The anti-EU party dramatically built on its success in the local elections in England last Thursday when the results of the Euro poll on the same day were announced. A jubilant Mr Farage hailed the outcome as “an earthquake” because “never before in the history of British politics has a party seen to be an insurgent party ever topped the polls in a national election”.

The Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats conceded that Ukip had come first, with just Northern Ireland left to declare on Monday afternoon.

At 12.30pm it was confirmed that Ukip had taken its first ever Scottish seat, taking the party's total to 24 - almost double the 13 seats it won in the last Euro elections in 2009. The result from Scotland was delayed because the Western Isles local authority does not count votes on a Sunday.

The Tories, who came first last time with 25 seats, have suffered the humiliation of dropping to third place for the first time ever in a national election. They secured just under 24 per cent of the vote, losing six seats.

Labour claimed victories in Wales, the North East and North West of England and London to take 25.4 per cent of the vote, and with two seats in Scotland increased its number of MEPs by nine to 20.

But the Liberal Democrats suffered a disastrous result, falling to an embarrassing fifth place behind the Green Party amid increasing grassroots pressure on Nick Clegg to stand down as party leader.

Lib Dem fears of a total wipeout were raised when they lost their seat in the one-time stronghold of the South West. Sir Graham Watson, president of the Liberal group in the European Parliament, was ousted by the Greens. However, they avoided the worst humiliation by winning one seat in the South East. Nationally, the Greens added a single seat to take three overall.

Across the EU, nationalist and Eurosceptic parties made big gainsamid predictions that they would double their strength in the European Parliament. In France, Marine Le Pen's Front National  topped a nationwide poll for the first time in its history, with the anti-immigrant party predicted to take 25 per cent of the vote and win as many as 24 seats in the European Parliament.

Ms Le Pen said France had “shouted loud and clear” that it wanted to be run “by the French, for the French and with the French” and not by “foreign commissioners” in Brussels. Manuel Valls, France’s Socialist Prime Minister, said the victory was “more than a shock, it's an earthquake”.

Turnout across the EU was estimated at 43.1 per cent, in line with the previous Euro elections  five years ago.

In Belgium, the separatist New Flemish Alliance was tipped to receive nearly a third of votes cast in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders. In Austria, the far right Freedom Party was forecast to win a fifth of the votes.

In Britain, the last nationwide test of public opinion before next year’s general election confirmed that the country has entered an era of “four-party politics.”  The turnout was 36 per cent, up from 34.7 per cent in 2009.

In the last results to come in before Northern Ireland, the Conservatives claimed a single seat in Scotland while the Scottish National Party took two. The Lib Dems lost their only seat, coming sixth.

Ukip topped the poll in the East of England, winning three of the region’s seven seats. Three went to the Conservatives and one to Labour. The Lib Dems lost their seat.

Both the Tories and Liberal Democrats lost seats in the North East of England to Labour and Ukip. The result meant the Conservative leader in the Parliament, Martin Callanan, narrowly lost his place in it.

In the East Midlands, Ukip scooped the most votes, winning two seats, capturing one from the Lib Dems once held by Mr Clegg. In Wales, Mr Farage’s party came close to securing first place but Labour just saw off its challenge. In Yorkshire and the Humber, Ukip again outscored its rivals, and saw its number of MEPs triple to three.

Labour doubled its number of MEPs in London to four, restricting Ukip and the Greens to one each and the Conservatives to two.

(Published by The Independent – May 26, 2014)