VOTERS in Ryedale will go the polls tomorrow (Thursday) to cast their votes in a ballot that was never meant to happen.

Polling booths across the district will be open from 7am to 10pm for elections to the European Parliament.

Ryedale is part of the Yorkshire and Humber region, which sends six MEPs to the EU’s Parliament.

Given that the date of the UK’s departure from the EU was March 29, these elections were not intended to happen, but due to the ongoing Brexit wrangling and delays, the UK currently remains part of the bloc and so is participating in the elections.

In the last poll, in 2014, the Ryedale vote went primarily to the Conservatives, with 4,914 votes, and UKIP, with 4,184.

In that year, voter turnout in Ryedale was 34.36 per cent - a significant drop on the previous European elections in 2009, when there was a 40.52 per cent turnout.

Prior to tomorrow’s vote, the six MEPs for the Yorkshire & Humber region are Jane Collins and Mike Hookem of UKIP, Richard Corbett and Linda McAven of Labour, and John Procter and Amjad Bashir of the Conservative party.

But that will change following the counting and announcement of the results on Sunday, May 26.

Running in tomorrow’s election in the Yorkshire and Humber region are candidates from Labour, the Liberal Democrats, UKIP and the Conservatives, but also the Green Party, the Yorkshire Party, Change UK, the English Democrats and Nigel Farage’s newly-established anti-EU Brexit Party - which is currently enjoying a significant lead in national polls.

In England - as well as in Scotland and Wales - the voting system in the EU Parliament elections is a form of proportional representation called the D’Hondt method.

This process involves the counting of the total votes for each party, then a series of “rounds” in which the party with the most votes gains an MEP, with their vote then being divided by their total number of MEPs (plus one) for the subsequent round.

Candidate list

Change UK - Diana Wallis, Juliet Lodge, Sophia Bow, Joshua Malkin, Ros McMullen and Steve Wilson.

Conservative - John Procter, Amjad Bashir, Michael Naughton, Andrew Lee, Matthew Freckleton and Sue Pascoe.

English Democrats -David Allen, Tony Allen, Joanne Allen and Fiona Allen.

Green - Magid Magid, Alison Teal, Andrew Cooper, Louise Houghton, Lars Kramm and Ann Forsaith.

Labour -Richard Corbett, Eloise Todd, Mohammed Khan, Jayne Allport, Martin Mayer and Alison Hume.

Liberal Democrats - Shaffaq Mohammed, Rosina Robson, James Blanchard, Sophie Thornton, James Baker and Ruth Coleman-Taylor.

The Brexit Party - John Longworth, Lucy Harris, Jake Pugh, James Heartfield, Andrew Allison and Christopher Barker.

The Yorkshire Party - Chris Whitwood, Mike Jordan, Jack Carrington, Laura Walker, Bob Buxton and Dan Cochran.

UKIP - Mike Hookem, Gary Shore, John Hancock, David Dews, Graeme Waddicar and Clifford Parsons.