Anti-Brexit peer Lord Adonis among candidates as Labour unveils MEP hopefuls
3 min read
High profile anti-Brexit campaigner Lord Adonis is among the candidates picked to stand for Labour at the European elections.
The former Transport Secretary - a leading figure in the so-called People's Vote campaign for a second Brexit referenudum - said he was "excited" to have made it onto the party's regional list of candidates for the planned May vote.
He is being put forward for the South West region if the poll goes ahead as now widely expected on May 23.
The peer - who currently sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords - made headlines in 2017 when he quit his post as a government infrastructure adviser and branded Brexit "a dangerous populist and nationalist spasm worthy of Donald Trump".
He told The Times: "This is going to be a titanic struggle between Farage Brexit and Labour Remain and I relish the battle.
"It will determine whether Brexit happens and define our whole future as an open liberal democracy."
EU elections are held under a proportional voting system, which sees parties draw up ranked lists of candidates.
Seats are then allocated to those candidates in order depending on what share of the vote the party received.
Lord Adonis, who served as an adviser to Tony Blair, is second on the list for the South West region, where Labour won one of six seats in 2014.
The move could raise eyebrows among some Labour MPs in Leave-supporting seats, who fear that backing a second referendum will alienate voters who opted for Brexit in 2016.
Labour's list of European election candidates also includes Eloise Todd, chief of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign group.
Ms Todd, whose group backs a fresh referendum, is second on the list for Labour in the Yorkshire and the Humber region.
Key allies of Jeremy Corbyn have also made their way onto the party's list for the EU elections.
Former Labour MP Katy Clark, who serves as Mr Corbyn's political secretary, is third on the London list, just above Laura Parker, national coordinator of the Momentum campaign group.
HuffPost reported this week that Ms Clark was shifted up the list of EU election candidates at a last-minute meeting of party officials - a move that means she is all-but certain to get elected if the vote takes place.
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