CONSERVATIVES in the South East Region, including Surrey and Hampshire, are sharing in their party's jubilation this week, after a resounding victory in elections for the European Parliament.

Declaration of the region's results, in Winchester Guildhall on Sunday night, saw five of the region's 11 seats won by Tories in the first election in this country to be based on proportional representation.

The turnout, in tune with the rest of the country, was low, at just under 25 per cent, with Conservative voters accounting for 44.4 per cent of the total.

The party had expected to win the region but had not anticipated the scale of their victory.

The swing to the Tories from Labour, who took two seats, was calculated at 7 per cent - not so dramatic a collapse for Labour as in most parts of the country.

But the Lib Dems, who pressed Labour hard in 1994, saw their vote crumble from around 26 per cent to just 15.3 per cent, giving them two seats where they had anticipated more.

The result in the South East was also notable for the election of one of three UK Independence Party MEPs nationwide, Nigel Farage, and one of two Greens, Dr Caroline Lucas.

UK Independence polled 9.7 per cent in the region and the Greens, 7.4 per cent.

Members elected were: James Provan (Con), Roy Perry (Con), Daniel Hannan (Con), James Elles (Con), Nirj Deva (Con), Peter Skinner (Lab), Mark Watts (Lab), Emma Nicholson (LD), Chris Huhme (LD), Nigel Farrage (UK Ind), Caroline Lucas (Gr).

Voting figures:

Con: 661,931, Lab 292,146, LD 228,136, UK Ind 144,514, Gr 110,571, Pro Euro C 27,305, BNP 12,106, Soc Lab 7,281, NLP 2,767, Ind Stable 1,857, Ind Profit 1,400

Speaking immediately after the declaration, a triumphant James Provan, fomerly MEP for North Downs West and who headed the Conservatives' list for the South East Region, referred to a remarkable result for the region and indeed the whole of the country.

"We ran a vigorous campaign based on the decentralisation of European affairs, not the over-centralisation that the Blair administration is so committed to. This superb result shows that the Conservative Party has taken a significant step back to power and sends a clear message to the Labour government, which continues to let down more and more people."

The Greens had waited 10 years for their first MEP, having polled 15 per cent of the vote nationwide in 1989 without gaining a single seat.

Caroline Lucas, whose priorities include campaigning for a European ban on GM foods, commented: "Throughout this campaign we have argued that the European Parliament needs more Greens to put commitments to sustainable development, equality and environmental protection into practice, and the voters agreed. This is the Europe which Greens aspire to develop."

Local results on this week's Herald