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As Theresa May heads to Brussels this week to ask for another delay to Brexit because of the impasse in Westminster, she has promised to start preparations for the May 23 elections — a condition the EU has set for postponing the UK’s exit process any further.
The UK prime minister still hopes that Britain can leave the bloc before the poll takes place. But given that would require parliament finally backing her Brexit deal and passing the associated legislation in the next six weeks, that may be a long shot.
In the meantime, newly founded political groups on both sides of the EU debate are hoping to triumph.
“People will vote for pro- or anti-Brexit parties and treat the European election as a rerun of Brexit,” said one veteran MEP. “The traditional parties are going to take one hell of a beating.”
It is Mrs May’s Tories who are most aghast at the prospect of the poll and who hold out hope that it can still be cancelled even after the campaigns have started
“Barely anyone will vote, no one wants these elections and every crank will be elected,” said one Conservative party official.
The “crank” label is one the new Brexit party, which is hoping to be one of the big winners of the vote, is seeking to dispel.
The party, led by Nigel Farage, was only founded three months ago, but has been preparing for European elections since then. Mr Farage himself was the victor in the last European elections, in 2014, when the UK Independence party he then led came first, winning 24 MEPs and 27 per cent of the vote.
Seven of those Ukip MEPs have now defected to the Brexit party, which will run a slate of 70 candidates across Great Britain, thanks to Mr Farage’s success in generating publicity and raising funds from grassroots supporters. [...]
By contrast, the appeal of Ukip, Mr Farage’s old party, could be dented by its move to the far-right, notably its recruitment of Tommy Robinson, an anti-Islam street activist, as well as by its lack of organisation.
On the other side of the Europe debate, the Independent Group — founded by 11 pro-EU ex-Labour and Tory MPs — is also getting ready for the campaign and says “hundreds” of people have expressed interest in running as candidates. [...]
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