Gavin Grey: UK Correspondent on predictions for the upcoming European Parliament Election

The European Union Election runs Thursday to Sunday. They're held every five years across the 27-member bloc. This year marks the 10th parliamentary election since the first polls in 1979, and the first after Brexit. 

The vote takes place from 6-9 June. Initial results can only be revealed on the evening of 9 June, once polling stations have closed in all member states. 

UK Correspondent Gavin Grey told Heathe du Plessis-Allan “It’s the second-biggest democratic election in the world, after India.” 

Grey said “We are expecting this result to come in favour of potentially far-right partes – in France Belgium and Italy.” 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gavin gray As are UK correspondent this evening. Hi, Gavin,
hither look to you like you. European Parliament is probably
going to shift to the right.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Yeah, I think that's the way everyone is expecting it
to go. So they are across the EU voting for
the European Parliament members three hundred and seventy three million
Europeans eligible to vote. It's the second biggest democratic election
in the world after India, seven hundred and twenty seats
up for grabs, each country having seats proportioned to their population,

(00:31):
with Germany and ninety six for instance, France eighty one,
the Netherlands thirty one seats. They're up for grabs and
they are among the first count to vote. The focus
will move to Ireland and the Czech Republic as well.
Today they vote, and then the rest of the EU
votes over the weekend, with the expected result late Sunday

(00:51):
evening European time Monday morning for New Zealand. Now we
are expecting this result this election to come and favor
potentially far right parties eyeing victory in France, Belgium, Austria
and Italy. So everyone's really looking at the first one
Netherlands the Dutch to see which way they're going. Now

(01:14):
we don't know yet. Voting is underway, but the exit
polls suggest it's a tight race between the Party of
Anti Islam Populist Builders and the Left Green Alliance, and
that would suggest that mister Wilder's Freedom Party is on
course for some gains, but not the runaway victory, not
a repeat of the runaway victory of the general election

(01:38):
within the Netherlands to elect a Dutch governance. So it's
going to be a very interesting few days. A lot
of very concerned people in Europe about this lurch to
the right.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Kevin explained to me the latest with Harry, Prince Harry
in his court case.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Oh how long have you got? This is really really
quite complicated, But basically Prince Harry always used to full
publicly funded security protection until he stepped back from royal
duties and moved to America back in March twenty twenty.
There is something called RAVEK, the Executive Committee for the
Protection of Royal and Public Figures, and they decide the

(02:16):
level of protection and in the past, all being in
that very senior clique of royal family members, they all
received the same level of protection that changed when he
moved and his was downgraded. His level of protection was
downgraded when he visited the UK. He didn't like that.
He launched legal action against the Home Office responsible for policing.

(02:37):
Multiple hearings have taken place since he was told that
he was refused permission to challenge a ruling which said
there was no procedural unfairness, and he decided to go
up and over the head of that High Court to
the Court of Appeal and the judge has said he
can appeal. He said he was persuaded quote not without hesitation,

(03:01):
that Harry's challenge has a prospect of success. So back
to court we all go. This is costing the UK
taxpayer more money. I would suggest it's possibly making Harry
even less popular, but that's just my opinion. So Harry
back to court. One of lots of different legal proceedingcies undertaking,
including of course all those cases against the newspapers and

(03:24):
media here in the UK.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Devin, your opinion is bang on, I lover, Thank you
very much, Devin Gray, UK correspondent. For more from Hither
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