THE 2019 European elections will take place on Thursday, May 23, across the UK.

73 MEPs will be elected with the UK split into 12 multi-member regional constituencies.

Scotland is its own constituency and will elect six MEPs to the European Parliament.

Our handy guide gives you everything you need to know before voting.

The 2014 result

The last time the European elections were contested was in May 2014 before the 2016 EU referendum and also before the Scottish independence referendum. The SNP and Labour both secured two of the Scottish seats each with the Conservatives getting one as well as UKIP who got their first ever Scottish MEP elected. Across the UK, UKIP won the most seats taking 24 and became the first party out with Labour and the Conservatives to win the popular vote since the 1906 General Election.

The voting system

The UK uses a closed-list system of proportional representation known as the D’Hondt method for the European elections. This means on polling day, each voter will put a cross beside the party they want to vote for on their ballot paper with the idea that the amount of seats a party wins directly linked to the number of votes they achieve in each region.

When will we know the result?

Despite polling day in the UK being on Thursday, May 23, we will have to wait a few days longer before we know the results. This is due to other countries going to the polls on Friday, May 24, Saturday, May 25 or Sunday May 26. Therefore, counting will not begin until Sunday night with the first results expected from 10pm onwards.

The candidates standing in Scotland are: 

Change UK

David MacDonald

Peter Griffiths

Kate Forman

Heather Astbury

Colin McFadyen

Cathy Edgeworth

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald:

Conservative

Baroness Nosheena Mobarik

Iain McGill

Shona Haslam

Iain Whyte

Andrea Gee

Michael Kusznir

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: Nosheena Mobarik OBE

Green

Maggie Chapman

Lorna Slater

Gillian Mackay

Chas Booth

Mags Hall

Allan Faulds

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: Scottish Greens 1 SA : Scottish Greens Party Leader Patrick Harvie as the Scottish Greens launch their European election campaign manifesto and Green Party MEP candidate Maggie Chapman at Dymanic Earth Edinburgh.

Scottish Greens MEP Candidate Maggie Chap

Labour

David Martin

Jayne Baxter

Craig Miller

Amy Lee Fraioli

Callum O'Dwyer

Angela Bretherton

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald:

Liberal Democrats

Sheila Ritchie

Fred Mackintosh

Catriona Bhatia

Vita Zaporozcenko

John Edward

Clive Sneddon

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald:

SNP

Alyn Smith

Christian Allard

Aileen McLeod

Margaret Ferrier

Heather Anderson

Alex Kerr

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald: Photograph of the Author

The Brexit Party

Louis Stedman-Bruce

Karina Walker

James Ferguson-Hannah

Stuart Waiton

Paul Aitken

Calum Walker

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald:

UKIP

Donald MacKay

Janice MacKay

Otto Inglis

Mark Meechan

Roy Hill

Neil Wilson

Ardrossan and Saltcoats Herald:

Independents

Gordon Edgar

Ken Parke