Labour came fifth in the Euro elections in the South East last night with the party nationwide suffering its worst post-war election result.

However while the party suffered in the rankings, it clung on to its single MEP seat on a night in which the status quo remained in the region.

Nationally, the Labour Party was beaten into third place behind the Tories and the UK Independence Party and its share of the vote — just 15.3 per cent — was even worse than party leaders had expected.

There were 10 seats up for grabs under proportional representation in the South East, the region which covers Oxfordshire.

The four Conservatives elected were Daniel Hannan, Richard Ashworth, Nirj Diva and James Elles.

The UK Independence Party members elected were Nigel Farage and Marta Andreasen.

The Liberal Democrats elected were Sharon Bowles, and Catherine Bearder, from Oxford.

Caroline Lucas remained the Green MEP for the region, while Peter Skinner was elected for Labour.

The Conservatives polled 812,288 votes, 34.8 per cent of the vote.

The UK Independence Party polled 440,002 votes, the Liberal Democrats 330,340, the Green Party 271,506, and the Labour Party 192,592.

The British National Party polled 101,769, 4.4 per cent of the vote, coming sixth, one place behind Labour.

In last night’s Cherwell District Council by-election, Douglas Williamson won for the Liberal Democrats with 828 votes.