Liz Lynne celebrates re-election as MEP

3.01.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 8th Jun 2009

Liz Lynne and the Liberal Democrats are celebrating her re-election to the European Parliament for a third term as our local MEP.

Liz comfortably retained her seat with 12.1% of the vote from an election between 12 competing parties.

In a speech after the final results were announced after a mammoth count at the Birmingham National Indoor Arena, Liz said:

"I look forward to continuing my work in the European Parliament to secure the best deal for all the communities of the West Midlands region. The LibDems have achieved a lot by working with our European partners but there is plenty more we can achieve over the next five years.

"I would like to thank everyone who delivered leaflets and knocked on doors for me around the region over the last six weeks for all their hard work."

Liz Lynne and the Liberal Democrats are the only major political party to maintain their position in the Parliament in this region after the election.

The Conservatives increased their vote slightly but lost one MEP to two, due to the reduced list size, while Labour lost one MEP and a quarter of their vote to finish with one MEP.

UKIP won two MEPs.