Labour hopes for EU poll comeback

Six candidates have secured a place on the list alongside sitting Yorkshire and Humber Labour MEP Linda McAvan.

Mrs McAvan will automatically take top spot on the list but the other six are now involved in a contest to secure the highest ranking they can.

York Council deputy leader Tracey Simpson-Laing is emerging as one of the frontrunners in the race which is set to gather pace in the coming weeks.

With the contest still in its early stages, she has already secured endorsements from eight of the region’s Labour council leaders as well as that of York Central MP Hugh Bayley. A former charity office manager, Mrs Simpson-Laing has been Acomb ward councillor since 1999 and ran for Parliament in 2001.

Former Yorkshire and Humber MEP Richard Corbett is also expected to feature strongly when party members in the region cast their vote in the summer.

Mr Corbett lost his seat at the last European elections in 2009 having represented the region in Brussels since 1996. He is currently an adviser to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.

Sheffield councillor Helen Mirfin-Boukouris, former Rotherham councillor Darren Hughes, Leeds councillor Asghar Khan and solicitor Eleanor Tunnicliffe, also from Leeds, make up the other candidates.

MEPs represent regions and are elected via a system of proportional representation which sees voters cast their ballot for a party rather than an individual.

The seats in each region are allocated to parties depending on their share of the vote.

Seats won by a party are then handed to the candidates on their list in rank order. With Labour expecting a significant improvement on its performance in the last European Elections, candidates who secure one of the top spots will have a realistic chance of taking a seat.

The last elections took place just a year before Labour was ousted from power in Westminster with the party in turmoil. The then Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell resigned just minutes after the polls had closed.

Nationally, Labour was cut from 18 to 13 seats, putting it on a par with Ukip.

In Yorkshire, Labour was cut from two seats to one with Andrew Brons securing a seat for the British National Party although he later resigned the party whip following a dispute with leader Nick Griffin.

The next European elections are due to take place in May next year and will be seen as a crucial test of party support just 12 months ahead of the next General Election.

Labour Party insiders believe the BNP will not be able to repeat its 2009 success next time round bringing at least one of the six seats available in Yorkshire into play.

The Liberal Democrats and Conservatives secured three Yorkshire seats between them in 2009.

Labour is hoping that the long history of voters using European elections to lodge protests against governing parties, alongside its own improved fortunes, could put a third seat within its reach.

However, Ukip, will also have hopes of increasing its share of the vote next year.

Last time it secured one seat with 17.4 per cent of the vote and is looking to sustain the unprecedented levels of support it has enjoyed in recent months that propelled it to second in the Eastleigh byelection earlier this year.

The results of the poll to rank MEP candidates are expected to be announced at Labour’s annual conference in September.