17 January 2012 Last updated at 16:57
A Conservative politician who was in line to succeed an outgoing MEP is under scrutiny by his own party over his books on UFOs and aliens.
European parliamentary rules state when an MEP resigns there is no by-election, and instead the next in line fills the vacancy.
Previous MEP Roger Helmer said publisher and writer Rupert Matthews was entitled to take his place to represent the East Midlands in Europe.
BBC East Midlands Today political editor John Hess reports.
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