UKIP are celebrating after winning three seats to represent Worcestershire in the European elections – and topped the regional poll in a set of results described as “extraordinary” by Nigel Farage.
Labour won two, doubling its representation in the West Midlands, while the Conservatives won two, one down on the 2009 election. The Liberal Democrats lost their only MEP, Phil Bennion.
The list of winners is: Jill Seymour (UKIP) Neena Gill (Labour) Philip Bradbourn (Conservative) Jim Carver (UKIP) Sion Simon (Labour) Anthea McIntyre (Conservative) Bill Etheridge (UKIP).
Eleven different parties were vying for the seats, with 71 candidates hoping to make a breakthrough.
In the end, on a 43 per cent turnout UKIP topped the poll with 428,010 votes, Labour was second on 363,033, the Conservatives were third with 330,470 and the Lib Dems managed just 75,648.
In Worcester UKIP topped the poll with 7,715, the Conservatives came second with 7,185 and Labour came third with 6,651.
The Green Party then came fourth in the city with 2,224, with the Lib Dems in fifth on 1,327.
One of the big stories of the night was independent MEP Nikki Sinclaire, who conceded defeat just before 10pm, before the results were announced in Birmingham.
The 46-year-old was originally an MEP for UKIP in 2009 but left the party in a row over its grouping with 'extreme right wing' parties in the Brussels Parliament and last night stood for 'We Demand a Referendum Now'.
Her party got 616 Worcester votes and more than 23,000 across the region, but it was not enough.
In a statement she said: "My supporters will be disappointed, and naturally I am too.
"It has been an honour and a pleasure to represent 5.2 million constituents over the past five years. I have met thousands of people in my role, getting involved in community projects and giving a voice to the voiceless, and lending an ear when others wouldn't listen.
"I'm also proud of the campaign we ran here in the West Midlands, far larger than anybody had ever seen before, and many thanks to those who spent time talking to me and the team on the campaign trail.
"More importantly, thank you to everybody who took the time to vote for me on Thursday and for those who have stood by me."
The Tories were defending three seats and retained two.
Philip Bradbourn and Anthea McIntyre were re-elected while Dan Dalton failed to replace retiring MEP Malcolm Harbour.
Labour improved upon the one member Ed Miliband's party had in the West Midlands.
Michael Cashman is retiring and former MEP Neena Gill won her bid to return to Brussels five years after losing her seat.
Sion Simon, a former MP, also successfully stood for Labour. The Liberal Democrats lost their only West Midlands seat, held by Phil Bennion.
UKIP won two in 2009 but its MEPs Mike Nattrass and Miss Sinclaire had both since quit the party and formed their own Eurosceptic groups.
The Liberal Democrats were the night's biggest losers as Nick Clegg paid the price for his gamble to position the party as the natural opponents to Ukip's Euroscepticism.
In a humiliating set of results, the party lost all but one of the 11 MEPs it went into the contest with across the country, and was relegated to fifth place behind the Greens.
In Wales the Lib Dems lost their deposit and finished in sixth position.
Labour secured second place in the national contest with a strong performance in London, but the inability to deliver a win in a national poll or break through in key battlegrounds just 12 months before Ed Miliband hopes to enter 10 Downing Street will worry some in the party.
Nigel Farage claimed to have pulled off the "most extraordinary result in British politics for 100 years" this morning.
After 10 of Great Britain's 11 regional constituencies had declared their results, UKIP had 23 MEPs and a 27 per cent share of the vote - up on 11.6 per cent in 2009.
Labour and the Tories both ended up with 18 MEPs each after the English votes had declared, with Labour the second most popular party nationally on 25 per cent, and the Conservatives in third place on 23 per cent.
After Scotland had declared UKIP was left with 24 MEPs, Labour 20 and the Tories 19.
The Greens, which have three MEPs, came fourth on seven per cent and then came the Lib Dems in fifth place nationally, with a six per cent share of the vote and just one MEP left, despite starting yesterday with 12.
* More on this story will follow in tomorrow's Worcester News.
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