News from Celtic League The results for the European elections have (almost) been counted in the Celtic countries and the progressive and democratic nationalist parties who stood in the elections have done well in terms of numbers of votes gained and representatives elected. In Alba (Scotland) the Scottish Nationalist Party described the results as a fantastic victory for the SNP and a vote of confidence in the Scottish Government?, after increasing its votes by 68,496 on 2009 and securing 28.9 per cent of the popular vote. Its two Members of the European Parliament - SNP President Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith - were easily returned and the SNP narrowly missed out on returning a third MEP. Alba (Scotland) currently elects 6 MEP?s to the European Parliament. the SNP and Labour each gained 2 parliamentary seats and the Conservative Party and United Kingdom Independence Party gaining one seat each. In Breizh (Brittany) with three separate election lists for Breton parties (Christian Guyonvarc?h,heading the open list made up of Union Démocratique Bretonne (Unvaniezh Demokratel Breizh) (UDB) non/members of the party; Christian Troadec heading the joint Parti Breton, Mouvement Breton et Progrès, Alliance Federalist Bretonne, Breizh Europa list and the Breizhistance/Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste list), the share of the vote was good overall, but no MEP was elected from any of the lists. Breizh shares its European parliamentary constituency with areas of West France, outside of its traditional territory. In Cymru (Wales), Plaid Cymru Vice President, Jill Evans, retained her seat after fighting a hard campaign, securing 15.3% of the vote following disappointing initial poll results. Cymru (Wales) currently elects 4 MEP?s to the European Parliament. Plaid Cymru, Labour Party, Conservative Party and United Kingdom Independence Party all gained one European Parliamentary seat each. In Éire (Ireland), Sinn Féin gained four MEP?s in total (three in the south of Ireland and one in the north), with Martina Anderson topping the European election poll with almost 160, 000 votes in the north of Ireland. Sinn Féin, Democratic Unionist Party and Ulster Unionist Party all returned one MEP each in the north of Ireland. In the south of Ireland votes for all but one MEP have been declared, with dramatic full rechecks currently taking place for the Midlands North West constituency between Fianna Fáil?s Pat ?The Cope? Gallagher and the Independent candidate Marian Harkin. Fianna Fáil has so far only gained one MEP and so are badly need to gain this last victory. Fine Gael have gained four MEP?s in the south. Sinn Féin has gained its best electoral mandate across Éire in terms of number of votes the Party received and the number of representatives elected, with an 8.3% swing in number of votes received in the south of Ireland alone. The South elects 11 MEP?s to the European Parliament (reduced from 12 MEP?s in 2009 due to the accession of Croatia in 2013) and the north of Ireland currently elects 3 MEP?s to the European Parliament. The European election results in Ireland were not completed until 27 May 2014, despite the elections taking place on 23rd May 2014. Kernow (Cornwall) does not currently have a parliamentary list with any progressive and democratic nationalist political party on it, but then Kernow shares their European constituency with the South West of England and Gibraltar, outside of its traditional territory, putting it at a democratic disadvantage. However the European Parliamentary region (South West) that Kernow is part of, elected its first Green MEP in this election, which is a Party that has had political links with Mebyon Kernow -the Party for Cornwall (MK), previously. The Green Party supports the campaign for a Cornish Assembly and its leader, Natalie Bennett, recently met with MK leader in Truro to discuss Cornish political devolution. Mannin (Isle of Man) is not a member of the European Union and so do not take part in the European elections. In addition to the European elections, Scotland and Éire (including the north of Ireland) also held local council elections on the same day as the European election vote. In the local council elections in Alba the SNP topped the poll in 16 out of 32 local authority areas. The other political parties in comparison gained 10 councils (Labour Party), 4 councils (Conservative Party) and 2 councils (Liberal Democrats). In the local council elections in Éire (north and south) Sinn Féin produced sweeping gains, especially in the south where they took 157 seats (up from 103 seats at the last council elections in 2009) and are now the biggest grouping on the councils in the cities of Dublin and Cork. In the north of Ireland Sinn Féin polled second, after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), gaining 105 seats (down by 10 seats), with the DUP gaining 130 seats (down by 15 seats). With the European election votes still being counted in the south of Ireland (with an expectation that the count could continue until the weekend), criticism that the system is not fit for purpose is being levied. 28/05/14 Link: (voir le site) For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact: Rhisiart Tal-e-bot?
General Secretary,
Celtic League?
gensec [at] celticleague.net
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