European Council President Donald Tusk is urging voters to back a Change UK candidate at this week's EU elections.

The top Brussels official wants those living in London, who support the UK staying in the EU, to back the pro-Remain party.

Jan Vincent-Rostowski, who served in Mr Tusk's government when he was Poland's prime minister, is among Change UK's candidates in the capital.

Image: Jan Vincent-Rostowski is one of Change UK's candidates in London

Mr Tusk claimed his "very dear friend" would make a "great MEP for London" ahead of UK voters electing their representatives to the European Parliament on Thursday.

The European Council president said in a statement: "Jan Rostowski worked with me as finance minister of Poland for six years and then as my deputy prime minister.


"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."

Mr Vincent-Rostowski dismissed criticism of Mr Tusk's intervention, posting on Twitter: "These are European elections so Tusk has every right to speak his mind."

Change UK were formed when 11 MPs defected from the Conservatives and Labour to set up the new party.

What you need to know about EU elections

However, they have failed to make a significant impact on opinion polls ahead of Thursday's EU elections.

They currently trail behind both main parties, the Brexit Party and the Liberal Democrats.

Mr Tusk's backing for Change UK puts him at odds with a fellow senior Brussels figure.

Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, recently campaigned with the Liberal Democrats ahead of Thursday's vote.

Change UK are calling for the Article 50 notification of the UK's exit from the EU to be revoked prior to a second Brexit referendum.

Amid the party's struggles to win wider support from voters, Change UK's interim leader Heidi Allen has suggested the group might not exist in its current form at the next general election.

Eight MEPs will be elected, by proportional representation, in London on 23 May.

Here is each party's full list of candidates in the capital:

:: Animal Welfare Party

Vanessa Hudson

Jane Smith

Sam Morland

Ranjan Joshi

Mina Da Rui

Jon Homan

Simon Gouldman

:: Change UK

Gavin Esler

Jan Vincent-Rostowski

Carole Tongue

Annabel Mullin

Karen Newman

Nora Mulready

Jessica Simor

Hasseeb Ur-Rehman

:: Conservative

Syed Kamall

Charles Tannock

Joy Morrissey

Tim Barnes

Scott Pattenden

Attic Rahman

Kirsty Finlayson

Luke Parker

:: Green

Scott Ainslie

Gulnar Hasnain

Shahrar Ali

Rachel Collinson

Eleanor Margolies

Remco van der Stoep

Kirsten De Keyser

Peter Underwood

:: Labour

Claude Moraes

Seb Dance

Katy Clark

Laura Parker

Murad Qureshi

Taranjit Chana

James Beckles

Sanchia Alasia

:: Liberal Democrats

Irina Von Wiese

Dinesh Dhamija

Luisa Porritt

Jonathan Fryer

Hussain Khan

Helen Cross

Graham Colley

Rabina Khan

:: The Brexit Party

Ben Habib

Lance Forman

Graham Shore

Alka Sehgal Cuthbert

Jimi Ogunnusi

Simon Marcus

Mehrtash A'zami

Aileen Quinton

:: UK European Union Party

Pierre Kirk

Richard Stevens

Saleyha Ahsan

Anna Novikova

Angela Antetomaso

Richard Boardman

:: UKIP

Gerard Batten

Richard Braine

Pete Muswell

Freddy Vachha

Robert Stephenson

Peter McIlvenna

John Poynton

Ronie Johnson

:: Women's Equality Party

Catherine Mayer

Bea Gare

Nanci Hogan

Aliyah Dunbar-Hussain

Hannah Barham-Brown

Alison Marshall

Olivia Patton-Vincenti

Leyla Mohan

:: Independents

Daze Aghaji

Roger Hallam

Alan Kirkby

Kofi Klu

Zoe Lafferty

Claudia Mcdowell

Andrew Medhurst

Henry Muss

Mike Shad

Ian Sowden

Andrea Venzon