Euro election at a glance 4/6/09

DAY IN A NUTSHELL

The European Parliament election kicks off with voting in the UK and the Netherlands. It is a crucial test for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, with a general election due within a year.

The official results will not be known until Sunday evening - once voting has finished across the 27-nation EU. But controversially Dutch officials plan to announce some "preliminary" results on Thursday evening. Much attention will focus on voter turnout, which has fallen in each European Parliament election.

DAILY QUOTE

"Europe needs charismatic politicians. And another thing: why aren't there any European candidates? Why, as a Dutchman, can't I vote for [Greens leader] Daniel Cohn-Bendit, who is running in France?"

(Dutch writer Geert Mak, author of In Europe, interviewed by the German newspaper, Sueddeutsche Zeitung.)

NEWS IN NUMBERS

The attendance record of UK and Dutch MEPs at full sessions of the European Parliament in 2004-2009 was similar, according to the votewatch.eu website: 85.8% for British MEPs and 85.2% for the Dutch.

Austria holds the best attendance record: 92.7%. Italy's MEPs came bottom of the table, at 71.9%.

Day at a glance 3 Jun 09

DAILY PICTURE

Woman voting in Monnickendam, the Netherlands

Voting in Monnickendam: The Netherlands was among the EU's founding states

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EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 2009

MEP Seats

	Votes		MEPs
Party	%	+/- %	Total	+/-
EPP	33.4	-1.4	264	-18
Socialists	23.2	-4.1	183	-26
Liberal	11.0	+1.6	84	+5
Green	7.4	+1.3	50	+9
Left	5.3	-0.6	34	-2
UEN	3.4	+1.6	28	+2
Ind/Dem	2.7	-1.8	21	-15
No Group	13.6	+3.4	72	+3.4
0 of 27 countries declared.

Full EU Parliament results

Full UK results by region

UK Total MEP Seats

Party	Votes		MEPs
Party	%	+/- %	Total	+/-
CON	27.7	1.0	*26	1
UKIP	16.5	0.3	13	1
LAB	15.7	-6.9	13	-5
LD	13.7	-1.2	11	1
GRN	8.6	2.4	2	0
BNP	6.2	1.3	2	2
SNP	2.1	0.7	2	0
PC	0.8	-0.1	1	0
OTH	8.5	2.4	0	0
SF	–	–	1	0
DUP	–	–	1	0
72 of 72 seats declared. Vote share figures exclude Northern Ireland as it has a separate electoral system to the rest of the UK
* Includes UCUNF MEP elected in Northern Ireland