The first Scottish results have been announced for the EU elections.
After the first five councils areas declared their results, the SNP had secured 38% of the votes – up from the 29% it won in 2014.
The Brexit Party was on 16%, with the Conservatives on 14%, the Liberal Democrats on 12%, Scottish Labour on 9% and the Scottish Greens 7%.
The election was held on Thursday in the UK, but the results could not be announced until after 22:00 on Sunday.
The results from 31 of Scotland’s 32 council areas will be announced over the next couple of hours, with the Western Isles declaring on Monday.
What are the key early trends?
- The SNP won the biggest share of the vote in each of the first five council areas to declare – East Ayrshire, Scottish Borders, Renfrewshire, West Dunbartonshire and Perth and Kinross.
- But it is too early to say whether the SNP’s results will be strong enough to increase its number of MEPs from two to three
- The Brexit Party, led by Nigel Farage, finished second in three of the first five council areas
- It would almost certainly have a Scottish MEP if its early results are replicated across the country
- Scottish Labour – which also won two seats in 2014 – looks to be in for a very difficult night, with its share of the vote down dramatically in the early results.
- Turnout is up across Scotland from five years ago
Voters across the UK will choose a total of 73 MEPs in 12 multi-member regional constituencies, with Scotland classed as a single constituency that will elect six MEPs.
MEPs are elected in order as listed by their party, based on the parties’ total share of the vote in each region.
The SNP and Labour both won two seats in Scotland in 2014, with the Conservatives and UKIP winning one each.
In Scotland, Wales and the nine English regions, the number of MEPs for each party is calculated using a form of proportional representation known as the D’Hondt formula, a complex system devised by Belgian mathematician and lawyer Victor D’Hondt in the late 19th Century.
The process is slightly different in Northern Ireland, where the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system is used. Here is a guide to how the two work.
Content provided by the BBC. Original piece can be found here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-48417424