After the results, comes the number crunching and the statistics to tell a story. First of all, is the turnout, of just 34.27%. This is about average, compared to the elections since 1979. Almost two thirds didn’t vote. Although this is an obvious concern, the question must be asked about the non-voters; how eurosceptic are they, if they wouldn’t vote in an election where a whole range of sceptic parties were standing?
EU blogger, Nosemonkey, went through the figures to show that 61% of the voters chose an anti-Lisbon party, if you include 28.6% who voted Conservative and 27% voted for parties favouring a withdrawal from the EU. This means, out of the total electorate, 26.6% turned out to vote for an anti-Lisbon party and only 11.6% for those advocating a complete withdrawal from the EU.
This vote was held in the context of the most chaotic political climate seen for many decades. Since toppling Tony Blair for the crown, Gordon Brown has had a turbulent time. his decision not to call an election last Autumn, when he would have won, was judged as a failure of nerve and an example of poor judgement. Since then he has faced mounting difficulties and sniping from anonymous briefings. his one bright spot was the G20 summit earlier this year, but the tsunami of the expenses scandal has left him adrift and rudderless.
The scandal, in which a whistle-blower revealed exact details of four years of expenses claims by Members of Parliament, revealed a culture of getting away with as much as you can, something that constituents facing the economic collapse were enraged by.
No Left Turn
All parties were damaged by the fallout, the Liberal Democrats were comparatively unaffected, but David Cameron, the shining new hope of the Conservatives put his stamp of authority on the party and was seen to have dealt with it much more effectively than Gordon Brown’s dithering. However, the scandal may be credited with energising the electorate and getting people out to vote.
The main feature of the result was a collapse of the Labour vote, even in their heartlands. apart from that most parties were relatively unchanged, give or take 1.5%. The small increase in the British National Party’s vote was concentrated in the north of England, and more worrying for Labour, in the old Labour heartlands. Their percentage of the vote was 6.2%, but this netted them two seats, party leader Nick Griffin wouldn’t have got into Brussels if UKIP had 900 more votes.
The Greens did well, picking up 8.6%, which may have included some disaffected Labour support. The left wing anti-EU parties failed to shine, as Socialist Labour got 1% and the trade union funded NO2EU got a measly 0.5%.
The conclusion could be that many Brits may be eurosceptic, but few have the motivation to vote for any of the wide range of eurosceptic parties.
