Get in the know – European Parliamentary Elections

European Parliamentary Elections are taking place in the UK on Thursday 23 May.

Blackburn with Darwen is voting as part of the North West region.

More than five million people across North West England will have the opportunity to vote in these elections to select the region’s eight Members of the European Parliament (MEPs.)

The European Parliament represents people living in the 28 member countries of the European Union (EU). It is made up of 751 MEPs.

It has powers in a range of areas that affect member countries and can approve, change or reject new European laws.

The UK is currently represented by 73 MEPs at the European Parliament.

In the UK, there are currently 12 European electoral regions and each region is represented by between three and 10 MEPs.

You have one vote to elect all of the MEPs for your region.

Each party puts forward a list of candidates – known as a regional list – and you vote for one of these lists or for an individual candidate standing as an independent.

The number of MEPs that are elected from each party to represent a region depends on the overall share of votes that each party receives.

You must be registered to vote and also be one of the following:

• 18 years of age or over on polling day
• a British citizen, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen, or a citizen of the European Union
• resident in the UK
• a UK citizen living abroad who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years
• not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote.

EU citizen living in the UK – If you’re a citizen of a European Union country (other than the UK, Republic of Ireland, Malta and Cyprus), you can either vote in the UK or in your home country. You can’t vote twice.

To vote in the UK, you need to:

• be registered to vote
• Should have completed a UC1 form 12 working days before the day of poll stating you wish to vote in the UK and not in your home country.

The polling stations where you cast your vote may have changed since the recent local elections – you can find out your polling station details online or on your polling card or go to and type in your postcode to find your polling station.