In the UK’s European Parliament elections, the Brexit Party, led by Nigel Farage, has been the big winner in the country so far, and is on course to win over a third of the 73 seats on offer.
The Brexit Party – which was formed just over five months ago – is committed to delivering a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, and calls for Britain to trade with other countries based on World Trade Organisation (WTO) conditions.
With votes in 10 of the country’s 12 regions counted, the party has the most seats in all except the London region.
The Brexit Party has, so far, won 28 seats, accounting for 33.3% of the votes.
The party claims that its success is down to “frustration” from the UK public on the three-year Brexit process, which last week saw UK Prime Minister Theresa May announce her intention to resign as Conservative Party leader next month.
EU ‘Remainers’
On the other hand, the second most successful party in the UK at this stage is the Liberal Democrats, whose view on Brexit is the polar opposite of Farage’s party – it unequivocally advocates for the UK to remain in the EU.
That party currently holds 15 seats, or 20.9% of the vote – down from the Brexit Party’s performance, but still faring better than the two “biggest” parties, Conservatives and Labour, who have lost out on the Brexit issue to parties with clearly committed policies.
Main parties
The two largest parties in the UK’s own parliament, the Conservatives and Labour, have lost out, seemingly because of their lack of clear policies on Brexit, and the inability of both parties to come to an agreement on how to proceed.
The Conservative Party has fared especially bad, only taking three seats – down 15 seats on where it was in the last European Parliament.
Labour, meanwhile, has taken 10 seats, down eight. Both parties combined are polling 10% behind the Brexit Party.
May to resign
Last Friday, May 24, Theresa May announced her decision to step down on the steps of 10 Downing Street.
She confirmed that she would resign as Conservative Party leader on June 7, after which the process would begin to elect a new party leader.
Whoever wins would then replace May as prime minister. Eight candidates have announced their intention to run as party leader, including ‘Brexiteer’ Boris Johnson.