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SNP top the poll in Isles’ European vote         26/5/14

The SNP raced home in the Western Isles poll in the European elections with Labour coming in second place.

But Ukip which shocked the traditional political parties by grabbing third spot in the results - which gives them a claim to their first MEP seat for Scotland.

Islanders voted on Thursday with the rest of Scotland but the declaration of results was delayed until the rest of Europe went to the polls at the weekend.

The Electoral Commission stopped the Western Isles from counting the votes on Friday as planned fearing voters across the continent would be influenced by any Hebridean political trend if they read the results on Hebrides News or UK news sites.

The Comhairle opted not to arrange the tally for Sunday but whizzed through the ballot boxes on Monday morning.

Some 7,705 people voted between the Butt to Barra. Local turnout was 34.96% with 22,039 islanders eligible to vote - higher than the Scottish average and an improvement on the 27.4% figure of 2009. There were 18 rejected ballot slips.

The SNP received 3,310 votes (over 43% of the total votes cast) while Labour came in at 1,842 (nearly 24%). Some 847 islanders backed Ukip - nearly treble the figure in the 2009 Euro poll - giving it an 11% share of the vote.

The Conservatives who have landed in fourth place with 761 votes (nearly 10%) in the Western Isles are taking much comfort in the fact that their share of the isles’ vote has doubled since the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections.

The overall Scottish results gives the SNP two MEPs in Europe, Ian Hudghton and Alyn Smith. Labour also hold two Scottish MEPs -  David Martin and Catherine Stihler. Ian Duncan will represent the Conservatives while David Coburn has been elected Ukip’s first ever Scottish MEP. The Lib Dems no longer have a Scottish MEP.