It was so near, yet so far with the BNP taking the 6th seat in the region with just 9.8% while we got 8.5%, less than 16,000 votes behind. Another 2% would have brought MEPs in most regions and two in the South East. We can only console ourselves with convincing results for Caroline Lucas and Jean Lambert. Overall we got 8.7% which equates to 6 or 7 MPs if divided proportionately.

Losing to the BNP is hard to stomach. The election leaflets and "plumby" lead candidate fooled too many people but their true colours showed at the Leeds count. A young Asian Labour activist was firmly knocked to the ground after making a comment as the BNP group came by after the declaration. Unfortunately Martin Hemingway's wife was also knocked to the ground the process. She has asked the BBC if they have footage - if they have hopefully it will be on local news bulletins.

A full results analysis follows at the bottom of the message. Our result holds up well with the 4 target regions who got all our national media and all the available national funding. The regional strength in town and city councillor groups again shows through and I will be pushing for more support nationally in recognition of this. The relentless work in York showed through again and York Inner should be supported as a national target constituency.

Thank you to everyone who supported the campaign in whatever way. The approximately Ł27,000 donated by local parties and members for the Freepost leaflet and additional 110,000 poster/leaflets was vital - many other regions were unable to fund this.

We have made some big strides forward in the region since 2004 and the campaign team and regional officers are determined to keep the momentum going.

The original intention of the campaign was to build to the local elections in May 2010. We have 11 months to take advantage of the bounce achieved in this election. "Target to Win" is the tried and tested method of winning council elections so let's take a breather and then get out there knocking on doors once more. People are pleased to see us and we have good messages to offer them.

In the 10 seats we stood in in the region we got a respectable 11.2% of the vote. Best result was David Malone in Falsgrave & Stepney, Scarborough, with over 20% in coming third just 98 votes behind the winner.

In Catterick Bridge, European candidate Leslie Rowe, got close to 20% in finishing 3rd. Emir Nader, at just 18, was possibly the youngest North Yorks CC candidate standing in Richmondshire North. Emir even took time out from his "A" levels to help at the count, where he got an excellent 200 votes, beating the Labour candidate into 4th place.

In both the county and European elections the Green Party were comfortably top of the poll in Norwich. A by election will soon be called in Norwich North following the resignation of Labour MP Ian Gibson due to the expenses scandal. This will be a massive opportunity but Norwich GP will need support from across the country to counter the by-election hit squads from The LIb Dems and the other major parties.

Please monitor the situation via www.norwichgreenparty.org/ and contact your local party to express an interest in travelling over as a group - overnight accomodation will be offered. Logistically this will be a nightmare task for the Norwich party so please note the help that they ask for and do your best to organise yourselves and help their admin people. All local parties can learn from time spent with the Norwich election team and this is an election we could win as the "clean" party. Rupert Read, Eastern Euro lead candidate is considering standing - there will be a meeting this week. After a disappointing night last night this could be an unexpected bonus - surely the most important by election the party has ever fought providing a clear path to multiple MPs in Westminster.

2009

2004

% increase

York

13.76

9.19

50%

Sheffield

11.43

7.37

55%

Craven

10.47

7.39

42%

Calderdale

9.82

6.33

55%

Kirklees

9.61

6.59

46%

Leeds

9.44

6.42

47%

Richmondshire

9.14

4.71

94%

Scarborough

9.05

6.59

37%

Ryedale

8.92

6.19

44%

Bradford

8.81

5.57

58%

Harrogate

8.38

5.3

58%

East Riding of Yorkshire

7.97

4.58

74%

Kingston Upon Hull

7.74

4.62

68%

Hambleton

7.54

5.44

39%

Selby

6.49

4.76

36%

Wakefield

6.24

4.57

37%

North Lincolnshire

6.24

4.14

51%

Barnsley

6.18

4.39

41%

North East Lincolnshire

5.99

4.44

35%

Rotherham

5.26

4.22

25%

Doncaster

5.18

4.45

16%

Overall

8.52

6.2

40%

National results by region :

	2009	% increase	MEPs
South East	11.6	3.8	Caroline Lucas
London	10.9	2.5	Jean Lambert
South West	9.3	2.1
Eastern	8.8	3.2
Yorkshire & the Humber	8.5	2.8
North West	7.7	2.1
East Midlands	6.8	1.4
West Midlands	6.2	1.1
North East	5.8	1
Wales	5.6	2

National party website : Green vote increases by 44%

In the European elections, the Green Party's vote increased by about 44% (1) compared with 2004 - yet the Greens still returned only 2 MEPs.

But the party's results show considerable promise for the coming general election, with the Greens having defeated all comers in the parliamentary constituencies which will be contested by the party's leader and deputy leader.

Party leader Caroline Lucas was re-elected comfortably, with the South East Green Party vote up by half, from 8% to 12%, finishing ahead of Labour. Dr Lucas's bid for election to the Westminster Parliament received a huge boost from a vote of 33.7% in Brighton and Hove. The Greens came first in Brighton and Hove, almost 6,000 votes ahead of the Conservatives, and with more than double Labour's vote across three parliamentary constituencies. Caroline Lucas will be contesting the Brighton Pavilion seat in the general election.

Jean Lambert successfully defended her London seat, overtaking UKIP. In Lewisham, the Greens polled 22%, close behind Labour on 25%. This looks promising for the Lewisham Deptford target constituency in the general election, a seat to be contested by Darren Johnson AM, the current chair of the London Assembly.

In the South West region, the Green Party increased its vote for Ricky Knight by 2%, to 9% - coming fourth, ahead of Labour.

Rupert Read narrowly missed election in Eastern region, where the Green vote increased from 6% in 2004 to 9%. In Norwich, the Greens came a comfortable first throughout the city, on 25% - good news ahead of the general election, when Green Party deputy leader Adrian Ramsay will contest the Norwich South target seat.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, the Green vote went up from 6% to 9% - narrowly missing out to the first BNP MEP. Ironically, the BNP's new MEP lives in Harrogate, a borough where the BNP polled only 1,887 votes compared with the Green Party's 3,845.

The North West Greens very narrowly missed winning a seat where the BNP leader was elected. Highlights of the Green vote in the North West included Manchester, where the Greens finished in third place, on 13.6%, ahead of the Conservatives. Ironically, while the Green vote was up from 6% to 8%, the BNP vote actually fell numerically compared with 2004.

In the North East - the first result announced, as there are only three seats - the Greens polled 6%, 1% up on 2004, in the English region where the Green vote was always most likely to be squeezed. In East Midlands, the Green vote increased by 1% to 7% and in West Midlands up 1% to 6%.

In Wales, the Green Party vote increased by a third, from 4% to 6%.

The European Green Group looks set to be much stronger after this election. The French Greens, for example, have gained 8 seats, more than doubling their representation to 14 seats

More information here.

Council Election results :

Greens make further progress in county elections

In the county elections the Green Party continued to make steady progress.

The party made its breakthrough onto four county councils - Cambridgeshire (1 seat), Devon (1), Gloucestershire (1) and Suffolk (2).

In Norfolk the Greens held 2 seats and gained 5.

In Lancashire the party successfully defended 1 seat and gained a second. Lancaster Greens also held a city council seat in a by-election, and continue to hold 12 seats on the city council.

Unfortunately the Greens had effectively lost 4 seats before the campaign began, due to council reorganisation and boundary changes (in Eastern and North East regions). The only unexpected loss was 3 out of the 5 Green Party seats on Oxfordshire County Council.

Greens gain most at Labour and LibDem expense

The Green Party ended the campaign with 123 councillors on 42 councils, up from 119 on 41.

Of the Green Party's gains, 7 were from Labour, 2 from the LibDems and 1 from the Conservatives. This too continues a familiar pattern.

The party's steady progress in the 2009 elections was reflected in recruitment, with an 8.5% growth in membership during the six weeks of the campaign.

Greens look forward to the general election

The single most encouraging result was in Norfolk, where the Greens won more votes than any other party not only in the Norwich South parliamentary constituency, but also throughout the Norwich City Council area. This bodes well for the target constituency of Norwich South, which will be contested by Adrian Ramsay, the Green Party's deputy leader and currently leader of the opposition on Norwich City Council.

And in Lancashire, in the Lancaster and Fleetwood target constituency the Greens outpolled everyone except the Conservatives.

Council Election Results

Net Gain(loss): +4 *

Total Green councillors: 123

New councils with Green councillors: +1

Total councils with Green councillors: 42

* Note: We started on -4 councillors due to the abolition of three authorities with Green councillors as part of the restructuring of County Councils.

Gains

Council	Division	Candidate	Gain from	Vote share
Cambridgeshire	Cambridge Abbey	Simon Sedgwick-Jell	Lab	40.6%
Devon	Totnes - Rural	Paula Black	Lib	32.5%
Gloucestershire	Stroud East	Sarah Lunnon	Lab	41.7%
Lancashire	Lancaster East	Sam Riches	Lab	34.1%
Norfolk	Mancroft	Richard Bearman	Lab	41.9%
Norfolk	Mile Cross	Richard Edwards	Lab	29.5%
Norfolk	Sewell	Jenny Toms	Lab	32.6%
Norfolk	Thorpe Hamlet	Phil Hardy	Lib	42.2%
Norfolk	Wensum	Marcus Hemsley	Lab	49.4%
Suffolk	Tower	Mark Ereira	Lab	27.1%
Suffolk	Upper Gipping	Andrew Stringer	Con	50.7%

Holds

Council	Division	Candidate	Gain from	Vote share
Hertfordshire	Callowland Leggatts	Ian Brandon	Hold	36.5%
Lancaster City	Castle	Melanie Forrest	Hold	53.5%
Lancashire	Lancaster Central	Chris Coates	Hold	49.7%
Norfolk	Nelson	Andrew Boswell	Hold	63.8%
Norfolk	Town Close	Steven Little	Hold	42.7
Oxfordshire	East Oxford	Larry Sanders	Hold	40.9%
Oxfordshire	Isis	Chip Sherwood	Hold	48.9%

Yorkshire and the Humber election results

National results by region :

Council Election results :

Gains

Holds

Entire Region

Green votes by area:

Yorkshire Green News