Extremist and fringe parties were the beneficiaries as voters across Europe deserted mainstream parties or stayed at home in protest at the state of their economies.

The Centre Left was set to be the big loser across the 27 European Union countries with the Centre Right consolidating its position as the largest group in the Parliament. Anti-immigrant parties gained MEPs in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, the Netherlands and Slovakia.

Governing parties generally suffered but this trend was bucked in Italy, where Silvio Berlusconi’s Party of Freedom was heading for gains, and in France, where Nicolas Sarkozy’s UMP recovered dramatically from a poor showing in 2004.

The turnout of about 43 per cent, compared with the low of 45.47 per cent in 2004, meant that 213 million voters abstained from the poll despite mandatory voting in several countries.

In Germany, Angela Merkel’s ruling Christian Democratic Union lost a handful of seats but maintained its strong lead over the left-of-centre SPD, its coalition partner, pointing to victory for the German Chancellor in the autumn general election.

The worst result for the SPD in 60 years set a trend across Europe, with disappointing results for centre-left parties in government and in opposition alike. Only in Greece and Malta could socialist oppositions really claim success. “This is disappointing,” said Franz Müntefering, the head of the SPD. “The result for us is significantly worse than we expected.”

The SPD’s failure to capitalise on the economic crisis looked set to be mirrored by centre-left opposition parties in Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, while there were poor results for governing

centre-left parties in Britain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia and Spain.

The Socialists were soundly defeated in France, with exit polls giving them 17.5 per cent compared with President Sarkozy’s UMP on 28.3 per cent.

“We will continue to modernise France,” said François Fillon, the Prime Minister, attributing his party’s success to the Government’s handling of its stint as rotating president of the European Union last year.

Mr Sarkozy has marginalised the Socialists by inviting senior centre-left politicians into his Government and pushing state intervention and protection for vulnerable French industries during the economic crisis, normally the presrve of the Left.

The new leader of the Socialists, Martine Aubry, has been dragged down by disputes with the party’s former presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal. She said that she took full responsibility for the defeat and understood that it meant that profound reform was needed.

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