Labour wiped out in Scotland as SNP secures comfortable victory
3 min read
Labour suffered a wipeout in Scotland as the party suffered its worst ever night north of the Border.
On a miserable night in its former stronghold, Labour lost both of its Scottish MEPs and secured less than 10% of the vote to come in fifth behind the SNP, Brexit Party, Lib Dems and Tories.
By contrast, the pro-EU Scottish nationalists enjoyed an excellent night, increasing their number of MEPs to three and seeing their vote share jump to 38%.
The Brexit Party, Lib Dems and Conservatives all won a seat each.
Reacting to the results - which will not be finalised until the Western Isles declares later on Monday - Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard insisted his party had been the only one "fighting this election to bring the country back together".
He said: "The divisions caused by the competing nationalisms of the UK and Scottish governments continue to be a distraction from both of their failures.
"Labour must, and will, do more to challenge these failures and put forward our positive alternatives to invest in our people, our communities and our public services.
"We put everything in to our campaign and were confident that our focus on jobs and a fair wage, schools and community would resonate with voters.
"I firmly believe that only Labour has the capability and values to unite different parts of the country and as Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, I will continue to put all my efforts into rebuilding the party for the many, not the few."
Delighted SNP deputy leader Keith Brown said it had been "an historic victory" for his party.
"Scotland has said no to Brexit and is the only place in the UK, outside of London, where the Brexit Party has lost the election - a clear rejection of Nigel Farage’s far-right brand of politics," he said.
"Labour and the Tories are hopelessly divided and have failed to stand up for Scotland’s interests despite an overwhelming vote to remain in the EU.
"And (Scottish Tory leader) Ruth Davidson’s much-heralded comeback has flopped – she has just presided over one of the worst results in her party’s history.
"And it is just as bad for Scottish Labour who have continued their downward spiral with their worst ever result in an EU election."
Ms Davidson admitted it had been a "tough night" for her party, but insisted they had done well to hold on to their one MEP.
In a further blow for Labour, the party was beaten into third place in Wales by the Brexit Party and Plaid Cymru.
Adam Prime, leader of the Welsh nationalists, said: "Plaid Cymru stood in this election as the only pro-Remain, pro-People’s Vote party that could win. The people of Wales heard our message and responded by voting for us in their tens of thousands, many of them for the first time ever."
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