Monday, 8 June 2009



Monday 8th June 2009Britain's leading conservative blog
Today's other newslinks

Sky video summarising the overall change in share of the vote

Daily Mail: All the mainstream parties have questions to answer

"The voters have delivered a crushing verdict  -  not just on this sleaze-ridden, fractious, clapped-out Government but on Britain's entire political class.  In the European polls, Labour suffered the worst electoral performance in its history, the Tories failed even to reach 30 per cent and the LibDems were comprehensively beaten into fourth. " - Daily Mail leader

The Conservative results

AroundPod2 Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin, David Cameron, Kate Rock (background), Ed Llewellyn, George Osborne, Kate Fall, Andy Coulson and Oliver Dowden watch the results come in at CCHQ last night.

"With results declared in every region bar the Western Isles and Northern Ireland, the Tories have secured 28.6% of the vote, up from 26.7% in 2004." - BBC

"The Conservatives are today celebrating overtaking Labour in Wales in the first election of any kind since 1918." - Western Mail

"David Cameron will today start negotiations to form a new anti-federalist grouping in the European parliament, after the Tories were last night on course for a comfortable victory in the European elections." - FT

A successful night for UKIP

"It was expected to win 13 seats in Brussels when all the votes had been counted. A BBC projection put it on 17 per cent of the vote, ahead of Labour on 16 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 14 per cent. Ukip celebrated after winning its first seat in the European parliament at the expense of Labour in Wales, where it gained nearly 13 per cent of the vote. The party came second – ahead of the Liberal Democrats and Labour – in the East of England with almost 20 per cent of the vote. It was also running second in the South West of England, where it was likely to win two seats. It was third in Yorkshire and Humber, where Godfrey Bloom, the MEP who once complained that women did not "clean behind the fridge enough", was re-elected.  In London its vote fell by two per cent, but it had one MEP returned." - Independent

A terrible night for Labour

"Labour was struggling to avoid the ignominy of coming third for the first time in a nationwide vote since 1922. Its share of the vote was easily it lowest-ever score in a nationwide vote since it first started fighting elections as an independent party in 1918. It only managed to top the poll in the deepest of deepest heartland, the North East of England." - John Curtice in The Independent

SNF08CART_682_82017_820418a Trevor Kavanagh in The Sun compares Brown to the dead parrot in the Monty Python sketch with Peter Mandelson as the earnest salesmen trying to convince the exhausted customer that the caged exhibit is still alive.

Only a new leader will bring unity to Labour - Charlie Falconer in The Times

"To save Labour, Gordon, go with grace and go today" - Jackie Ashley in The Guardian

"What a shower. What a farce. If you wanted final proof of Labour's incompetence, here it is. They can't even organise a decent political assassination." - Boris Johnson in The Telegraph

Fourth place for the Liberal Democrats

"The vote of the Liberal Democrats, the most pro-European of the main British political parties, appeared to have held up after the first poll results came in. However, early indications showed the party would come in fourth behind the Tories, Ukip and Labour in the European elections." - Guardian

"The Lib Dems came out of their preferred voting system particularly badly, despite help from the BBC to boost their chances. Although we were told they were less affected by the expenses saga, that is not how it came across in the Telegraph. They always suffer in Euro elections from their enthusiasm for all laws European and their wish to transfer ever more power to Europe and to bogus regions." - John Redwood MP

BNP win two seats

Bnp "The BNP victory came in the North West region, where leader Nick Griffin was elected an MEP. And in Yorkshire and Humberside, 61-year- old retired lecturer Andrew Brons snatched a seat from Labour as its vote collapsed. Mr Griffin called it a ‘bad moment’ for mainstream parties but a ‘great moment for democracy’. He added: ‘They’ve all been caught with their snouts in the trough. This is the British people fighting back.’" - Daily Mail

"The door to a well-funded new world of freebies, foreign trips and fantastic pay and perks is about to open for Andrew Brons and Nick Griffin that will launch the British National Party on to a much bigger stage." - Times

Christian parties won 1.7% of vote - BBC

1,000 business owners among 3,000 new applicants for Tory candidates list - FT

BBC should tell Sugar he's fired, say Tories - Telegraph

> Yesterday's ToryDiary on the call by Jeremy Hunt and John Whittingdale