MEP Clare Moody, who visited Stroud last week with deputy leader of the party Harriet Harman, has been elected to represent the south west in the European Parliament.

The pair spent time with volunteers and candidates running in the local elections and also spent time in Stonehouse meeting members of the public.

Speaking after the result was announced she said: "I'm delighted that the SW will once again have Labour representing its interests in the European Parliament, and am thrilled to be the person taking charge of that task.

“The south west has benefitted enormously over the years from EU investment and job creation and I will be a vocal advocate of securing more of that now I am your Labour MEP.

"We are pleased with the result but there are lessons for us to learn from this set of elections.

“UKIP doing well here mirrors what we have seen emerge across the whole of Europe over the last couple of days.

“I don't think this is about Europe, this is about the discontent that people are feeling with politics general but also the economy, and being told everything is on the up but yet not personally feeling it.

“People are left wondering what on earth anyone is doing for them.

“During this campaign I have been talking to people on the doorsteps up and down the region and the main issue on their minds isn't leaving Europe, it's how much money they in their pockets from month to month and who is standing up for them to secure their futures.

"Labour vastly improved the vote we received in 2009 in the south west and across the country have seen a rise in both our vote share and the number of MEP's we have.

“This is a good set of results for us, on top of a good set of local election results which showed us winning the popular vote in some of our key marginals.

"We are moving forward and will be seeking to build on this positive momentum, as well as taking heed of what the electorate have told us through these results, as we look toward next year."