Lib Dems top Northumberland poll in Euro elections

9.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 8th Jun 2009

Following on from the Lib Dem triumph in the Northumberland Unitary elections in 2008, Liberal Democrats topped the polls in Thursday's European elections for votes cast within Northumberland.

Liberal Democrat MEP Fiona Hall was re-elected to the European Assembly as MEP for the North-East Region (including Northumberland). Within the Northumberland area the party secured a quarter of the votes (25%) - more than any other single party. The Labour vote had collapsed by almost 10%.

A year on from the Unitary elections the vote confirms the Liberal Democrat's dominance within the county. With a General Election now less than a year away the party is in a strong position to increase is its parliamentary representation within Northumberland. Currently the party hold the Berwick-on-Tweed seat, but are expected to be strong challengers in the rest of the county including Hexham. With the collapse of the Labour party vote they are now the only serious challenge to the Conservatives.