Three years on from the EU referendum, it might seem odd that we’re scheduled to vote in European Parliament elections. The whole situation raises plenty of questions, like…
Why are we even voting in European elections?
While the UK may have voted to leave the EU back in 2016, we still haven’t left the bloc yet.
Originally, Theresa May had planned for the UK to be out by March 29 of this year – the two year anniversary of her invoking Article 50, the mechanism for leaving the EU.
If that had happened, we would not be voting in European elections. However, the Prime Minister failed several times to get parliament to vote for her Withdrawal Agreement.
Rather than leaving the EU on March 29 without a deal, which she claimed would lead to economic chaos, Mrs May opted to ask the EU for an extension to Article 50.
That means we’re still in the EU, with all the rights and responsibilities that involves.
Under EU law, UK citizens still have a right to elect MEPs, and the UK government has a responsibility to organise the elections. Credit: Pixabay
When is the vote?
The election takes place this Thursday, the 23 of May. Polls are open from 07:00 until 10:00. If you’re still queuing at a polling station at 10:00, you will be allowed to vote.
You can also vote by post or by proxy, but the deadline for applying for those ballots has now passed.
In some limited cases – like a medical emergency – you can apply for an emergency proxy ballot. These are available up until 5PM on polling day.
Where do I vote?
If you are registered to vote, you should receive a card in the post with information about where your polling station is. This is called a poll card. While it’s helpful to bring it along to the polling station, you don’t need a poll card or any form of ID to vote (unless you live in Northern Ireland).
You must vote at the polling station assigned to you: if you turn up to just any polling station, you won’t be able to vote.
If you haven’t received a poll card or you’ve lost it, you can ask your local council for the location of your polling station. The Electoral Commission has a helpful website that tells you who to contact based on your postcode.
Not sure where to go to vote on polling day? ????️
The simple bit first: it’s pretty much like any other election. You put a cross in the box for the party you want to vote for. If you want to vote for an independent candidate, you put in cross in that candidate’s box.
That’s it. One cross, one box.
If you do anything else, your vote likely won’t count.
What’s the complicated bit, then?
In EU elections, the UK is divided into twelve regions. Each region gets a certain number of MEPs.
In London, we get eight. So, in London, each party puts forward a list of eight candidates.
Voters then pick which party they want to vote for. Each voter can vote for only one of the parties: there’s no ranking of preferences or multiple rounds.
Remember, one cross, one box.
Then, a mathematical process invented by a 19th century Flemish lawyer is used to determine how many MEPs each party gets. The idea is that, as far as possible, parties win the same percentage of seats as they do votes.
The twelve voting regions of the UK. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Who are the parties and candidates in London?
In alphabetical order, the parties standing candidates in London are:
Animal Welfare Party
Change UK
Conservative
Green
Labour
Liberal Democrat
The Brexit Party
UK European Union Party
UKIP
Women’s Equality Party
You can find a full list of each of their candidates here.
There are also eleven independent candidates standing:
Daze Aghaji
Roger Hallam
Alan Kirkby
Kofi Klu
Zoe Lafferty
Claudia Mcdowell
Andrew Medhurst
Henry Muss
Mike Shad
Ian Sowden
Andrea Venzon
When will we know the results?
Unlike most UK elections, the results of European Parliament elections take a while to arrive. This is because different EU countries vote on different days, and the EU doesn’t want knowledge of the result in one country to affect voters’ choices in another.
All of that is to say we should have the results on the evening of Sunday 26 May.
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HeadlineEuropean Parliament elections: all you need to know
Short HeadlineWhy are we voting in EU elections?
StandfirstThursday is EU elections day. How do you find out where to vote? Who are London's candidates? And why are we even voting for MEPs in the first place?
Three years on from the EU referendum, it might seem odd that we’re scheduled to vote in European Parliament elections. The whole situation raises plenty of questions, like…
Why are we even voting in European elections?
While the UK may have voted to leave the EU back in 2016, we still haven’t left the bloc yet.
Originally, Theresa May had planned for the UK to be out by March 29 of this year – the two year anniversary of her invoking Article 50, the mechanism for leaving the EU.
If that had happened, we would not be voting in European elections. However, the Prime Minister failed several times to get parliament to vote for her Withdrawal Agreement.
Rather than leaving the EU on March 29 without a deal, which she claimed would lead to economic chaos, Mrs May opted to ask the EU for an extension to Article 50.
That means we’re still in the EU, with all the rights and responsibilities that involves.
Under EU law, UK citizens still have a right to elect MEPs, and the UK government has a responsibility to organise the elections. Credit: Pixabay
When is the vote?
The election takes place this Thursday, the 23 of May. Polls are open from 07:00 until 10:00. If you’re still queuing at a polling station at 10:00, you will be allowed to vote.
You can also vote by post or by proxy, but the deadline for applying for those ballots has now passed.
In some limited cases – like a medical emergency – you can apply for an emergency proxy ballot. These are available up until 5PM on polling day.
Where do I vote?
If you are registered to vote, you should receive a card in the post with information about where your polling station is. This is called a poll card. While it’s helpful to bring it along to the polling station, you don’t need a poll card or any form of ID to vote (unless you live in Northern Ireland).
You must vote at the polling station assigned to you: if you turn up to just any polling station, you won’t be able to vote.
If you haven’t received a poll card or you’ve lost it, you can ask your local council for the location of your polling station. The Electoral Commission has a helpful website that tells you who to contact based on your postcode.
Not sure where to go to vote on polling day? ????️
The simple bit first: it’s pretty much like any other election. You put a cross in the box for the party you want to vote for. If you want to vote for an independent candidate, you put in cross in that candidate’s box.
That’s it. One cross, one box.
If you do anything else, your vote likely won’t count.
What’s the complicated bit, then?
In EU elections, the UK is divided into twelve regions. Each region gets a certain number of MEPs.
In London, we get eight. So, in London, each party puts forward a list of eight candidates.
Voters then pick which party they want to vote for. Each voter can vote for only one of the parties: there’s no ranking of preferences or multiple rounds.
Remember, one cross, one box.
Then, a mathematical process invented by a 19th century Flemish lawyer is used to determine how many MEPs each party gets. The idea is that, as far as possible, parties win the same percentage of seats as they do votes.
The twelve voting regions of the UK. Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Who are the parties and candidates in London?
In alphabetical order, the parties standing candidates in London are:
Animal Welfare Party
Change UK
Conservative
Green
Labour
Liberal Democrat
The Brexit Party
UK European Union Party
UKIP
Women’s Equality Party
You can find a full list of each of their candidates here.
There are also eleven independent candidates standing:
Daze Aghaji
Roger Hallam
Alan Kirkby
Kofi Klu
Zoe Lafferty
Claudia Mcdowell
Andrew Medhurst
Henry Muss
Mike Shad
Ian Sowden
Andrea Venzon
When will we know the results?
Unlike most UK elections, the results of European Parliament elections take a while to arrive. This is because different EU countries vote on different days, and the EU doesn’t want knowledge of the result in one country to affect voters’ choices in another.
All of that is to say we should have the results on the evening of Sunday 26 May.
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