Change UK, the pro-Remain party set up by The Independent Group of MPs, has revealed its candidates for the European elections at a launch in Bristol.
Among them are journalists, barristers and former Labour and Conservative MPs.
These are some of the most prominent candidates who will run for a seat in the European Parliament in May:
Gavin Esler
The award-winning journalist and TV presenter was the BBC’s former chief correspondent for North America, BBC Newsnight presenter and has written five novels and two non-fiction books.
After a career spanning more than 40 years in journalism, Mr Esler, 66, will stand for the London region, saying at the Change UK candidate launch: “I have never been a member of a political party but I am now.”
The Scottish journalist has been outspoken about a public vote for any deal between the UK and the European Union.
After he was revealed as a candidate, Mr Esler said: “Our political system is a joke. They are laughing at us, not with us.”
Rachel Johnson
The sister of prominent Brexiteer Boris Johnson also announced that she will run as a candidate for the pro-Remain party.
The campaigning journalist and writer told the Evening Standard she will stand in the South West region for Change UK, saying she did not want to see Brexit “rubbing out my children’s prospects and changes of living and travelling and working in Europe”.
The 53-year-old was set to be the big surprise when Change UK unveiled their nationwide list of candidates at the launch in Bristol.
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Ms Johnson has previously supported the Liberal Democrats and her candidacy for Change UK will be a blow to the party.
She previously campaigned in elections for her siblings, former foreign secretary Boris, Tory MP Jo and her father Stanley, a former MEP.
Jessica Simor QC
A leading EU and human rights barrister at Matrix Chambers, Jessica Simor will also stand as a Change UK candidate in May.
Ms Simor was one of the lawyers who secured a parliamentary vote on Article 50, challenging Prime Minister Theresa May’s decision to use the Royal Prerogative to notify the EU of the UK’s intended withdrawal from the EU.
She has represented clients like Google, the Post Office, National Express as well as NGOs and government departments.
Ms Simor has previously written for the Guardian about “the fundamental rights and freedoms that the EU treaty guarantees us” and sent a Freedom of Information request to the prime minister to disclose legal advice on Brexit to the British public.
Stephen Dorrell
The 67-year-old served as the Tory health minister in John Major’s government and has been announced as the West Midlands candidate.
He was first elected to parliament in 1979 as MP for Loughborough and promoted to government eight years later as an assistant whip by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Mr Dorrell stood down as an MP in 2014 after taking a job with consultancy KMPG, and has since campaigned hard against Brexit.
He is a committee member of the Tories Against Brexit campaign and became chair of the European Movement UK in 2016 in order to lead its campaign to stop Brexit.
Roger Casale
Former Labour MP for Wimbledon, Roger Casale joined The Independent Group this year and will run as a Change UK candidate for East of England.
Elected to parliament as one of the surprise results during the Labour landslide of the 1997 general election, the 58-year-old then lost his seat in 2005 to the Conservatives.
He resigned from Labour in 2017 in order to contest the Vauxhall constituency held by pro-Brexit MP Kate Hoey.
In 2013, Casale founded New Europeans, a pro-EU campaigning group.
Neil Carmichael
A Tory MP for Stroud from 2010 to 2017, Niel Carmichael is now president of the Conservatives for a People’s Vote campaign.
The 58-year-old is an avid supporter of a second referendum on the UK's membership of the EU with the option to remain.
Mr Carmichael announced in April that he was leaving the Conservative Party to join The Independent Group and will run as another candidate in the East of England.
During his time in office, he was one of the most active participants in parliamentary debates, publicly opposed grammar schools and successfully piloted his bill through Parliament for the UK to fulfil its international environmental obligations in the Antarctic.