Thread by @jburnmurdoch

NEW: a few things we can learn from UK’s European election results:
ft.com/content/e01b7e…

1/ The squeeze on major parties continues, as voters opt for clearer or harder Brexit messages. Hard Brexit groups gained, but big winners were anti-Brexit parties, whose share doubled.

2/ The hardest hit were the Conservatives, who recorded their lowest ever vote share in a national election. As in, the lowest since they were founded in 1834. ft.com/content/e01b7e…

3/ New data from @LordAshcroft shows where those Tories have gone:

Only 20% of 2017 Tory voters stuck with the party. 53% backed the Brexit party, and 20% backed anti-Brexit parties (!).

The Tories are still losing to both sides, just like Labour. ft.com/content/e01b7e…

4/ Speaking of Labour, the results don’t make pleasant reading for their leadership. Their biggest losses came in the most pro-Remain areas, but their second-worst results were in the most pro-Leave areas.

Caught between Brighton and Bolsover, if you will ft.com/content/e01b7e…

5/ It’s clear from Ashcroft and the results that Brexit was key factor

50% of voters said it was main reason they voted how they did, and results data show anti-Brexit parties made big gains in pro-Remain areas, while Brex party improved on Ukip’s 2014 results in pro-Leave areas

6/ More discussion in the story here, and elsewhere on the FT ft.com/content/e01b7e…

Also massive shout-outs to my fellow data-hunters @MattSingh_, @election_data and several anonymous volunteers, and kudos to everyone else who has been working on this around the clock.

7/ With that I bid you adieu, and am off to the continent for the next week. As I said, everything revolves around our relationship with the EU, and never let it be said I don’t practise what I preach.

Also if anyone’s going to be in Madrid on Saturday night, get in touch...