Fife EU Count: SNP triumph, Labour collapse

The party polled 39,446 votes on a night when Labour collapsed to fourth place behind Nigel Farage’s newly formed Brexit Party and the Lib Dems.

It was a night of success across Scotland for the SNP who were bidding to build on their two EU seats – they are now course to add a third once all results have been declared for Scotland on Monday.

The party claimed 37.6 per cent of the vote – a figure Stephen Gethins MP described as “fantastic.”

He said: “The SNP had a clear message throughout this campaign and worked exceptionally hard.

“It is great to have won not just Fife but in every single part of Fife.”

You may also be interested in:

EU election Diary: The view from the media gallery

This Fife town is thriving while others struggle – here’s why

EU Count: SNP pays tribute to Fife campaign team

It was the first time in an EU election that the SNP had topped the regional poll – and their senior politicians were delighted with the result.

Jenny Gilruth MSP for Glenrothes, said: “It’s an absolutely fantastic result for the SNP.

“We’ve been working hard over the last two weeks, knocking on doors, speaking to as many folk as possible.

“People have been changing to vote for the SNP for the very first time in their droves and Brexit has been the key issue on the doorstep, and we’re seeing the results of that shine through tonight.”

Kirkcaldy MSP, David Torrance, put it down to the party’s “very positive message.”

He added: “The SNP is a very pro-European party. We’ve promoted Europe throughout this whole campaign.

“On the doorstep, we’ve found that people are pro-European have been happy to support us. It’s a really good night for the SNP, it’s been a really good campaign, it’s a really positive message the SNP has sent out to the people of Scotland and to Europe about how supportive are.”

For Labour it was a disastrous night as its vote collapsed.

It polled less than 10 per cent of the vote - coming in a 9.7 per cent and 10,216 to trail a distant fourth behind the Brexit Party in third on 16,738.

Nigel Farage’s newly formed party claimed 15 per cent of the poll in Fife.

There was no comment from their party’s election night team as they departed the hall immediately after the result was declared.

Labour is now projected to lose its two EU seats in Scotland.

The Lib Dems celebrated with clear second place on 17,269 (16.5 per cent).

The Greens also had a good night finishing sixth with 7059 votes - 6.7 per cent of the vote - well ahead of UKIP and the Change Party who both sank without trace.

UKIP polled just 1962 votes, while the newly formed Change UK party mustered just 1798 votes, or 1.7 per cent of the vote.

The turnout was 38.9 per cent which was UP on 2014’s 31.9 per cent

A total of 105,275 votes were cast.