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The European Elections in 1999 In Britain the Conservatives were the big winners, polling 36% of the votes and gaining 36 seats in the European Parliament. The Labour vote dropped to 28% returning only 29 seats. While the Liberal Democrats saw their number of MEPs rise to 10, their share of the vote in Britain fell to 12.7%. The UK Independence Party with 3 MEPs and the Greens with 2 MEPs were main beneficiaries of proportional representation, winning seats in the European Parliament for the first time. In Scotland the SNP retained 2 seats with over 27% of the vote while in Wales, Plaid Cymru took 2 seats for the first time with 29.6% of the Welsh vote. In Northern Ireland, where
turnout was much higher than in the rest of the UK, the three sitting
MEPs were elected. Ian Paisley polled 28.4% of the vote; John Hume 28.1%;
and Jim Nicholson 17.6%. Sinn Fein polled 17.3% of the vote.
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