
HUMILIATED far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon slipped out of his election count early after discovering that he had come a feeble eighth in England’s North West region.
The founder of the English Defence League, who goes by the name “Tommy Robinson,” found that he had received just 38,908 votes at Sunday night’s European Parliament elections count in Manchester: 2.2 per cent in the overall vote share, and a loss of his £5,000 electoral deposit.
He blamed “the unions” and the government for his defeat in Thursday’s poll.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, Mr Yaxley-Lennon said: “Trump won his campaign on social media, Brexit was won on social media. I’m banned from all social media, so my ability to fight a fair campaign has gone.”
He accused his opponents of being “organised and orchestrated by the government,” adding: “the union funded hundreds of billboards against me, I can’t even counteract that.”
This is a presumed reference to Unite’s billboarding campaign, in which anti-fascist slogans were posted on 44 billboards across north-west England.
National Education Union joint general secretary Kevin Courtney lauded the billboards, saying: “It’s right for unions and all good-hearted people to oppose this hate-filled neofascist.”
Unite political director Anneliese Midgley said on Twitter: “We at Unite are proud to have played our part in defeating this fascist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.”
In an interview with Canadian far-right activist Jessica Swietoniowski outside the count, Mr Yaxley-Lennon appeared to believe his pathetic showing had the hallmarks of a conspiracy against him.
He said: “How can it only account to 40,000? It can’t. You’ve seen the support everywhere. It just can’t. Not that I’m a bitter loser.”
Mr Yaxley-Lennon engaged in weeks of provocative campaigning, including being filmed goading opponents by introducing himself as their “new MEP.”
At an election rally, he also declared that he was going to “walk into Brussels like [MMA fighter] Conor McGregor.”
With a vote share of more than 31.2 per cent and three seats, the Brexit Party topped the polls in the north-west.
Its new MEPs are TV doctor David Hull, former Trotskyite activist Claire Fox and Danish dentist Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen.
Labour came second with 21.3 per cent of the vote, while the Tory vote dropped to 7 per cent, meaning that they lost all of their MEPs.