BRITAIN will go to the polls tomorrow for an election it wasn’t expected to participate in.

The European elections on Thursday, May 23 will take place, and voters will be presented with two new parties who have come to the fore and made their way on to the ballot paper: Change UK and Brexit Party.

The parties will join Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party and UKIP.

The three current MEPs for the North-East are Labour’s Jude Kirton-Darling and Paul Brannen, as well as the independent Jonathan Arnott, who were all elected in 2014.

The candidates this year are: 

Change UK

  • Frances Weetman
  • Penny Hawley
  • Kathryn Heywood

Conservative

  • Richard Lawrie
  • Chris J Galley
  • Duncan Crute

Green Party

  • Rachel Featherstone
  • Jonathan Elmer
  • Dawn Furness

Labour

  • Jude Kirton-Darling
  • Paul Brannen
  • Clare Penny-Evans

Liberal Democrats

  • Fiona Halleast
  • Julie Porksen
  • Aidan King

The Brexit Party

  • Brian Monteith
  • John Tennant
  • Richard Monaghan

UKIP

  • Richard Elvin
  • Chris Gallacher
  • Alan Breeze

Voting takes place on Thursday, May 23 and polls are open from 7am to 10pm.

Results will be declared after 10pm on Sunday, May 26.