Dave Thompson MSP

Thompson welcomes bigger share of vote in Scotland than any party UK-wide

Dave Thompson, SNP MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch has welcomed the final results of the European election and has hailed the result as "a fantastic victory for the SNP and a vote of confidence in the Scottish Government."

With the full results for Scotland now declared, the SNP has won the election - increasing its votes by 68,496 on 2009 and securing 28.9 per cent of the popular vote. This is a bigger share of the vote than any other party achieved in the UK as a whole or in England, and a bigger share of the vote than Labour secured in Wales, where it topped the poll. UKIP achieved a smaller share of the vote in Scotland than in any electoral area south of the border.

The SNP came first in 16 of Scotland's 32 local authority areas.

SNP President Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith have been returned as MEPs, giving the SNP twice as many Euro-MPs as the LibDems got across the entire UK as the backlash against their propping up of the Tories continues.

Commenting on the result, Mr Thompson said: "I am delighted that the SNP have won the election and have increased our share of the vote by almost 70,000.

"I would like to offer my congratulations to Ian and Alyn on their re-election, and I look forward to working with them to secure the best deals possible for the people of my constituency.

"Obviously I am disappointed that we missed by only a few thousand votes to get our third candidate, Tasmina Ahmed-Sheik, elected and I am dismayed that UKIP managed just to get a London-based candidate elected to represent Scotland.

"The increase in the UKIP vote is a wake-up call for Scotland, given their anti-EU agenda and their right wing plans to remove the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights.  This would be a disaster for Scotland and for the UK as a whole.

"This is not what we want to see happen in Scotland and I will be campaigning even harder to secure a Yes vote in September’s Referendum."

Note:

The SNP topped the poll in the following 16 council areas:

• Aberdeen
• Aberdeenshire
• Angus
• Argyll & Bute
• Clackmannanshire
• Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
• Dundee
• East Ayrshire
• East Dunbartonshire
• Falkirk
• Highland
• Moray
• North Ayrshire
• Perth & Kinross
• Stirling
• West Lothian