Support For UK’s Ruling Labour Slides Below 20 Percent
LONDON (Reuters) - Support for Britain’s ruling Labour Party plunged to its lowest level in a century in European elections on Sunday, prompting fresh calls for Prime Minister Gordon Brown to step down.
Adding to Labour’s woes, the far-right British National Party won its first seat in the European Parliament.
The BNP gained the seat in the northern English region of Yorkshire and Humber at the expense of Brown’s Labour Party, which has been hurt by a scandal over politicians’ expenses and questions over Brown’s leadership at a time of deep recession.
Labour also lost a seat in Wales, a traditional stronghold, where it came second behind the center-right Conservatives.
A projection for the BBC put Labour on 16 percent of the vote, just behind the anti-EU UK Independence Party and 11 points adrift of the Conservatives.
Labour’s share of the vote was down about seven points from the last European election in 2004, while the Conservatives were little changed.