The former Transport Secretary – a leading figure in the so-called People’s Vote campaign for a second Brexit referenudum – said he was “excited” to have made it onto the party’s regional list of candidates for the planned May vote.

Lord Adonis a UK Cypriot whose father is from Yialousa in Cyprus is being put forward for the South West region if the poll goes ahead as now widely expected on May 23.

Lord Adonis urges peers to back a second EU referendum as crucial Brexit bill hits House of Lords

The peer – who currently sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords – made headlines in 2017 when he quit his post as a government infrastructure adviser and branded Brexit “a dangerous populist and nationalist spasm worthy of Donald Trump”.

He told The Times: “This is going to be a titanic struggle between Farage Brexit and Labour Remain and I relish the battle.

“It will determine whether Brexit happens and define our whole future as an open liberal democracy.”

EU elections are held under a proportional voting system, which sees parties draw up ranked lists of candidates.

Seats are then allocated to those candidates in order depending on what share of the vote the party received.

Lord Adonis, who served as an adviser to Tony Blair, is second on the list for the South West region, where Labour won one of six seats in 2014.

The move could raise eyebrows among some Labour MPs in Leave-supporting seats, who fear that backing a second referendum will alienate voters who opted for Brexit in 2016.