East of England MEP Alex Mayer has joined forces with Emmy award winning West Wing actor Richard Schiff to highlight the importance of democracy.

They were highlighting the plight of 650,000 Washington residents who have no representative in Congress.

Ms Mayer said: “People in my constituency may wonder why the plight of DC residents over 5,000 miles away should matter to them, but the principle of having everyone having a representative to champion their views is an important one around the world.

“I’m keen to help the ‘51st State’ campaign go global - and what better way to do so than with The West Wing’s Director of Communications. The citizens of DC are denied the basic rights that others living in liberal democracies take for granted.”

Ms Mayer added the campaign was “bittersweet” as while DC was seeking to join a wider group, the UK was “plunging headlong out of another union.”