Nigel Farage's Brexit Party is set to storm to victory in the UK's European elections, riding a wave of anger at the failure of Prime Minister Theresa May to take the country out of the European Union, results show.
The country's two main parties, May's Conservatives and opposition Labour, haemorrhaged support while smaller pro-EU parties did well, with the Liberal Democrats projected to come in second place.
Nearly three years after the UK voted to leave the EU, it remains a member and its politicians are still arguing over how, when and if the country will leave.
May quit on Friday, saying it was a matter of deep regret she had been unable to deliver Brexit and arguing the decision of the 2016 referendum should be honoured. That opened up a period of further uncertainty as the Conservatives decide on who will take over as prime minister.
BBC projections put the Conservatives on around 10 to 12 per cent, down from 23 per cent in 2014, likely one of their worst ever results in a nationwide election.
The Brexit Party was in first place and was likely to do better than the UK Independence Party did in 2014, according to BBC projections.
The European Parliament's forecasts placed the Brexit Party at between 29 and 31 per cent of the vote, with overall turnout just 37 per cent.
"The intelligence I get is that the Brexit party is doing pretty well," Farage, who headed one of the two Brexit campaigns in the 2016 referendum, said.
While May was forced to delay Brexit after agreeing a deal the British parliament and much of her party rejected, Labour has both voiced support for another referendum and promised to honour the result of the 2016 vote.
The impact of such a severe election drubbing is unclear, though potential successors to May are calling for a more decisive Brexit, while Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is under pressure to support another referendum.
Britain took part in the European Parliament elections because it had delayed the date of its EU exit, but its MEPs will leave the parliament when Brexit occurs.
Farage casts Britain's political system as broken and says parliament and the government are trying to thwart Brexit. He wants the UK to leave the EU as soon as possible and says the damage of a no-deal departure has been exaggerated.
The Liberal Democrats, who campaigned under the slogan "Bollocks to Brexit", oppose Brexit and want a second referendum to stop it.
With AP
