Expats will be given vote for life, says UK government (again)
While it comes too late for millions of expats who were excluded from the EU referendum, the UK government has renewed an election pledge to scrap the 15-year limit on expat general election votes.
It has also announced plans to link voting entitlement to proof of previous UK residence and not necessarily to previous registration.
Long-term expats were not able to take part in June’s referendum because voting in it was based on the general election franchise. A policy document setting out the 15-year rule pledge, A democracy that works for everyone, says “the franchise for referendums will continue to be set by Parliament on a case-by-case basis” – so there is no guarantee of (all) expats being able to take part in future ones.
The planned changes also do not give expats any additional voting rights - they continue to be excluded from local ones or ones for the Scottish parliament or Welsh or Northern Irish assemblies (unlike French expats who may vote in all political elections in France).
Minister for the Constitution Chris Skidmore acknowledges in the document that ‘British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom’ and should have ‘the opportunity to have their say in the way the country is governed’.
Also set out in it are plans to allow expat Britons the chance to register through previous residence alone (they may be asked to prove it by showing a document with their last UK address). At present you have to have been registered to vote in a British constituency unless you were too young, in which case your parents should currently have been registered within the last 15 years.
There are no plans to remove the requirement for expats to renew registration every 12 months. As now, elections offices will be asked to send reminders (this will become ‘mandatory’ as opposed to currently being based on ‘guidance’) and it will be possible for these to be sent by email. It will also become possible to renew online.
At present only the Liberal Democrats have a policy supporting dedicated MPs for Britons overseas (like the French model).
