Amjad Bashir, one of three Ukip MEPs in the Yorkshire and the Humber region, said his party was 'overjoyed' with the result:
It shows the hard work that we've put in. We've not been afraid to go out to the public, be asked difficult questions and answer those difficult questions.
We've also listened and other parties have failed to do that.
– Amjad Bashir MEP, Ukip
The businessman from Leeds also said his election showed his party is not a racist organisation:
Here I am, of Asian birth, of Asian parentage, Muslim, and I have been selected by this so-called racist party. It disproves that completely.
The party, in selecting me, I was voted in, it was a democratic process where the whole party nationally voted for me. I got the second highest number of votes and, therefore, I was selected for the area.
– Amjad Bashir MEP, Ukip
Ukip topped the poll in the Yorkshire and the Humber region with more than 400,000 votes.
Rotherham, where the party did well in Thursday's council election, was one of the earliest to see the party come in first. It was followed by others including Wakefield, York, Selby and North East Lincolnshire.
The European Election count is well underway in Leeds. Credit: ITV Yorkshire
The Green Party says it is becoming increasingly confident about winning a European seat in Yorkshire and the Humber region.
Counting has almost finished in Leeds, where ITV Political Correspondent Paul Brand says early indications show that UKIP and the Labour Party are in the lead, with the Greens, Tories and Lib Dems battling for third.
Results from 21 local authorities across the Yorkshire and the Humber region will be sent to Leeds and will be added together to produce a final result.
The number of people in the region considering taking out a payday loan has doubled in the last six months.
New figures show that while the number of people across the country considering a short term loan fell from seven to six percent, since June last year, the number in Yorkshire and the Humber rose from three to six per cent.
But figures for the region have fallen over all from a peak of twelve per cent in April 2012.
Unemployment figures show that Yorkshire and the Humber has the second worst rate in the country - despite a fall in the numbers out of work.
But today the Big Lottery Fund handed out £22 million pounds in our region towards training and work placements. James Webster has been to see one woman who is hoping to benefit - and students preparing for life after education.
Fifteen people lost their lives while at work in Yorkshire and the Humber last year and almost 2,000 were seriously injured. Business are being urged to ensure workers safety as top priorty this new year.
