MOSCOW, May 23 (RIA Novosti) — The second day of the European Parliament elections, dubbed "Farage Friday" in the media, saw British politician Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independent Party (Ukip), win his fraction the unprecedented 89 seats in the local government.
In elections in England and Wales, 69 councils out of 161 have so far declared. The results show Ukip has gained 89 local government seats, with Labour gaining 113 seats, but the Liberal Democrats have lost 104 council seats and Conservatives 103.
The first nationwide victory of the right-wing party, which has 38,000 members, belongs to Eurosceptics' movement, advocating limiting EU migration, reinstating national borders and withdrawing from the euro currency. Political scientists expect other Eurosceptics, who have been gaining popularity recently, to win in other countries, as well.
One of the founders of the 21-year-old party, Farage has served as its leader since 2010, as well as between 2006 and 2009. Called populist by some British media, Farage and other party members have recently made several scandalous statements, which some said were part of their strategy.
Farage told RIA Novosti earlier this month he believed the EU and British Government had "provoked" the crisis in Ukraine by making misleading promises that the Eastern European country could become part of the EU. He also defended Russian President Vladimir Putin after UK's Prince Charles allegedly compared him to Hitler for his actions in Ukraine, which lost its Crimea peninsula to Russia in March.
In January, UKIP councilor David Silvester went a little too far when he suggested the winter floods were linked to the government’s decision to legalize gay marriage, according to the Daily Mail. He was suspended from the party.
Britain and the Netherlands were the first of the European Union’s 28 member states to vote in the elections that come at a time when Europe has not yet recovered from the economic crisis that triggered banking failures, skyrocketing unemployment and low living standards. The Czech Republic votes on Friday, and joined by Slovakia, Latvia and Malta on Saturday.
The majority of European countries, including Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden will vote on Sunday.
A total of 751 deputies will be elected by about 380 million Europeans. The vote to the European Parliament is expected to reveal more about policy trends within individual countries than it will change European policy as a whole.
The final voting results will be announced on May 25, as the last polls in Italy close. New parliamentary factions are to be formed by the end of June and the first parliamentary session with the newly elected deputies is expected in early July.
