Populists looking to cause upsets as EU elections begin

EU-COMMISSION/ European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker | Reuters

European Parliament elections have commended and voting has begun in Britain as of early morning on Thursday. Britain had not expected to hold the contest nearly three years after the Brexit referendum.

Polls will close at 2100 GMT. All 28 EU members will have finished voting over the next four days and results will be announced in late Sunday. Populists are hoping to cause upsets across the EU as the European Parliament elections got under way on Thursday in polls that could challenge the Brussels consensus. More pressure build up on Theresa May when her representative in parliament Andrea Leadsom quit, stating that she had lost confidence in the government to successfully deliver Britain's exit from the European Union (EU).

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker lashed out at "stupid nationalists" ahead of the European elections. These are the ninth European parliament elections since they began in 1979 and voter turnout has dropped each time, hitting 43 per cent in 2014. "These populist, nationalists, stupid nationalists, they are in love with their own countries," Juncker said.

"They don't like those coming from far away, I like those coming from far away ... we have to act in solidarity with those who are in a worse situation than we are in," he added.

61 per cent of respondents called their country's EU membership a good thing, according to a survey by Eurobarometer, commissioned by the European Parliament. It is the highest level since the early 1990s.

Baudet, 36, more commonly known for controversial comments about women, 36, stunned Europe in March when his Forum for Democracy became the biggest party in the Dutch senate. National leaders around the continent, are scrambling to mobilise their supporters to resist the populist surge.

However, the strong showing by eurosceptics is not expected to sweep the whole bloc, with voters from Spain to Ireland and the former Soviet Baltic states showing solid backing for the EU.