20% of the vote and increasing their seats on 2014.

Its leader Vince Cable said: “We have shown ourselves to be the strongest ‘Remain’ force in British politics.

There is a clear lesson for Labour in tonight’s results: get off the fence.

Throughout the campaign, the Liberal Democrats used the slogan “Bollocks to Brexit”, and also secured a strong showing in local elections on 3 May.

While the Conservatives knew they were facing a drubbing and barely bothered to campaign, Labour was also punished for refusing to spell out whether it still wanted Britain to be in or out of the EU.

Labour lost to the Liberal Democrats in the borough of Islington in London that Corbyn represents in the UK parliament.

And the Conservatives were beaten by the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats in May’s Windsor and Maidenhead constituency in England’s South East.

Labour also collected less than half the votes of the surging Brexit Party in Wales, where the party had lost just once since 1918.

“This issue will have to go back to the people, whether through a general election or a public vote,” Corbyn said in a statement.

“Labour will bring our divided country together so we can end austerity and tackle inequality,” he said.

The 12 electoral areas

East Midlands (5 MEPs)

Annunziata Rees-Mogg, the Brexit Party
Jonathan Bullock, the Brexit Party
Matthew Patten, the Brexit Party
William Newton Dunn, Liberal Democrat
Rory Palmer, Labour

East of England (7 MEPs)

Richard Tice, the Brexit Party
Michael Heaver, the Brexit Party
June Mummery, the Brexit Party
Barbara Gibson, Liberal Democrat
Lucy Nethsingha, Liberal Democrat
Catherine Rowett, Green
Geoffrey Van Orden, Conservative

London (8 MEPs)

Irina Von Wiese, Liberal Democrat
Dinesh Dhamija, Liberal Democrat
Luisa Porritt, Liberal Democrat
Claude Moraes, Labour
Sebastian Dance, Labour
Benyamin Habib, the Brexit Party
Lance Forman, the Brexit Party
Scott Ainslie, Green

North East (3 MEPs)

Brian Monteith, the Brexit Party
John Tennant, the Brexit Party
Jude Kirton-Darling, Labour

North West (8 MEPs)

Claire Fox, the Brexit Party
Theresa Griffin, Labour
Chris Davies, Liberal Democrat
Henrik Nielsen, the Brexit Party
Gina Dowding, Green
Julie Ward, Labour
David Bull, the Brexit Party
Jane Brophy, Liberal Democrat

Northern Ireland (3 MEPs)

Diane Dodds, the DUP
Naomi Long, Alliance Party
Martina Anderson, Sinn Féin

Scotland (6 MEPs)

Alyn Smith, the Scottish National Party (SNP)
Christian Allard, the Scottish National Party (SNP)
Aileen McLeod, the Scottish National Party (SNP)
Louis Stedman-Bryce, the Brexit Party
Sheila Ritchie, Liberal Democrat
Baroness Nosheena Mobarik, Conservative

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South East (10 MEPs)

Nigel Farage, the Brexit Party
Alexandra Phillips, the Brexit Party
Robert Rowland, the Brexit Party
Belinda De Camborne Lucy, the Brexit Party
Catherine Bearder, Liberal Democrat
Antony Hook, Liberal Democrat
Judith Bunting, Liberal Democrat
Alexandra Phillips, Green
Daniel Hannan, Conservative
John Howarth, Labour

South West (6 MEPs)

Ann Widdecombe, the Brexit Party
James Glancy, the Brexit Party
Christina Jordan, the Brexit Party
Caroline Voaden, Liberal Democrat
Martin Horwood, Liberal Democrat
Molly Scott Cato, Green

Wales (4 MEPs)

Nathan Gill, the Brexit Party
James Wells, the Brexit Party
Jill Evans, Plaid Cymru
Jacqueline Jones, Labour

West Midlands (7 MEPs)

Rupert Lowe, Brexit Party
Martin Daubney, Brexit Party
Andrew Kerr, Brexit Party
Neena Gill, Labour
Phil Bennion, Liberal Democrat
Ellie Chowns, Green
Anthea McIntyre, Conservative

Yorkshire and the Humber (6 MEPs)

John Longworth, Brexit Party
Lucy Harris, Brexit Party
Jake Pugh, Brexit Party
Richard Corbett, Labour
Shaffaq Mohammed, Liberal Democrat
Magid Magid, Green

With reporting from Sean Murray and Gráinne Ní Aodha

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