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The Prime Minister has conceded that the European elections will need to go ahead at the end of this month.

Theresa May accepted that no Brexit deal will be passed through Parliament in time to avoid the elections.

Her effective deputy, David Lidington, confirmed earlier today that the European elections will be proceeding.

However he reasserted that the government were “redoubling [their] efforts” to get an EU Withdrawal Agreement ratified before the start of July.

If a deal is rubber-stamped by then, it means elected MEPs will not have to take their seats in Brussels.

The deadline to register to vote is today, Tuesday May 7, and there are more details here

Lidington spoke shortly before Brexit talks with Labour resumed in Whitehall as part of a cross-party initiative to establish widespread support for a deal.

The poor performance from both the Conservatives and Labour in last week’s local elections has added pressure to the process.

The local elections saw the Conservatives lose 1,330 seats and Labour lose 84 seats, in one of the poorest performances on a local level for either party.

Pro-Brexit party UKIP lost 145 seats, while pro-EU parties the Liberal Democrats and Green won 704 and 194 seats respectively.

Despite this, both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn interpreted the results as a sign that the country wants Brexit to be delivered quicker.

This perspective was questioned by other politicians, including Labour MP Jess Phillips.

Mrs May had been hoping the talks would deliver a compromise deal in time to allow her to call off the European Parliament elections.

But, more than a month after the talks began, Mr Lidington acknowledged time is now too tight to get a Withdrawal Agreement Bill through both Houses of Parliament by the date of the poll.

Speaking at the Cabinet Office in Whitehall, he said that, after its Withdrawal Agreement was rejected three times by MPs, the Government was trying to find "a way forward that has maximum possible support amongst politicians of all political parties".

"What this now means, given how little time there is, is that it is regrettably not going to be possible to finish that process before the date that is legally due for European parliamentary elections," he said.

"We very much hoped that we would be able to get our exit sorted and have the treaty concluded so that those elections did not have to take place. But legally they do have to take place unless our withdrawal has been given legal effect, so those will now go ahead.

"But we will be redoubling our efforts and talks with MPs of all parties to try to make sure that the delay after that is as short as possible.

"Ideally we'd like to be in a situation where those MEPs never actually have to take their seat at European Parliament - certainly, to get this done and dusted by the summer recess."

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "On the basis of advice in relation to parliamentary timetables, we will look to complete this ideally by June 30, but if not then, by summer recess."

When Britain does finally leave the EU, the European Parliament will reduce from 751 MEPs to 705, with 27 of the UK's 73 seats being distributed among the remaining member states.