The Telegraph is no friend of Gordon Brown’s Labour government, but its report that Labour’s looming humiliation in the European Parliament elections has profound domestic political ramifications is likely to resonate across the country.

"One thing is clear: most people want an election either now or, preferably, in the autumn once parties have cleared out candidates they do not want to stand in their colours," the Telegraph said on June 1 2009.

"Only one third want Mr Brown to go the full term which would take him to next summer. If Labour does come fourth on Thursday, the option may no longer be in his hands," the newspaper said.

The Telegraph, which has led the way in coverage of the expenses scandal, also gave prominent coverage to the controversy around Tory leader David Cameron’s mortgage payments. Most observers believe that both mainstream parties in the UK will be punished because of the expenses scandal.

Brown has insisted that he will stay on even if Labour is routed at the European Parliament polls, telling the BBC Radio 4's Today he was not "arrogant" or "unwilling to listen" but would "stay on to do the job" before calling a general election.
 
"I'm the best person to clean up the political system," Brown said. "I think the cleaning up of the political system is best done by someone who has got a clear idea of what needs to be done - and I have."

Elsewhere, other countries are likely to see the outcome of the June 4 to 7 2009 European Parliament elections translated into calls for early elections. Bulgaria will be among few exceptions, only because it already had scheduled parliamentary elections for July 5.

Greece’s government has had a torrid time of late, with a series of domestic scandals compounded by the violent protests that tore Athens and other major cities around New Year.

Opposition socialists Pasok have held a lead over the governing New Democracy party for some time, although GRReporter said on June 1 that Pasok’s lead had slipped to 2.6 to 3.5 per cent, in the margin of error.

According to Kapa Research, Pasok will get 31.7 per cent and New Democracy 28.7 per cent when Greece votes in the European Parliament elections on June 7.

In the Netherlands, most opinion poll results mirror the new Dutch Euroscepticism and indicate the establishment parties - regardless of their political colour - will lose substantially on June 4, DPA said.
 
"By contrast, the smaller and newer parties are expected to do well, especially ones that take a sceptical stance toward the EU and focus on hot topics like immigration," DPA said.
 
In the Czech Republic, which already has had a political upheaval even while holding the rotating presidency of the EU in the first six months of 2009, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is said to be set for a narrow victory, although the Social Democratic Party could still pull off a victory, Ceske Noviny reported from Prague.

The Social Democrats were the most popular party for a long time, but the latest polls showed that the ODS would score a narrow victory.

The only "break" for the Social Democrats was the announcement that those behind a protracted egg-throwing campaign against Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek had ended the campaign.

Germany is a special case, because the two largest parties are serving together in a grand coalition led by chancellor Angela Merkel. The outcome of the European Parliament elections may be an indication of trends ahead of the country’s federal parliamentary elections to be held in September.

Recent surveys showed Merkel’s CDU/CSU ahead with 39 per cent and the social democrat SPD with 26 per cent.

In other EU countries where governing parties may still win the largest share of votes in the European Parliament elections, outcomes are being watched for protest votes and support for far-right parties as possible indications of long-term trends.
 
One case is Italy, where prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has been the subject of allegations about a supposed relationship with an 18-year-model, a charge he denies, and a different case is Austria, where the performances of the far-right Freedom Party and Alliance for the Future will also be closely studied.