GORDON Brown's political survival hung in the balance today as Labour suffered a devastating rout in the European elections.

The party was beaten into third place nationally by the United Kingdom Independence Party in the popular vote, while the far right British National Party achieved a major breakthrough by gaining their first Euro seats.

The scale of the defeat could be the catalyst for rebel Labour backbenchers, manoeuvring to oust Mr Brown, to come out into the open and launch a direct leadership challenge.

With the all the results in for England and Wales, Labour were on course to gain just 16 per cent of the vote – a point behind Ukip and 11 behind the Tories on 27 per cent.

Labour lost five seats to leave them with just 11, two fewer than Ukip with 13, and 13 behind the Conservative tally of 24.

Deputy leader Harriet Harman admitted that they had been a "very dismal" set of results for the party.

She sought to deflect attention from the Prime Minister, putting the blame for Labour's poor performance on the row over MPs' expenses which, she said, had hit the party particularly hard.

"Our supporters are absolutely furious with us about expenses," she said. "They expect us to have higher standards than the Tories."

However Labour MPs returning to Westminster today will be weighing up whether they now need to ditch Mr Brown if they are going to stand any chance at the next General Election.

There will be particular dismay that the party has fallen so far that it opened the door for the BNP to take seats in Yorkshire and the Humber, and the North West, where the party's leader Nick Griffin was elected.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham, pictured right, said it was "deeply uncomfortable" to see the BNP polling in such large numbers.

"It is a sad moment in British politics," he said.

"The BNP is like the ultimate protest vote. It is how to deliver the establishment a two-fingered salute."

Conservative Party chairman Eric Pickles added: "What seems to have happened is that Labour voters have been squeezed beyond what we thought was possible – and the BNP has been the beneficiary of that."

One of the most dramatic results of the night came in Wales where Labour was beaten into second place for the first time in any election since 1918.

Labour was also heading for second place in Scotland behind the Scottish National Party, while in two English regions – the South East and the South West – it was beaten into fifth place behind the Greens.