PEOPLE will be heading to the polls on Thursday, May 23, for the European Parliament elections.
There will be 73 MEPs elected across the whole UK with seven in the West Midlands.
Unlike the ‘First Past the Post’ system used in UK elections, the EU vote will be done on proportional representation meaning the number of votes each party gets overall determines how many MEPs they have.
The MEPs are listed in the party’s order of preference with their first choice being elected first, then the next and so on.
Last time around UKIP finished with three MEPs with Labour and Conservative earning two each.
We asked each of the parties standing why people should vote for them.
Brexit Party candidate Martin Daubney said: “Brexit broke British politics.
“The votes of 17.4million people who voted to Leave the EU have been ignored by our out-of-touch MPs in Westminster.
“The people have been betrayed by these politicians, who refuse to honour the biggest political mandate in British history.
“Now, our democracy is under threat. Trust in the two-party political system has gone. Only the Brexit Party can help fix this.
“A vote for the Brexit Party on May 23 is the only vote for a clean-break Brexit.
“More than that, it’s a vote for democracy – a way of changing politics for good.”
A spokesperson for Change UK in the West Midlands said: “It’s time for change.
“Brexit will not address the problems our country faces. Brexit will damage our economy and cripple our NHS.
“We will campaign to remain in the EU and put a stop to Brexit so we can once again focus on what matters to the British people – a strong economy, our country playing a leading role in the world, protecting our environment, investing in our public services and building a vibrant democracy where we campaign with decency, respect and evidence.”
She added these elections offered voters the chance to send a simple message – that politics is broken, a People’s Vote is needed and the country should remain in the European Union.
Conservative Anthea McIntyre said it was her party which gave the country the referendum it wanted and only her party which would ensure the result was honoured for the people of the West Midlands.
“The other parties want to derail or debase Brexit – we want to deliver it smoothly and move on to build the global Britain people voted for.
“That is why it is important that voters across the region do not get provoked into a protest vote.
“It is vital to return Conservative MEPs with experience who will continue to look out for the interests of Worcestershire, the West Midlands and Britain.”
The Green Party’s lead West Midlands candidate Ellie Chowns said the country was at a crossroads and the Green Party was clear what it wanted.
“Our leaders have failed us – not only with the chaos of Brexit but by having their heads in the sand while the climate is breaking down.
“The main parties seem more interested in fighting themselves and each other than in improving people’s lives and protecting our planet.
“We’re proudly European and want Britain to remain at the heart of Europe.
“We would put tackling climate breakdown at the top of our agenda. And we want to help communities that have been ignored for years to thrive.”
Labour candidate Sam Hennessy said: “We are trying to bring our country together behind a deal that works for the many not the few.
“The Tories remain hopelessly divided on Europe while voters have not forgotten the betrayal by the Lib Dems when they leapt into bed with David Cameron in pursuit of a failed austerity agenda.
“It is clear at these European Elections that only Labour can stop Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party and deliver a Brexit which protects jobs and the economy.”
Coun Ade Adeyemo, Liberal Democrat candidate, said: “This election has become a battle between the Lib Dems who want to stop Brexit and Nigel Farage who wants it to happen at any cost.
“Millions who believed Brexit promises have been let down.
“Government is paralysed. Many have changed their minds – as is their democratic right.
“The only way out is for a deal to be put back to the people to make an informed decision.
“In that campaign the resurgent Lib Dems will lead the fight to remain in the EU.
“A Labour vote is a vote for Brexit. Voting Green or Change UK risks splitting the vote.
“Vote Liberal Democrat.”
UKIP candidate Graham Eardley said Britain should already be out of the UK and be an independent trading nation.
He criticised the Conservatives for not delivering Brexit, said no-one was sure what Labour stood for and added, unlike the Brexit Party, UKIP had published a manifesto.
“UKIP MEPs will take their seats and use them as a platform to campaign for Britain’s exit from the European Union as quickly as possible.”
He added UKIP was the only democratic party in favour of the UK’s Independence and all of its West Midlands candidates ‘lived in the West Midlands and had world experience from doing real jobs’.
The Candidates
Brexit Party
Rupert Lowe
Martin Daubney
Andrew England Kerr
Vishal Khatri
Nikki Page
Laura Kevehazi
Katharine Harborne
Change UK
Stephen Dorrell
Charlotte Gath
Peter Wilding
Amrik Kandola
Joanna McKenna
Victor Odusanya
Lucinda Empson
Conservatives
Anthea McIntyre
Daniel Dalton
Suzanne Webb
Meirion Jenkins
Alex Phillips
Mary Noone
Ahmed Ejaz
Green
Ellie Chowns
Diana Toynbee
Paul Woodhead
Julian Dean
Louis Stephen
Helen Heathfield
Kefentse Dennis
Labour
Neena Gill
Sion Simon
Julia Buckley
Ansar Khan
Zarah Sultana
Sam Hennessy
Liz Clements
Liberal Democrats
Phil Bennion
Ade Adeyemo
Jeanie Falconer
Jenny Wilkinson
Jennifer Gray
Beverley Nielsen
Lee Dargue
UKIP
Ernest Valentine
Paul Williams
Graham Eardley
Paul Allen
Nigel Ely
Joe Smyth
Derek Bennett