Brexit wrought more havoc on Britain’s main political parties in European Parliament elections, with both Conservatives and Labour scoring their worst results in decades as voters opted for parties with clear pro- and anti-European Union messages.

With two-thirds of vote counts complete, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party, which wants the UK to leave the EU without a deal, was in first place, with 32 per cent of the vote. In second place, with 21 per cent of the vote, were the Liberal Democrats, who want to stay in the bloc. Labour, which is split about what to do, was third on 14 per cent. The anti-Brexit Greens were on 12 per cent.

In fifth place were Theresa May’s Conservatives on 9 per cent, a catastrophic result for the party of government. Their previous worst result in a European election was 26 per cent.

May finally gave in to pressure from her party and announced on Friday that she would quit as Prime Minister. Had she not done so, this result would surely have sealed her fate.

Also read:The downfall of Theresa May: The Prime Minister broken by Brexit

“Yes, we knew it was coming, but still a painful result,” Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt — one of those running to replace May — said on Twitter. “Existential risk to our party unless we now come together and get Brexit done.”

‘Crushing rebuke’

Hunt’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, the current favourite to win the leadership race, agreed with the diagnosis. “The voters are delivering a crushing rebuke to the government — in fact, to both major parties,” he wrote in his column in the Telegraph newspaper.

“I cannot find it in my heart to blame them,” Johnson wrote. “They gave us one chief task: To deliver Brexit. They have so far given us almost three years to do it. We have flagrantly failed to carry out their instructions. We have missed deadline after deadline, broken promise after promise.”

Also read:Britain totters on Brexit cliff-edge as Corbyn signals futility of talks

But there is little sign that the elections will break the deadlock in Parliament. Conservatives who rejected May’s deal because it stayed too close to the EU, such as Johnson, will argue that the support for the Brexit Party shows the public agrees with them. Other colleagues will look at the loss of votes to the Lib-Dems and come to the opposite conclusion.

Labour division

Meanwhile, Labour was as split as ever. Members of Parliament who represent anti-Brexit seats, such as Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Emily Thornberry, argued that the party needs to move to supporting a second Brexit referendum. Her colleague Caroline Flint, who represents a pro-Leave seat, said the opposite.

Even if leader Jeremy Corbyn were to conclude he had to help the government get Brexit delivered, he would struggle to get enough of his MPs to support it.

Farage, at least, was delighted, and demanded his Brexit Party have a role in the UK’s negotiations with the EU. “We want to be part of that negotiating team, we want to take responsibility for what’s happening, were ready to, so I hope the government is listening,” Farage said in his speech after he was re-elected as an MEP. “If we don’t leave on October 31, the scores we’ve seen for the Brexit Party will be repeated in a general election, and we are getting ready for it.”

Whoever May’s successor is, they are unlikely to find either working with Farage or a general election to be a tempting offer.

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