The European elections on May 23rd are fast approaching and it has now been confirmed that the UK will be electing MEPs (members of the European Parliament), after it was initially thought Britain would have left the EU two months ago.

The European Parliament creates laws and approves budgets for the European Union, and is made up of elected members from all 28 member states. Currently, the European Parliament is made up of 751 MEPs, with 73 of these coming from the UK. Parties from across Europe work together in separate groups, based on ideology, to pass legislation.

EU elections have a different voting system to other elections held in the UK. In the Scotland, Wales and England, MEPs are elected using the D’Hondt method, a voting method which is more proportional than first-past-the-post.

Voters cast their ballot for a party, rather than an individual candidate, with candidates running on a party list.

This video from the BBC’s EU election coverage in 2009 explains how the D’Hondt method works.

Wales elects four of the UK’s 73 MEPs. At the last EU election, Wales elected 1 Labour MEP. 1 UKIP, 1 Conservative and 1 from Plaid Cymru.

Candidates

Brexit Party

  1. Nathan Gill
  2. James Freeman Wells
  3. Gethin James
  4. Julie Anne Price

Change UK

  1. Jon Owen Jones
  2. June Davies
  3. Matthew Paul
  4. Sally Stephenson

Conservative Party

  1. Dan Boucher
  2. Craig Lawton
  3. Fay Jones
  4. Tomos Davies

Green Party

  1. Anthony Slaughter
  2. Ian Chandler
  3. Ceri Davies
  4. Duncan Rees

Labour Party

  1. Jackie Jones
  2. Matthew James Dorrance
  3. Mary Wimbury
  4. Mark Jeffrey Denley Whitcutt

Liberal Democrats

  1. Sam Bennett
  2. Donna Lalek
  3. Alistair Cameron
  4. Andrew Parkhurst

Plaid Cymru

  1. Jill Evans
  2. Carmen Smith
  3. Patrick McGuinness
  4. Ioan Bellin

UKIP

  1. Kris Hicks
  2. Keith Edwards
  3. Tom Harrison
  4. Robert McNeil Wilson
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