European election results 2019: Brexit Party vow to take on Tories and Labour in general election as Tommy Robinson and UKIP obliterated

Labour hints at supporting second referendum as Liberal Democrats win Remain voters

EU Elections: UK results map

Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party has claimed victory in the European parliamentary elections, taking 29 seats and topping the poll in ten of the UK's 11 regions.

On a grim night for the Conservatives and Labour, the pro-EU Liberal Democrats emerged as the other big winners, with leader Sir Vince Cable saying it was “proof that the Lib Dems are the biggest, strongest voice of Remain”.

Theresa May said it was a "very disappointing night" for the Conservatives and once again urged MPs to find a solution to the Brexit crisis.

"Some excellent MEPs have lost their seats, some excellent candidates missed out," she said.

"But Labour have also suffered big losses. It shows the importance of finding a Brexit deal, and I sincerely hope these results focus minds in Parliament"

Boris Johnson, widely considered the frontrunner in the race to replace Ms May, said voters had delivered the Conservative party with a "final warning".

He urged his colleagues to deliver Brexit and "deliver Brexit and set out our positive plans for the country."

At the same time Labour edged closer to support for a second Brexit referendum, after voters in Remain strongholds deserted the party and voted for the Liberal Democrats.

In early-morning messages after seeing the party slump to third place with a 14 per cent share of the vote, both Jeremy Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell said that the issue of EU withdrawal must be put to a public vote – which could come in a general election or a Final Say referendum.

Mr McDonnell tweeted: “Can’t hide from hit we took last night. Bringing people together when there’s such a divide was never going to be easy. Now we face prospect of Brexiteer extremist as Tory leader and threat of no deal, we must unite our party and country by taking issue back to people in a public vote.”

If you would like to see how the EU election results night unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:

[26 May 2019 16:28 · Harry.Cockburn]

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent's European elections live blog.

We'll be providing live updates on all the results as we get them. Stay tuned. 

[26 May 2019 16:31 · Harry.Cockburn]

The polls are still open in many countries, but here is a roundup of some of the key expectations for the night ahead and what the results could mean for the future of the EU and its member states: 

[26 May 2019 17:32 · Samuel Osborne]

France's Interior Ministry says turnout for the European parliament election was up in the country compared to previous vote.

In France, turnout was over 43 per cent at 5pm (3pm GMT), compared with 35 per cent at the same time in 2014.

Polls remain open until 8pm in the country's big cities. 

Several French poll institutes estimate the final turnout may be over 50 per cent at the end of the day, which would be a first in the country since 1994.

[26 May 2019 17:51 · Samuel Osborne]

A similar rise in turnout has been observed in neighboring Spain and Germany. 

In the whole European Union, turnout for this pan-European vote has trended downward since the first election in 1979.

Turnout stood at less than 43 per cent in the 2014 vote. 

[26 May 2019 18:11 · Samuel Osborne]

Spain's Interior Ministry has said turnout for the European elections is up to 49.3 per cent from nearly 34.1 per cent in 2014.

Spain was also holding local and some regional elections on Sunday, including the highly watched races for the mayor of Madrid and Barcelona.

In Barcelona, a Catalan separatist candidate was trying to oust its incumbent far-left mayor, who said she does not support secession but believes Catalans should vote on the question.

[26 May 2019 18:30 · Samuel Osborne]

Italy's anti-refugee interior minister Matteo Salvini has said he feels a "change in the air" and a win by his right-wing League party would "change everything in Europe".

Mr Salvini's League is seeking to form an alliance of nationalist, populist parties to exert more power in the European parliament over the affairs of the European Union.

He has campaigned relentlessly throughout Italy and has become the face of Europe's far-right by speaking out against refugees and the influence of Muslims in Europe. 

The League party, once just a regional power in northern Italy, is gaining strength throughout the country. It is the junior partner in a coalition government with the populist Five-Star Movement, but the coalition is on rocky ground.

[26 May 2019 18:40 · Samuel Osborne]

Labour is braced for a "good kicking" in the European parliament elections, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.

His comments come after deputy Labour leader Tom Watson said the party must "find some backbone" and fully commit to a second referendum on Brexit to have any chance of winning the next general election.

Mr McDonnell said he understood Mr Watson's frustration, but the party had been right to "tread a really difficult road" of trying to bring Leave and Remain supporters back together.

The shadow chancellor said Labour would pay an electoral price for that stance when European parliament results begin to be announced late on Sunday.

Mr McDonnell told Sky News: "I think we most probably will get a good kicking in the election results tonight. We'll see. We are braced for that."

[26 May 2019 18:49 · Samuel Osborne]

Mr Watson said he feared the results of the European elections would show voters had deserted the party and blamed Labour's ambiguous position on a public vote.

The party must stop "hedging its bets" and urgently rethink its stance in order to realign itself with its members, he added.

Writing in The Observer, he said: "For our party's sake, but most of all for Britain's sake, Labour needs to find some backbone on Brexit, find our voice - and do it fast."

He added: "Our performance (in the European elections) is a direct result of our mealy-mouthed backing for a public vote on Brexit when it is being demanded loud and clear by the overwhelming majority of our members and voters.

"Polls show Labour has been losing up to four times more voters to parties giving full backing to a people's vote than to (Nigel) Farage.

"And those same polls show we would have beaten him by a country mile if we had unambiguously backed a public vote on any form of Brexit.

"Once results are in, we must channel our frustration into winning those voters back. Never again can Labour policy on the most crucial issue of our generation be on the wrong side of its members and voters."

Mr Watson described the party's stance on a second referendum as "a deliberate, self-defeating attempt to triangulate between different groups".

[26 May 2019 19:04 · Samuel Osborne]

An EU parliament spokesperson has said turnout for 27 nations excluding UK is nearing 51 per cent, according to early figures - the highest in at least 20 years.

[26 May 2019 19:23 · Samuel Osborne]

Hungary's prime minister has said he hopes the European parliament election will bring a shift towards political parties that want to stop migration.

Viktor Orban said after casting his vote at a school near his Budapest home on Sunday that the issue of migration, which he believes is stoppable, "will reorganise the political spectrum in the European Union".