1.33am: It's Nirj Deva, not Diva BBC!
1.28am: Dan Hannan quotes Dr Seuss in his victory speech, urging Gordon Brown to "just go"!
1.23am: Labour down from over 300,000 to just 200,000 in South East.
1.20am: Confirming my first call of the night, Labour have lost their only SW MEP. Down from 15% to 8%, finishing FIFTH. Three Tory MEPs elected.
1.09am: Statement from Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell:
“On the basis of tonight’s European results, Conservatives are winning again across Scotland, taking seats like Edinburgh South, East Renfrewshire and Dumfries & Galloway from Labour and Berwickshire, Roxburgh & Selkirk and West Aberdeenshire & Kincardine from the Liberal Democrats. This European election result is a disaster for Labour in Scotland. It only emphasises that the choice at the next Westminster election is between a tired and failing Labour Government or a rejuvenated Conservative Party. Only the Conservatives can remove Labour from Downing Street."
12.57am: UKIP down 10% in East Midlands but, on the downside, old defector Bill Newton-Dunn comes back as LibDem MEP.
12.44am: Dr Charles Tannock, Syed Kamall and Marina Yannakoudakis elected in London.
12.32am: Very bad night for Labour. Very, very bad night for the LibDems:
12.22am: Both of the Conservatives' two leading prospective partners - the ODS in the Czech Republic and Law & Justice in Poland - have made gains in percentage of vote tonight.
12.13am: It is looking almost certain that Nick Griffin will become an MEP for NW England.
12.05am: Confirming bad night for LDs, Con vote in Solihull was double LD vote. 18,234 v 9,649. 'Are you watrching... are you watching Cowley Street?'
11.55pm: BNP, UKIP and Greens in three way fight for final MEP slot in North West.
11.53pm: Liberal Democrats are having a particularly bad night but as the Kilroy-Silk effect unwinds in East Midlands the LDs are set to gain an MEP from UKIP.
11.51pm: Sky's Adam Boulton has given the BNP about 15 minutes of attention. Way too much! The graph below shows that the BNP gain in Yorkshire is a pretty direct shift of the Labour vote:
11.45pm: "Spain's Popular Party gained 42.2 percent of votes to the ruling Socialist Party's 38.5 percent, drawing its highest ever support in a European parliamentary election, based on a preliminary count." (Interactive Investor).
11.32pm: More places where Labour came fifth:
- West Worcestershire
- Surrey Heath
- Mole Valley
- Maidstone
- Melton
- Blaby
- Test Valley
- Royal Borough of Kingston
- Lewes
- Rutland
- MendipTonbridge and Malling
11.29pm: BNP MEP elected in Yorkshire:
11.19pm: For the first time since World War One the Conservatives have won in Wales:
- Con
- Lab
- Plaid Cymru
- UKIP
- Libdems
11.11pm: Labour has now come FIFTH in 26 places.
11.08pm: The BNP are "very likely" to win in North West (Nick Griffin). They may get one more MEP (in Yorkshire (where the hurdle is a high 11.5%) rather than London). Griffin was greeted with protestors earlier:11.06pm: Conservatives top poll in Wrexham for first time ever.
10.49pm: Jeremy Vine BBC1 saying Tories beating Labour across Edinburgh. SNP first.
10.45pm: On BBC1 Eric Pickles says Tories will be announcing new MEP partners in next "few days".
10.40pm: After 12 declarations in Wales Conservatives have topped the poll in Clwyd West, Preseli Pembrokeshire, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Cardiff South and Penarth, Cardiff North.
10.30pm: First hints from Yorkshire: At the end of the night there'll be 2 Con MEPs and one each for Lab, Lib Dem, UKIP and BNP.
10.25pm: Alistair Darling would lose his seat based on tonight's results from Scotland.
10.24pm: More places where Labour came fifth:
- Ribble Valley
- New Forest
- Banstead
- Isle of Wight
- Eastbourne
- Guildford
- Derbyshire Dales
- S Staffordshire
- W.Worcestershire
- Wokingham
- Canterbury
- Torbay
10.20pm: Another photo: (from left to right): Chief Whip Patrick McLoughlin, David Cameron, Kate Rock (background), Ed Llewellyn, George Osborne, Kate Fall, Andy Coulson, Oliver Dowden.
10.14pm: Places where Labour is coming fifth:
- Epping Forest
- North Norfolk
- West Dorset
- Ashford
- Elmbridge
- East Herts
- Richmond on Thames
UKIP doing less well in East Midlands. They are missing Robert Kilroy-Silk.
Part I here.
Tim Montgomerie
