THE European elections brought good news for the Liberal Democrats and the UK Independence Party.

The Lib Dems doubled their number of North West MEPs to two, while the UKIP took a seat for the first time in the region. Labour and the Conservatives each won three seats.

The all-postal vote meant the turnout was 40.86 per cent, double that of the last Euro poll five years ago when the region recorded the lowest vote in the country.

There were nine seats up for grabs, one fewer than last time, allocated by proportional representation. Bucking the trend, both elsewhere and in the last elections, Labour won more votes than anyone else: however, their tally is down by one, while the Tories have two fewer seats than in 1999.

Among the MEPs safey re-elected are Radcliffe-based Gary Titley, Labour leader in Europe; and David Sumberg, former MP for Bury South.

NORTH WEST

Labour...576,388 (27.38%)

Con...509,446 (24.2%)

Lib Dem...335,063 (15.92%)

UKIP...247,158 (11.74%)

BNP...134,958 (6.41%)

Green...117,393 (5.58%)

Lib...96,325 (4.58%)

Eng Dem...34,110 (1.62%)

Respect...24,636 (1.17%)

Countryside...11,283 (0.54%)

Prolife...10,084 (0.48%)

Ind...8,318 (0.4%)

Those elected were:

Three Conservatives (Den Dover, David Sumberg, Sir Robert Atkins); three Labour (Gary Titley, Arlene McCarthy, Terry Wynn); two Liberal Democrats (Chris Davies, Saj Karim), and one UK Independence Party (John Whittaker).