EU Council President Donald Tusk Backs Change UK Candidate Jan Rostowski

The EU Council President has taken the extraordinary step of urging people to vote for pro-Brexit breakaway party Change UK on 23rd May if they "want Britain to stay in the EU". His recommendation has delighted the party, but sparked outcry among British voters.

"Not only was he the best finance minister in Europe during the financial crisis, he is also a very dear friend who would make a great MEP for London, which I know he loves. I urge Londoners who want Britain to stay in the EU to vote for him," Donald Tusk said.

​In response, Carole Tongue, a former Labour MEP also standing for Change UK in the London region, welcomed his comments.

"I'm delighted President Donald Tusk, whose knowledge of European politics and economics is unsurpassed, has recommended to Londoners that if they want to Remain in the EU they should vote for Change UK. President Tusk worked with our candidate Jan Rostowski and is rightly attesting to his huge European political and economic competence," she said.

​​​It's just the latest intervention from EU chiefs after the European Parliament's Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt turned up in London campaigning for the Liberal Democrats with interim leader Vince Cable earlier in May. Many UK voters have been extremely unhappy however, suggesting the incidents represent foreign meddling in domestic politics.