Everything you need to know about EU election candidates for Banburyshire

The UK is legally obliged to hold European Parliament elections on May 23, despite voting to leave the bloc more than three years ago.

Britain was supposed to leave before the next round of elections, with the initial date set for March 29.

But after MPs could not agree on Theresa May’s withdrawal deal, Brexit has been pushed back to October 31, leaving the country with no choice but to hold the EU elections.

Banbury and the rest of Oxfordshire comes under the South East constituency, which will select ten Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

Warwickshire is in the West Midlands constituency, which will pick seven MEPs, and Northamptonshire is in the East Midlands constituency, which will have five representatives.

In the South East, Nigel Farage is the stand-out name on the ballot as he leads his new Brexit Party in the election, while current MEP Daniel Hannan is running for the Conservatives.

Other notable names include current MEP Catherine Bearder and Chipping Norton county councillor Liz Leffman for the Liberal Democrats

The Conservatives, Labour, the Lib Dems, The Green Party, The Brexit Party, Change UK and UKIP all have the maximum number of candidates in each constituency, with a few independents.

The Socialist Party of Great Britain is running in the South East, and the Independent Network is among the candidates in the East Midlands.

The South East’s current MEPs are made up of four UKIPs, three Conservatives, one Labour, one Lib Dem and one Green.

The biggest issue for each party is Brexit.

Should the UK leave the EU as planned, the elected MEPs will not be in the job for very long.

The Conservatives, UKIP and The Brexit Party hope to use the election to show the country still wants to leave the EU and quell any suggestion of a second referendum.

Meanwhile Change UK, the Lib Dems and the Green Party say they want to stop Brexit altogether and want fellow pro-Remain voters to support this by siding with them.

Labour says it opposes the government’s withdrawal deal and ‘no-deal’ and believes it can negotiate a better Brexit, but failing that, has agreed to keep the option of a second referendum open.

Here is the full list of candidates in the South East (Banbury) for the EU election on Thursday.

Change UK: Richard Ashworth, Victoria Groulef, Warren Morgan, Eleanor Fuller, Robin Bextor, Nicholas Mazzei, Suzana Carp, Phil Murphy, Heather Allen, Diane Yeo

Conservative: Daniel Hannan, Nirj Deva, Richard Robinson, Mike Whiting, Juliette Ash, Anna Firth, Adrian Pepper, Clarence Mitchell, Neva Sadikoglu-Novaky, Caroline Newton

Green: Alexandra Phillips, Elise Benjamin, Vix Lowthion, Leslie Groves Williams, Phelim Mac Cafferty, Jan Doerfel, Larry Sanders, Isabella Moir, Oliver Sykes, Jonathan Essex

Labour: John Howarth, Cathy Shutt, Arran Neathey, Emma Turnbull, Rohit Dasgupta, Amy Fowler, Duncan Enright, Lubna Arshad, Simon Burgess, Rachael Ward

Liberal Democrats: Catherine Bearder, Antony Hook, Judith Bunting, Martin Tod, Liz Leffman, Chris Bowers, Giles Goodall, Ruvi Ziegler, Nick Perry, John Vincent

The Brexit Party: Nigel Farage, Alex Phillips, Robert Rowland, Belinda De Camborne Lucy, James Bartholomew, Christopher Ellis, John Kennedy, Matthew Taylor, George Farmer, Peter Wiltshire

The Socialist Party of Great Britain: Mandy Bruce, Raymond Carr, David Chesham, Robert Cox, Michael Foster, Stephen Harper, Neil Kirk, Anton Pruden, Andrew Thomas-Emans, Darren Williams

UK European Union Party: Pacelli Ndikumana, Clinton Powell

UKIP: Piers Wauchope, Liz Philips, Daryll Pitcher, Martin Brothers, Tony Gould, Clive Egan, Troy De Leon, Alan Stone, Judy Moore, Patricia Mountain

Independent: Jason McMahon, David Round, Michael Turberville.

Here is the full list of candidates in the West and East Midlands for the European Parliament election on Thursday.

West Midlands

Change UK: Stephen Dorrell, Charlotte Gath, Peter Wilding, Amrik Kandola, Joanna McKenna, Victor Odusanya, Lucinda Empson

Conservative: Anthea McIntyre, Daniel Dalton, Suzanne Webb, Meirion Jenkins, Alex Phillips, Mary Noone, Ahmed Ejaz

Green: Ellie Chowns, Diana Toynbee, Paul Woodhead, Julian Dean, Louis Stephen, Helen Heathfield, Kefentse Dennis

Labour: Neena Gill, Sion Simon, Julia Buckley, Ansar Khan, Zarah Sultana, Sam Hennessy, Liz Clements

Liberal Democrats: Phil Bennion, Ade Adeyemo, Jeanie Falconer, Jenny Wilkinson, Jennifer Gray, Beverley Nielsen, Lee Dargue

The Brexit Party: Rupert Lowe, Martin Daubney, Andrew England Kerr, Vishal Khatri, Nikki Page, Laura Kevehazi, Katharine Harborne

UKIP: Ernest Valentine, Paul Williams, Graham Eardley, Paul Allen, Nigel Ely, Joe Smyth, Derek Bennett

East Midlands

Change UK: Kate Godfrey, Joan Pons Laplana, Narinder Sharma, Pankajkumar Gulab, Emma Manley

Conservative: Emma McClarkin, Rupert Matthews, Tony Harper, Brendan Clarke-Smith, Thomas Randall

Green: Kat Boettge, Gerhard Lohmann-Bond, Liam McClelland, Daniel Wimberley, Simon Tooke

Independent Network: Nick Byatt, Marianne Overton, Daniel Simpson, Pearl Clarke, Nikki Dillon

Labour: Rory Palmer, Leonie Mathers, Tony Tinley, Nicolle Ndiweni, Gary Godden

Liberal Democrats: Bill Newton Dunn, Michael Mullaney, Lucy Care, Suzanna Austin, Caroline Kenyon

The Brexit Party: Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Jonathan Bullock, Matthew Patten, Tracy Knowles, Anna Bailey

UKIP: Alan Graves, Marietta King, Anil Bhatti, Fran Loi, John Evans

Independent: Simon Rood.