Other notable outcomes were that the Labour Party – which came third – suffered a significant drop in support, and that the UK Independence Party (UKIP) finished second in a major election for the first time in its history, coming level with Labour in terms of seats but ahead of it in terms of votes.

[8] Changes in regional seat allocations[9] 1Includes Gibraltar, the only British overseas territory which was then part of the EU.

ComRes, ICM, Populus and YouGov are members of the British Polling Council, and abide by its disclosure rules.

Scotland declared its result on Monday 8 June, as counting in the Western Isles was delayed due to observance of the Sabbath.

[3] The Labour Party, which was in its twelfth year of government of the United Kingdom, polled third and suffered a significant drop in support; UKIP finished second in a major election for the first time in its history, coming level with Labour in terms of seats but ahead of it in terms of votes.

[16] The SNP share of the vote rose by 9.4% points compared to 2004; this was the biggest positive swing for any party in any region in Great Britain.

In Wales the Conservative Party topped the poll, with the nationalist Plaid Cymru coming a close third.

Gibraltar is a British overseas territory (BOT) and therefore is under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom but does not form part of it.

[6] It was also the first time an Irish Republican topped the poll, Bairbre de Brún of Sinn Féin coming first with 125,000 votes.

[25] The group held its inaugural meeting on 24 June, during which Conservative MEP Timothy Kirkhope was named interim leader.

[26] The first election for the group leadership was also scheduled for 14 July, pitting interim leader Kirkhope against fellow Briton Geoffrey Van Orden.

[27] However, both Conservative leadership candidates were forced to forfeit the leadership in order to prevent the group from collapsing, when then-Conservative MEP Edward McMillan-Scott defied his party whip and stood for one of the vice-presidency posts despite pledges the previous week that Polish MEP Michał Kamiński would be backed for it.