26/05/2014 BBC Channel Islands News

Good evening. this evening. It as good night

The UK Independence Party is celebrating

after topping the poll in the South West European Elections.

But it wasn't enough to get an extra MEP.

There was success, though, for the Greens, who made history by taking

UKIP gained 32% of the vote, polling 140,000 votes more than in 2009

That pushed the Conservativds into second place.

They also get two MEPs. That's down one.

Labour regained the seat it lost last time `fter

The final seat was taken by the Green Party, thanks to the system

of Proportional Representathon. It polled 11%.

That gain came at the expense of the Liberal Democrats, who were fifth

Here's our political editor Martyn Oates.

They got the backing of the billboards

during the campaign, and whdn it came to polling day, UKIP got

As the counting took place the party polled most votes in places from

Cornwall to Weymouth and Portland and Plymouth to Devon via Torbay.

140,000 more votes than in 2009 although the party only enddd up

Five years ago we got about four first places.

This time we got at least 24 to 30 first places and that gives us a

The Conservatives came top in a few areas but this was a night

More than 30,000 fewer votes than last time saw their MEPs drop

People felt they had a free go and they had a bit of a go but as

it happens in the South West, they haven't returned any more UKIP MEPs

than they had before, so I don't see that this is going to be repeated

next year in the general eldction, but I'm not complacent about that.

UKIP and the Greens fought out the final seat to be announced.

History was then made as thd region gained its first Gredn MEP.

I've been in the Green Partx for 25 years now and I've lost very

many elections so it's a wonderful feeling to have won one.

It's a huge responsibility but I'm looking forward to what I c`n

It's a great opportunity for the Greens in the South West.

Labour managed to regain thd seat it lost last time thanks to pl`ces like

We need to make sure the European Union works

for the people of the South West and that is what I regard as my primary

task as an MEP for the region, to bring jobs and investment into the

The big losers were the Liberal Democrats.

They came fifth across the region and lost `n MEP

of 20 years' standing ` a particular blow in a region

they've traditionally regarded as one of their strongholds.

Well, to look at the Lib Del situation in more depth, Halish

To Yes, the local MP here shnce 1997, Adrian Sanders, has not done

interviews today but he has gone online and said the party mtst have

a debate about the future. Writing on the Lib Dem voice websitd, he

said the question... Sir Graham Watson, who lost his seat

last night, said part of thd problem has been associated with thd

coalition. This is quite common

for junior partners in coalhtion across the European continent, the

junior partner always suffers more. The important thing is that we are

there in government making the contribution

and keeping the government fairer than it would be if

the Conservatives were therd alone. So how the Liberal Democrats address

this? The North Devon MP saxs the party must separate itself from the

Conservatives next year. Nick Clegg says he will not resign, and he is

being backed by Lord Ashdown, but defeat does bring division `nd it

seems a long time ago since the south`west seem to be coverdd in

Liberal Democrat yellow. And Martyn Oates joins me now. A dramatic

night. This was expected to be a contest between UKIP and thd

Conservatives as to which could carry the largest number of seats.

As we have seen, the Green Party denied the UKIP and the Torhes that

crucial third seat, which stggest that people are fed up with the main

Westminster parties they might not simply be looking to UKIP instead.

How might that affect next xear s general election? People have tended

to vote very differently in European and domestic elections but hf we

look at the results of the local elections last week, where

significant numbers voted for UKIP, if that trend develops the bigger

parties in Westminster will be very worried. The crucial question is, is

this the crest, the peak of a protest about or an indicathon we

will now do politics in a dhfferent way?

A male holidaymaker suffered broken bones after being pushed

from a restaurant balcony into the estuary at Salcombd, Devon

The incident happened at thd Island Street Bar and Grill

Officers are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

The organisers of the Devon County Show say they're

offering a full refund to everyone who bought tickets for last Saturday

The third day of the show w`s cancelled for the first timd in

the event's history following heavy rain which the organisers s`id made

Now, the pride of Penzance was at stake this afternoon

as an attempt was made to whn back the world record for the most number

The Cornish port lost the thtle to Hastings two years ago.

Spotlight's David George has been watching today's attempt to put

Ready! Aim! Fire! The battld with the Sussex town is underway. After

all, the Pirates of Hastings doesn't have the right ring to it, does it?

The Pirates of Penzance werd everywhere. Surely there has never

been so much timber shivered, so many swashes buckled and Rogers

jollied. In order to break this record, they have to beat H`stings,

but Hastings are here. You scurvy crew are armed to the teeth, aren't

you? Yes, you are dangerous people in Penzance. We have swords, we have

daggers, we have guns and wd have other secret things that I `m not

allowed to tell you or else I will have to kill you. Does that hurt

through your nose? Only when I put it in. What draws you to thhs event?

It's piracy for goodness sake, isn't it, girls? Women, wenching,

plundering, cider. What shall we do with the drunken sailor? Sh`ve his

Belly with a blunt razor. They want to wake a world record. We did it

last time and we can do it `gain this year. What happened to you I?

Cutlass. In the end there wdre 14,154 parts of Penzance, 77 short

of a new world record. And bad luck to Penzance. Here is the we`ther

forecast now. Some of you h`ve seen a fair number of showers today, Port

of Cornwall for example, others not a shower insight and mixed fortunes

will dominate the weather this week. We could see a ration of drx and

bright weather compared to other parts of the British Isles. Tonight

many parts done towards the south`west, showers die awax but as

we come further north, parts of Dorset and Somerset will catch the

tail end of showery rain th`t has affected parts of central and

southern England, and by tolorrow morning some of that will still be

lingering but many districts will start tomorrow dry, temperatures

will drop overnight to betwden eight and 11 Celsius. Tomorrow a fair

amount of dry and bright we`ther starts to show itself, especially in

parts of Cornwall and Devon. The Channel Islands should stay dry all

day. A few showers could brdak out and as we come further north and

east more cloud around, gendrally a higher chance here of travellers. A

moderately breezy day and temperatures could be quite uneasy,

somewhere between 13 and 16 Celsius, but parts of Exeter could gdt up to

17. For the rest of the week, a broadly similar pattern.

17. For the rest of the week, a straw poll about the weather events

today, I suspect we would get a split decision. There were

significant differences around, we have sunshine and some warmth, but

also this cloud and rain coming up through the Channel into the north

of