EU Elections: These people want Lincolnshire’s votes

As the dust settles on last week’s local elections, already residents across the UK will be asked to go to the polls for this year’s European Parliament elections — but who is asking for your vote?

After failing to agree a Brexit deal in time, it was yesterday (Tuesday) confirmed the country will head to the polls on May 23.

The UK has 73 MEPS in total, with five of those elected representing the East Midlands, including Lincolnshire.

MEPs in England are elected by a system of proportional representation.

The UK will legally take part in the EU wide poll to elect members of European Parliament.

After failing to agree a Brexit deal ahead of the March 29 deadline, the UK is now set to leave the EU on October 31 following an extension granted by Brussels.

What is the European Parliament?

The European Parliamentary Assembly is a directly-elected governmental body of 751 members from across Europe.

It has a number of legislative, supervisory and budgetary responsibilities and is the EU’s primary law-making body.

It works to pass EU laws, decide international agreements, scrutinise EU institutions and establish the EU budget.

It can also be petitioned to act on certain issues.

How are votes worked out?

Voters put an x by any party or independent candidate they wish to vote for.

Candidates are ranked by their parties from highest priority to lowest.

The seats go, in turn, to the party which receives the highest votes.

However, as each subsequent seat is allocated the winning party gets its total votes divided by the number of seats they have won plus one.

I want to vote, can I?

Voters had until Midnight last night (May 7) to register to vote in the EU elections. If you were not registered by then, unfortunately you are not able to register now.

Who is standing in for my area?

Below is the list of candidates in party list order for the East Midlands:

• Change UK
  • Kate Godfrey
  • Joan Pons Laplana
  • Narinder Sharma
  • Pankajkumar Gulab
  • Emma Manley
• Conservative
  • Emma McClarkin
  • Rupert Matthews
  • Tony Harper
  • Brendan Clarke-Smith
  • Thomas Randall
• Green
  • Kat Boettge
  • Gerhard Lohmann-Bond
  • Liam McClelland
  • Daniel Wimberley
  • Simon Tooke
• Independent Network
  • Nick Byatt
  • Marianne Overton
  • Daniel Simpson
  • Pearl Clarke
  • Nikki Dillon
• Labour
  • Rory Palmer
  • Leonie Mathers
  • Tony Tinley
  • Nicolle Ndiweni
  • Gary Godden
• Liberal Democrats
  • Bill Newton Dunn
  • Michael Mullaney
  • Lucy Care
  • Suzanna Austin
  • Caroline Kenyon
• The Brexit Party
  • Annunziata Rees-Mogg
  • Jonathan Bullock
  • Matthew Patten
  • Tracy Knowles
  • Anna Bailey
• UKIP
  • Alan Graves
  • Marietta King
  • Anil Bhatti
  • Fran Loi
  • John Evans
• Independent
  • Simon Rood

SUBSCRIBE TO LOCAL DEMOCRACY WEEKLY, our exclusive email newsletter with highlights from coverage every week, as well as insights and analysis from our local democracy reporters.