Votes for Expat Brits
   Home      Change the law!

 

What the British Government can do!
 
 
 
 
 

expat voting rights

         but more needs to be done.
  • Make it easier for expats to register to vote.

 

  • Improve arrangements for absentee voting, giving voters
enough time to cast their votes.
 
  • Consider setting up specific constituencies for Britons abroad,
like France, Italy and Portugal have, and/or specific assemblies
 
for expats, as France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland have.

 

Encouraging statements in the House of Commons
 


“While we allow a number of people who are not British citizens to
participate in elections in this country, we also prohibit a large
number of expatriate British citizens from participating in our
democracy because they have been living overseas for more than
15 years. I hope that the Government will in due course address this
question in relation to general elections".
 
– Graham Brady MP, in the House of Commons on 18 October 2010.
 
 
 
“ […] At the moment there is a 15-year time limit […] for British citizens
who live overseas.The Government are considering whether to bring
proposals before the House in due course.”
 
 
– Mark Harper MP, Parliamentary Secretary (Political and Constitutional
Reform), Cabinet Office, in the House of Commons on 18 October 2010.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     





 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
  • Write to Chloe Smith, Parliamentary Secretary (Minister for the Constitution) in the
Cabinet Office at the following e-mail address: [email protected] 
  
  • Write to your MP:
You can find out who your current MP is by going to www.parliament.uk and
entering the postcode of your last address in the UK in the box headed
"Members of the House of Commons". Then you can either e-mail your MP at
the addressprovided, or post a letter to [write name of your MP], House of
Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
 
The offending legislation deals with entitlement or otherwise to vote.
It does not deny the existence of your relationship to your MP, who under the
'"last registered address in the UK" approach can only logically be the MP who
currently represents the constituency where you used to live. So you are quite
justified in writing to him or her.MPs represent all their constituents, not only
those who voted for them (or who were graciously permitted to vote in the election
which returned them to Parliament).
 
 
 
 
Some other useful links
 

 

 
 

 

 
 
 
 
Let's show the government we mean business. Click above to sign up as a
supporter of the "Votes for Expat Brits" campaign - that means votes for
all expat Brits, regardless of where they live or how long they've lived there.