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Alexandra Phillips: Confusion as South East elects two MEPs with same name

The pair may have shared a name, but they came from very different parts of the political spectrum.
The pair may have shared a name, but they came from very different parts of the political spectrum.

There were jokes and a little confusion as voters in the South East elected two people called Alexandra Phillips to represent them in the European Parliament.

The two Phillips may both have been elected to the same region, but they come from very different parts of the political spectrum.

Newly-elected Brexit Party MEP Alexandra Phillips secured a seat in the region alongside leader Nigel Farage and two other party colleagues.

Meanwhile, the Green Party’s Alexandra Phillips, previously the mayor of Brighton and Hove, was also elected.

Jokes were soon being made on Twitter about the coincidence, with political blogger Guido Fawkes tweeting: “Alexandra Phillips, so good they elected her twice.”

Joe Oliver tweeted: “The South-East having two MEPs both called Alexandra Phillips, one representing the Brexit Party and one the Greens definitely won’t cause any confusion or sitcom style mix-ups.”

And historian Dr Charlotte Ridley tweeted: “How are there two MEPs both called Alexandra Phillips for the south east, that really feels like it could have been better organised.”

As some pointed out, the result meant there were more South East MEPs called Alexandra Phillips than there were Labour or Conservative representatives.