Star date: 26th April 2019

HERE WE GO AGAIN...

As the local elections stumble towards polling day next Thursday, last night the candidates for the European Election on 23rd May were announced, with nine parties and two independents standing.

While pro and anti Brexit groups feature heavily, amongst the throng are some Salford politicians whose names might be familiar on ballot papers, including Arnold Saunders standing for the Conservatives, Wendy Olsen standing for the Greens and Michael Felse standing for UKIP.

Full list of candidates here...

Does anyone yet know the difference between The Brexit Party and the UK Independence Party (UKIP)/UKIP Make Brexit Happen? Or does anyone know what Change UK – The Independent Group is about?

It's all to play for over the coming weeks as Brexit rears its political head yet again. Are voters completely bored and turned off by the Brussels shenanigans or will this be seen as a second referendum, kind of?

The voting system is regional proportional representation and will happen like this, according to official notification...calculators at the ready...

*The party with the highest number of votes is allocated the first seat. The candidate at the top of the party's list is elected.

*The votes of the party winning the first seat are then divided by the number of seats they have won + 1 (ie 2) and the resultant number of votes go forward to be compared with the number of votes for the other parties and candidates to decide who wins the next seat.

*The exercise is then repeated. As each successful party wins its first seat, its votes are divided by 2. This divisor is then increased by 1 each time this party wins a further seat. (NB it is the total number of votes cast for the party which is divided by the divisor, NOT the number resulting from the previous division.)

*In the event that an independent candidate is elected, or all the candidates on a party's list have been elected, the votes cast for that party are excluded from the remainder of the exercise.

Polling day is Thursday 23rd May 7am-10pm

Here is the full list of parties and candidates...

Change UK - The Independent Group
Andrea Cooper
Dan Price
Arun Rammoy Colin Banerji
Michael Stewart Taylor
Philippa Olive
Victoria Ann Desmond
Andrew Paul Graystone
Elisabeth Malisa Knight

Conservative and Unionist Party
Sajjad Haider Karim
Kevin Michael Beaty
Jane Elizabeth Ann Howard
Arnold Saunders
Wendy Maisey
Thomas Baxter Lord
Anthony Pickles
Attika Salim Choudhary

English Democrats English Democrats-"Putting England First"
Stephen Morris
Valerie Morris

Green Party
Gina Dowding
Wendy Kay Olsen
Jessica Ayesha Northey
Geraldine Philomena Coggins
Rosie Mae Mills
Astrid Johnson
Daniel Adam Jerrome
James Andrew Booth

Labour Party
Theresa Mary Griffin
Julie Carolyn Ward
Wajid Iltaf Khan
Erica Ruth Estelle Lewis
David John Brennan
Claire Emily Cozler
Saf Ismail
Yvonne Marion Tennant

Liberal Democrats
Chris Davies
Jane Elisabeth Brophy
Helen Foster-Grime
Anna Corrina Fryer
Sam Al-Hamdani
Rebecca Ann Forrest
John Studholme
Frederick Van Mierlo

The Brexit Party
Claire Regina Fox
Henrik Eyser Overgaard Nielsen
David Richard Bull
Gary Walter Harvey
Ajay Jagota
Elizabeth Oyedoyin Babade
Sally Ann Bate
John Howard Banks

UK European Union Party (UKEUP)/UK EU Party
Sophie Catherine Larroque

UK Independence Party (UKIP)/UKIP Make Brexit Happen
Adam Fox McCloud Richardson
Jeff Armstrong
Fiona Rachel Mills
Nathan Alan Ryding
Michael James Felse
Ben Robert Fryer
John Charles Booker
Alexander Alan Craig

Independent
Mohmmad Aslam

Tommy Robinson