by Roxanne Blakelock Candidates for the European Parliamentary Elections have been unveiled as the countdown to polling day begins. The full list of candidates was announced on Thursday at 5pm and Brent Council is urging residents to go o

by Roxanne Blakelock

Candidates for the European Parliamentary Elections have been unveiled as the countdown to polling day begins.

The full list of candidates was announced on Thursday at 5pm and Brent Council is urging residents to go out and vote on June 4.

The elections will decide who represents London, and the UK, in the European Parliament and will influence the decisions that affect around 500 million people across the European Union.

A Brent Council spokesman said: "With around 220,000 residents in Brent who can vote for their choice of representative in the Parliament it is vital that everyone makes an effort to vote on 4 June. Every vote counts and can help to make sure that your views are represented in the Parliament."

There will be eight seats available across London and all of the votes cast in Brent will go towards determining how many seats the political parties get in the parliament.

The council is running a campaign highlighting some of the most important issues that the EU has considered in recent years, starting with Climate Change and followed by protecting savings and better working conditions.

Voting is easy and residents should have had their polling cards delivered by now.

Anyone who hasn't received one and believes they are eligible to vote in the UK should contact the council.

For details of your nearest polling station just look at your polling card or visit: www.brent.gov.uk/elections.

Robert Evans, a Labour Party MEP who was elected in 2004 had special responsibility for Brent, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow and other areas across North West London, but is standing down this year whereas Claude Moraes is standing again this year for Labour.

Theresa Villiers and John Bowis, who represented London for the Conservatives, are standing down this year but Charles Tannock MEP is once again up for election for the Tories.

The Liberal Democrats will see its MEP Sarah Ludford re-stand and UKIP will have Gerard Batten MEP standing again.

Jean Lambert, the only Green Party MEP is the number one candidate for the Green Party this year, standing along with Brent campaigner Shahrar Ali and six others.

The British National party (BNP) has no MEPs but is standing eight candidates this year as are the Christian Party, English Democrats, Jury Team, No2EU, Libertas, the Socialist Party and The Socialist Labour Party.

There are five independents and one Yes2 Europe candidate

PARTY CANDIDATES

British National Party:

Robert William Bailey; Michael John Barnbrook; Dennis Pearce; Julian Peter Leppert; Roberta Woods; Christopher Walter Charles Forster; John James Clarke; John Alfred Evans.

The Christian Party (as part of the Christian People's Alliance):

George Hargreaves; Susan Jane May; Paula Denise Warren; Stephen Hammond; Mary Boyle; Suzanne Fernandez; Petar Ljubisic; David Anthony Williams.

Conservative Party:

Timothy Charles Ayrton Tannock; Syed Salah Kamall; Marina Yannakoudakis; Jean-Paul Floru; Warwick Martin Lightfoot; Graham Eric Postles; Alison Sproule; Ian David Twinn.

English Democrats Party:

Roger Cooper; Graham Trevor Dare; Satvinder Singh Chaggar; Graham Wood; Arvind Tailor; Elaine Frances Cheeseman; David Stevens; Janus Polenceus.

Jury Team:

Reza Tabrizi; Evan Philip Millner; Lucy O'Sullivan McCormick; Afshin Payravi; Thomas Mulcahy; Sherif Malak; David Stuart Anthony Littlejohn; Gregory Charles Robert Williams.

Liberal Democrats:

Sarah Ann Ludford; Jonathan Harold Fryer; Dinti Wakefield Batstone; Christopher David Glossop Le Breton; John Pindar; Simon Alexander James; Caroline Persson; Benjamin Idris Jones.

No2EU : Yes to Democracy:

Bob Crow; John Hendy; Mary Gillian Davis; Kevin Nolan; Syed Enamul Islam; Onay Kasab; John Michael Rowe; Robert Nicholas Wrack.

Pro Democracy: Libertas.eu:

Maxwell John Burt; Susannah Ellen Muffley; Peter Desmond Clifford Lloyd; Herbert Widford Crossman; Victoria Jane Wood; Alan Lewis Radlett; Manesh Padhiar; Paul Cuthbert Forrester.

Socialist Labour Party:

Arthur Scargill; Amanda May Rose; Colin Muir; Linda Muir; Ronald Sinclair; Margaret Mary Sharkey; Alan Frank Jones; Carole Irene Whatham.

The Green Party:

Jean Denise Lambert; Ute Martha Michel; Shahrar Ali; Joseph Healy; Miranda Jane Dunn; Shasha Khan; John Geoffrey Hunt; Caroline Jane Allen.

The Labour Party:

Claude Moraes; Mary Hilda Rosamund; Anne Helen Fairweather; Kevin David McGrath; Emma Monica Jones; Raj Kumar Jethwa; Azize Nilgun Canver; Muhammad Abdul Asad.

The Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB):

Daniel Peter Lambert; Tristan Miller; Janet Iris Carter; James William Martin; Adam John Lewis Buick; Simon Jonathan Wigley; Frederick William Allen; Mary Patricia Deutz.

United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP):

Gerard Joseph Batten; Ralph Steven Atkinson; Michael Andre Zuckerman; Timothy Christopher; Sunita Webb; Strachan David McDonald; Lawrence James Webb; Harold Wood; Anuruddha Reuata Gunavardhana.

Yes 2 Europe:

Brendan Patrick.

Independents:

Gene Alcantara; Steven Cheung; Jan Jananayagam; Sohale Rahman; Haroon Saad.

Keep up to date with the latest election news on this website, on Facebook by becoming a friend of Willesden Brent Times and on Twitter by following WBTimes - twitter.com/WBTimes

roxanne.blakelock@archant.co.uk