26/05/2014 South East Today

Good Evening. Political shock waves this evening. It is

Good Evening. Political shock waves are being felt round the South East

following the UK Independence Party's victory in the European

elections where they swept the board winning in the majority of areas.

Following the success in the local elections last week, the party has

turned the voting map purple across Kent and Sussex. Out of ten MEP's at

the start of last night, five were Conservative. Now there are four

UKIP MEPs. The Conservative Party has three. Labour, the Liberal

Democrats and the Green Party have one each. In Thanet, 46% of voters

voted for UKIP. Our Political Editor, Louise Stewart looks at the

results. Throughout the campaign in Nigel

Farage had promised his party would cause an earthquake in British

politics. Today he is celebrated as UKIP did top the polls in most of

the council areas across the south`east. He says it gives his

party a strong base for fighting the general election. Look at the local

election results that happened on Thursday and the English County

election results that happened in May of last year. You do not have to

be a rocket scientist to work out that in constituencies like

Grimsby, Boston, Yarmouth, Thanet, Folkestone, Portsmouth, Plymouth,

oh, we do like to be beside the seaside! UKIP came top of the polls

in the vast majority of areas that have published their results. From

Dartford to Dover to Crawley the Conservatives only topped the polls

in three areas and Labour topped them in Brighton. It is clearly UKIP

message has resonated with voters. There are too many immigrants in the

town. I am not rise system but I think their areas. `` I am not

racist. I think they have different ideas and they are putting forward

and people are fed up with what is going on. I say, bring it on, Nigel.

I say that because I think the major parties need to be shaken up. With

an increase of 13% on the vote share in the south`east, experts say the

surge in popularity of UKIP must be taken seriously. David Cameron has a

massive task on his hands in the south`east because people do not

believe he can deliver in Europe and immigration the kind of policies

that UKIP are promising. UKIP cannot deliver them either but people

currently think that UKIP are the new kid on the block and they are

exciting and Mr Cameron's party looks old`fashioned and jaded. The

current MP in the area who is standing down does not believe that

South Thanet is an easy target for UKIP. It is a conservative majority

and it is between the Conservatives and Labour but he will make his

choice and I am sure that we will respond accordingly. As the dust

settles on these election results Nigel Farage will have to decide

whether to stand in the south`east at the general election. Wherever he

does choose will be a key battle ground for all of the parties.

Well, Louise Stewart joins us now from Crawley. A historic night for

UKIP. Could this be replicated in a general election?

There is no doubt it was a really good night for UKIP at the polls and

I think because of that support base and in places like Sussex and Kent

Nigel Farage is increasingly looking as though he will stand in this

region and possibly in South Thanet. It is quite difficult to

extrapolate from the results we've had in the past few days how people

would vote in the general election. Look here in Crawley, a big victory

for Labour in Crawley and they took more seats than predicted and seize

control of the council back from the Conservatives and they said that it

put them in a strong position for the next general election. UKIP when

they were on Thursday night but last night they topped the poll is there.

What I think it shows is that people vote differently at local and

European elections than they do when it comes to choosing their next

government. Many thanks. You can find out more

on our website. The National Trust says an important

wildlife habitat near Brighton could take years to recover after an

illegal rave was held there. A large group descended on Devils Dyke for a

party over the weekend. Sussex Police said it couldn't close the

event down given the officers it had available. Mark Sanders reports.

A rave on the Southdown is. At its height around 2000 people attended

the illegal party at Devils Dyke this weekend and there were about

400 vehicles. This is the cost, an important habitat is damaged. The

site is important. It is a site of special scientific interest for its

chalk grassland. Where vehicles have been, they have trashed that

grassland under no end of damage that could take five or ten years to

recover. The National Trust has started

fixing fencing that was cut over the weekend. It owns and manages this

land. Rubbish has been left right across the site and The National

Trust is asking people to come on Wednesday to help volunteers clear

it up. There were complaints from nearby residents about noise from

the rave but the Sussex Police said they could not close the event down

given the number of police officers available. The force said it tried

to contain the gathering. Today walkers at the beauty spot were

dismayed by what they found. It is a disgrace, they have all come down

here and lifted and not cared about it. It puts people off because

people I ask if they want to go camping and they will not allow

anything like that again. In terms of damage to the chalk grassland,

The National Trust believe that the effects of a weekend of partying

could last for years. Police say they want to speak to

three men who used a sheet to break the fall of a woman who jumped two

storeys from a burning building in Hastings.The fire broke out in the

early hours of Sunday in Marine Parade and spread to neighbouring

properties. The 66`year`old woman jumped around 40 feet from a window

and is currently in a critical condition in hospital.

Police in Kent are investigating a serious collision in Gravesend.

Officers were called to Earl Road shortly after 5am on Saturday after

a BMW crashed into a wall and traffic lights near the junction

with Perry Street. The driver, a 26`year`old man, was taken to a

London hospital with life`threatening injuries.

That is the news. Let us get an update on the weather now.

That is the news. Let us get an This bank holiday in historic and

the most dodgy bank holiday of the whole year because it is the start

of the European monsoon, where every year at the end of Main and

throughout the end of June we get waves of wet weather which

scientists believe it's because of ice sheets melting in Greenland as

they do every year at this time of year. It is also because the

European landmasses eating which creates low pressure which is

exactly what we have got this week. Take a look at the charts. We are in

a low`pressure sandwich with the lows bouncing around us all week

long so it will stay cloudy and there is a lot more wet weather to

as well. It is cloudy now and rainy now and it will not change a lot. It

is going to be wet overnight tonight and sometimes it will become a bit

drier but we will always have the rain never far away. At least the

temperatures are mild, down to 11 or 12. Tomorrow I doubt you will see

any sunshine, it is just going to be a cloudy start and fairly wet at

times. There are heavy showers as well. Some places will get less rain

than today and others will get more so it depends whether showers are.

The temperatures are disappointing. As we go into Wednesday there is not

a great deal of change. More low`pressure coming towards us so

some places will have drier interludes and a chance of getting a

bit of brightness where we could get temperatures up to 18 degrees. Maybe

a slight improvement on Wednesday but you are going to have to have

your umbrellas close by throughout the week. Rain on and off throughout

the week but do not book tickets to Honolulu just yet because towards

the end of the week there is a hint that high pressure could start to

build. Perhaps it will be sunny at the end of the week and the weekend

and even next week. Something to look forward to. At last!

Just to recap on our top story. UKIP are celebrating in the south`east,

having taken significant gains on the political map here in Kent and

Sussex. You can find out much more if you want to if you go to our

website. You can also tweet us. That is it from us, we will be back later

on this evening, goodbye.