UKIP Makes Gains In East Euro Elections
26 May 2014, 08:59 | Updated: 26 May 2014, 09:09
Ukip made significant gains as the Conservatives held their ground during the European elections in the Eastern region.
Ukip polled 542,812 - that's up from 313,921 at the previous election, and gained a seat at the expense of the Liberal Democrats.
However the three Tory MEPs in the region held their seats while Labour increased its share of the vote, meaning that MEP Richard Howitt kept his seat.
Patrick O'Flynn, Ukip's new MEP, said: "Voters in the east, as in the rest of the UK, are concerned about open door migration, about pressure on green field land and about living standards.
But they also wanted to give the other parties a bloody nose and we have to recognise Ukip was a convenient vehicle for that
We now need to convince people to stick with us.
We need to build on our strategy, work on our vision and broaden our agenda.
If we do that we can be confident of winning seats in parliament.''
Mr Howitt added: "Labour has seen a big increase in its vote in this region but we must acknowledge the concerns that Ukip has tapped into.
We do not reject those concerns but we do reject the prescription offered by Ukip, we say that Farage is a mirage.''
Norfolk and Suffolk Region Counts
Ipswich Borough Council
Ukip 10,603, Labour 9856, Conservative 7516, Green 2700, Lib Dem 1628
Mid Suffolk
Ukip 9708, Conservative 9335, Green 3,784, Labour 3219, Lib Dem 1608
Norwich City Council
Labour 11,378, Green 9,210, Ukip 8066, Conservative 5578, Lib Dem 2841
East Region Counts
(Bedford; Cambridgeshire; Central Bedfordshire; Essex; Hertfordshire; Luton; Norfolk; Peterborough; Southend-on-Sea; Suffolk; Thurrock)
Elected: Vicky Ford (C), Geoffrey Van Orden (C), David Campbell Bannerman (C), Richard Howitt (Lab), Patrick O'Flynn (UKIP), Stuart Agnew (UKIP), Tim Aker (UKIP)
UKIP 542,812 (34.48%, +14.90%)
C 446,569 (28.37%, -2.84%)
Lab 271,601 (17.25%, +6.78%)
Green 133,331 (8.47%, -0.33%)
LD 108,010 (6.86%, -6.94%)
Independence 26,564 (1.69%)
EDP 16,497 (1.05%, -0.96%)
BNP 12,465 (0.79%, -5.26%)
CPA 11,627 (0.74%)
NO2EU 4,870 (0.31%, -0.56%)
UKIP maj 96,243 (6.11%)
8.87% swing C to UKIP
The turnout across the East was 35.60%.