EURO 2009: Full list of the 88 candidates nominated for the seven seats in East of England.

EIGHTY eight candidates – including a lone independent- have declared themselves as candidates in next month s European elections for the Eastern region. There are seven seats up for grabs in the eastern region and the full list of candidates has now been

EIGHTY eight candidates - including a lone independent- have declared themselves as candidates in next month's European elections for the Eastern region.

There are seven seats up for grabs in the eastern region and the full list of candidates has now been published.

The elections will take place on Thursday June 4 to choose the UK's 72 MEPs. The number of MEPs has been reduced from the current 78 as a result of the enlargement of the EU. Elections to the European Parliament are held every five years. The European Parliament was directly elected for the first time in 1979.

Since 1999 voters in Britain have elected MEPs under a proportional representation system. The European Parliamentary Elections Act of that year introduced a regional list system with seats allocated to parties in proportion to their share of the vote.

The UK is divided into 12 electoral regions with between three and ten MEPs representing each region.

The nine English regions will elect 59 MEPs (Scotland will elect six MEPs and Wales four MEPs. In Northern Ireland three MEPs are elected under its own system of proportional representation.

All 736 MEPs in the European Parliament will be elected under some form of proportional representation.

Here's the full list of candidates for the east: