Voter apathy swept the euro-elections tonight, with a surge of support for far-right parties in some countries in the midst of a record low turnout.
Only 43 per cent bothered to go to the polls, according to official European Parliament figures, continuing a consistent decline in interest since the first direct elections for MEPs 30 years ago.
And where voters did bother, the signs were they were voting on national issues, using the five-year EU poll to pass judgment on national leaders and policies.
The result looked set to result in a continuation of the existing centre-right majority in the European Parliament, in which 736 MEPs have been elected from 27 countries.
In 1979, nearly 62 per cent of voters in the then nine EU countries voted - at a time when Euro-MPs had virtually no powers.
Now, when MEPs have significant influence over EU legislation - recently delivering cut-price mobile phone charges which appealed to millions of people - recognition of the role of MEPs is actually falling.
The turn-out is another dent in European Parliament standing, and a reflection of the European Union’s perceived lack of impact on citizens.
MEPs sit in multi-national blocs, with the British Labour members as part of the second-largest pan-Europe Socialist Group.
The British Tories have - until now - sat as part of the centre-right European People’s Party.
But from next month, when the MEPs elected tonight will take their seats in Strasbourg, Opposition leader David Cameron has vowed they will seek another group with ‘‘anti-federal’’ credentials.
Tonight it remained unclear where the Tories would find the necessary number of at least 25 MEPs from at least seven member states to form a recognised political group in the European Parliament, qualifying for substantial office funding, speaking time, and sheer status as a bloc.
The leader of the Socialist Group until now, German Martin Schulz, told a news conference in Brussels tonight: ‘‘It is undoubtedly a very sad evening for socialists in Europe. We had hoped for better results in some member states. We were quite successful in some countries but in most countries we did badly. Overall this is a very bitter evening for us.’’ The leader of the alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the outgoing European Parliament, Graham Watson, said he still hoped the Lib-Dems would hold the group’s place as the balance between the Socialists and Christian Democrats, saying: ‘‘We should continue to hold the balance between left and right and continue to be the force which determines the outcome of most of the votes.’’ Mr Watson suggested people should not read too much into the low turnout, saying: ‘‘In my country turnout is highest when people are very upset or very angry.’’ But that was little comfort to pro-EU parties across Europe, although German Chancellor Angela Merkel boosted her centre-right fortunes ahead of a German national election in September, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France saw off the Socialists to reinforce his political standing.
‘‘Centre left parties should have cleaned up, thanks to the economic meltdown and the jobs crisis,’’ said one European Parliament official tonight.
‘‘But looking at these results, people are putting their faith in the centre-right politicians - or reflecting growing disenchantment with the EU by going for minority parties they think might have answers the mainstream parties lack.’’ He added: ‘‘One problem is that socialist parties seem to be in some disarray across Europe, and have failed to capitalise on the opportunity to blame centre-right politics for the failings of the capitalism.’’
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