European elections results UK: The 13 candidates to watch as countdown for results in ON
BRITONS took part in the European elections yesterday and voters were expected to vent their frustration over the current Brexit deadlock. These are 13 UK candidates who look likely to take seats in European Parliament.
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The UK held its European elections vote on Thursday but the results won’t be announced until later this week. While Britons have already cast their ballots they will have to wait for all of the EU member states to vote before finding out which candidates won. These 13 candidates are ones to watch as the countdown to results begins.
Britain took part in the EU elections despite having voted to leave in 2016.
The UK has 73 seats in European Parliament and all of these were up for grabs in the five-yearly-vote yesterday.
But what is not known is how long these UK MEPs will sit for, if at all.
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A revised Brexit date has been set for October 31, the day before European Parliament sits in full for the first time since the European elections.
While Labour and the Tories are divided on Brexit, they both pursue a policy the UK should be leaving the EU sooner rather than later.
Ahead of the EU elections polls predicted a Tory wipeout with the newly founded Brexit Party forecast to take most seats.
While Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party does not have a manifesto, it has pledged to extract the UK from the EU ASAP if it swipes the most number of seats in the EU election.
The anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats offered Remainers a solution to Brexit in their European elections campaign.
They were second in the polls behind the Brexit Party ahead of the vote.
Politicians stood for 73 MEP seats across 12 UK regions.
These 13 candidates will be ones to watch as the EU election results are announced.
1. Geoffrey Van Orden
Party: Conservative
Region: East of England
The No. 1 on party’s regional list is a former British Army officer and has represented the East of England as an MEP since 1999. The 74-year-old for the election to keep his seat.
2. Sajjad Karim
Party: Conservative
Region: North West England
He previously won the seat for the region as a Liberal Democrat but is now standing as a Tory.
A vice-president of the European Parliament’s anti-racism and diversity group, he was up against Islamaphobe Tommy Robinson who also stated in the region as an MEP.
3. Caroline Voaden
Party: Liberal Democrat
Region: South West England
The former journalist will hope to make gains for the pro-Remain Party which only won one seat in the last European elections.
4. Gerard Batten
Party: UKIP
Region: London
The current UKIP leader took on Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in the capital. UKIP lost 14 of its 24 MEPs after they switched allegiance to the Brexit Party ahead of this election.
5. Gavin Esler
Party: Change UK
Region: London
Another hopeful candidate fighting to represent the UK capital, the former BBC present is likely to become one of the new party’s most vocal members if elected.
6. Rachel Johnson
Party: Change UK
Region: South West England
Boris Johnson’s sister played a vocal role in the party’s launch but hasn’t said much since. The party took on the Liberal Democrats in the South West to try and win Remainer votes.
7. Nigel Farage
Party: Brexit Party
Region: South East England
The former UKIP leader’s new party was launched with the sole purpose of securing seats in the European elections.
The Brexit Party was launched as a response to the Brexit deadlock and has pledged to push an EU exit through ASAP if it wins more votes than any other party.
The Brexit Party was leading in the polls ahead of Thursday.
8. Annunziata Rees-Mogg
Party: Brexit Party
Region: East Midlands
Jacob Rees-Mogg’s sister threw her hat into the ring with the hope of becoming a Brexit Party MEP.
She abandoned the Conservative Party after she stood for parliament unsuccessfully in the 2005 and 2010 general elections.
9. Magid Magid
Party: Greens
Region: Yorkshire and the Humber
Magic has an extraordinary back story. He was born in Somalia before coming to the UK as a refugee.
He made history when he became Sheffield’s youngest ever lord mayor and is now standing for the Green Party in the European elections.
His plan to ban Donald Trump from Sheffield made headlines.
10.Claude Moraes
Party: Labour
Region: London
Moraes is the chair of the the European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee is a potentially powerful Labour MEP.
He pledged to fight “a progressive pro-EU campaign based on the positive EU benefits for all our communities.”
He will stand in the heavily Remain-backing capital and may struggle to keep his seat from Lib Dem clutches.
11. Andrew Adonis
Party: Labour
Region: South West
A passionate pro-Remainer who served as a minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The Labour veteran surprised some by standing for the party but stands a reasonable chance of being elected as Labour’s second MEP for the southwest.
12. Christian Allard
Party: SNP
Region: Scotland
The born-again Scottish nationalist was in fact born in France.
He worked in the fishing industry for 20 years and is a fierce supporter of the SNP’s pro-immigration outlook.
Allard looks likely to be elected but the SNP’s overall performance might dwindle following Nicola Sturgeon’s latest push for another Scottish Independence Referendum.
13. Stephen Yaxley-Lennon
Party: Independent
Region: North West England
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon aka Tommy Robinson is an anti-Islam campaigner and advisor to the UKIP party.
He decided to stand as an independent in the northwest of England, accusing “the establishment” of “betraying Brexit.”
Eight European Parliament seats are up for grabs in the region and he can’t be ruled out as a potential winner.