STROUD district councillor Molly Scott Cato has been elected to the European Parliament.

Cllr Scott Cato (Green, Valley) was the lead candidate for the Green Party in the south west and is the first member of her party to be elected in the region with 11.10 per cent of the vote.

Across the country the Green Party now has three MEPs in the European Parliament, which has increased by one since the last election in 2009.

UKIP received the largest share of the vote (32.29 per cent) in the region and had two candidates elected as MEPs – as did the Conservatives.

Labour’s lead candidate for the south west, Clare Moody, who visited Stroud last week with deputy leader of the party Harriet Harman, was also elected as the sixth MEP for the region.

The Liberal Democrats lost their seat in the region – as well as eight others across the country – leaving them with only one MEP.