JUST over a third of Bolton’s electorate turned out to vote this week in the European Parliament Elections.

Nigel Farage’s newly-formed Brexit Party came out on top with 23,122 votes in Bolton, with Labour coming second with 17,455 votes. In a distant third were the Liberal Democrat candidates with 8,415 votes while the Conservatives trailed with 5,577 votes and Green Party on 5,061.

Bolton’s votes were combined with votes from the rest of the North West constituency for the European Parliament in order to elect eight candidates to represent the region in Brussels. 

Bolton’s results broadly reflected the way the region voted as a whole and at the end of the count on Sunday night the Brexit Party had secured three MEPs, Claire Fox, Henrik Nielsen and David Bull. 

Afterwards Mr Nielsen said: “What a fantastic night we had last night.

“This was a great result we had and this is the beginning, not the end.”

Labour voters will be represented by Theresa Griffin and Julie Ward, while Liberal Democrat voters have Chris Davies and Jane Brophy. 

The final party to be selected to represent the North West was the Greens with Gina Dowding. 

The candidates mark a shake up of MEPs with UKIP losing all three of the seats they won here in 2014, as voters swung to the Brexit Party. 
Labour’s Wajid Khan from Burnley lost his seat as Labour dropped from three seats to two. 

Previously the Conservatives held two seats for the North West but lost both of them this year, while the Liberal Democrats and the Greens both made gains.

Mr Farage said he would “change the shape of British politics” after his Brexit Party stormed to victory in the European elections.

The Brexit Party won 32 per cent of the vote across the UK, securing a total of 28 MEPs out of 73.

Mr Farage announced he was getting ready to fight a general election, warning that his Brexit Party could “stun everybody” if Britain had not left the EU by the next national contest.

“We’re not just here to leave the European Union but to try and fundamentally change the shape of British politics, bring it into the 21st century and get a Parliament that better reflects the country,” he said.

Across the country the Conservatives were the main casualties of the Brexit Party’s advance, they secured just nine per cent of the vote in England and Wales. 

Far-right activist Tommy Robinson was another of the night’s losers gaining two per cent of the North West vote with 38,908 votes, 1,871 of those coming from Bolton. 

After the counts he blamed his social media bans for his lacklustre performance.

How Bolton Voted 

  • Change UK 1,532
  • Conservatives 5,577
  • English Democrats 417
  • Green 5,061
  • Labour 17,455
  • Liberal Democrats 8,415
  • Brexit Party 23,122
  • UKEUP 235
  • UKIP 2,957
  • Mohammad Aslam 162
  • Tommy Robinson 1,871

How the North West voted

  • Change UK 47,237
  • Conservatives 131,002
  • English Democrats 10,045
  • Green 216,581
  • Labour 380,193
  • Liberal Democrats 297,507
  • Brexit Party 541,843
  • UKEUP 7,125
  • UKIP 62,464
  • Mohammad Aslam 2,002
  • Tommy Robinson 38,908


The European Parliament elections results are calculated using a proportional representation system known as the D'Hondt method.

Each constituency is allocated a number of MEPs based on its population (eight for the North West).

Then using a mathematical formula seats are awarded to parties based on the share of the votes received.