Well, that was quite the night. Just three weeks after Medway went to the polls for local elections, we did so again for European elections. Following the stability in those elections, the people of Medway went for something very different in these elections:
Medway Elects have the full votes for every candidate.
Pretty much every part of the result in Medway is remarkable. Obviously it’s hard to ignore the newly formed Brexit Party romping away with nearly half of the vote, though given how strongly Medway voted for UKIP in 2014 and Brexit in 2016, it perhaps isn’t overly surprising. More fascinating is the Lib Dems coming second in an area where they have utterly collapsed in recent years. The two parties that make up the vast majority of our council barely managed 20% between them, and the Greens almost edged out the Tories for fourth place. Phew, we need a lie down after all that.
Across the wider South East region that we were voting towards, the picture becomes even more bleak for the two main parties:
So when we distribute the seats for the region, the South East ends up looking like this. Brexit Party take the four seats UKIP won in 2014, Lib Dems triple their seat haul, and the Tories and Labour barely squeak over the line. We’re also living in a world where we have more people named Alexandra Phillips representing us than either Conservatives or Labour.
What are your views on the European election results in both Medway and the wider South East region? Let us know in the comments, on Facebook, or on Twitter.