European elections results: UKIP gains two North West seats

Whilst the Conservative Party gained the biggest percentage of votes in last week's European Parliamentary Elections in Cheshire East they were not so successful in the rest of the North West.

With eight seats up for grabs in the North West, the Conservatives lost one seat - dropping from three to two - whilst the Labour Party gained a seat and UKIP gained two, so they both have three seats. The Liberal Democrats and British National Party both lost a seat.

In Cheshire East the Conservative Party achieved 33.36% of the vote, UKIP 30.17%, Labour 18.14%, Green Party 7.53%, Liberal Democrats 6.41% and British National Party 1.21%. The turnout for Cheshire East was 32.6%. (Full results are available of the Cheshire East Council website).

Whilst in Cheshire West and Chester, UKIP won the most votes pushing Conservatives into second place and Labour into third.

The elected MEP's for the North West are:

Labour Party

Theresa Griffin - Educated at Lancaster University. Trade union organiser and former Liverpool councillor.
Afzal Khan - Pakistan born solicitor. Manchester councillor since 2000. Awarded the CBE for services to race relations.
Julie Ward - Educated at Newcastle University. Runs a social enterprise providing services for people with mental health problems

UK Independence Party (UKIP)

Paul Andrew Nuttall - Educated at Savio High School and Edge Hill University. Former lecturer. MEP for the North West since 2009 and Deputy leader of UKIP since 2010.
Louise Bours - Educated at Mountview Conservatoire for the Performing Arts. Singer and actor. Former Congleton councillor. Contested Cheshire Police Commissioner election 2012.
Steven Marcus Woolfe - Educated at Aberystwyth University. Barrister. Contested City and East 2012 London Assembly election, Greater Manchester Police Commissioner election 2012.

Conservative Party

Jacqueline Foster - Educated at Prescot Girls Grammar. Former aviation consultant and air hostess. MEP for the North West 1999-2004 and since 2009.
Sajjad Karim - Solicitor. Pendle councillor 1994-2001 for the Liberal Democrats. MEP for the North West since 2004. Originally elected as a Liberal Democrat, he defected to the Conservatives in 2007.