LABOUR have been pushed into fourth place in the East of England European elections on a day of national misery for their party.

The Conservatives topped the polls with more than 500,000 votes followed by Ukip and the Lib Dems although there was no overall change in seats.

Labour MEP Richard Howitt is again the sole member of his party to gain a seat in the region, and even he had earlier voiced doubts over retaining his position.

He told The Guardian: “I was first elected in Essex in 1994 and this has been my toughest election ever. It’s a very sad night for Labour. I don’t hide the fact I went to the count not knowing what the result would be, but I’m proud to be re-elected. I’m very committed to the job and to helping local people get the benefits from Europe.”

Conservative party chairman and Ongar MP Eric Pickles said the evening had been disastrous for Labour.

He said:” I think they’re in a very, very bad state. The results were so bad they might save Gordon Brown. No-one will want to change leader now. I’m extremely happy and I look forward to a general election, when ever that might be.”

He added: “The Conservatives got more than Labour and the Lib Dems combined. We had three really good candidates elected and we came close to getting the fourth.”

FULL RESULTS

TURNOUT: 1,603,340

ELECTORATE: 4,252,669

Conservative 500,331

UK Independence Party 313,921

Liberal Democrats 221,235

Labour 167,833

Green Party 141,016

British National Party 97,013

United Kingdom First 38,185

English Democrat 32,211

Christian Party-Christian Peoples Alliance 24,646

No2EU 13,939

Socialist Labour Party 13,599

Animals Count 13,201

Libertas 9,940

Independent - Peter Rigby 9,916

Jury Team 6,354

ELECTED MEMBERS

Conservative - 3 SEATS Geoffrey Van Orden, Robert Sturdy, Vicky Ford

UK Independence Party - 2 SEATS David Campbell-Bannerman, John Agnew

Liberal Democrats - 1 SEAT Andrew Duff

Labour - 1 SEAT Richard Howitt