Regaining voting rights in the UK

[Blaze]

From the House of Commons Library website :
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/re ... s/sn05923/

The Elections Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. It includes provisions to removing the 15-year rule.
Manifesto commitments have been included in each Conservative Party manifesto since 2015 to remove the 15-year limit on overseas voter registration. This is the so-called ‘votes for life’ policy. The Labour Party favoured maintaining the 15-year limit.
The new rules will allow all British citizens who had previously been resident in the UK to register, not just those who were registered before they left. Other changes are designed to make the renewal process easier for overseas voters.
It is expected newly eligible overseas voters will be able to register from 16 January 2024. Detailed secondary legislation is required to implement many aspects of the new provisions. This has been laid in draft form and must be approved by both Houses of Parliament before coming into effect.......

....... The Government estimates the changes, ending the 15-year limit and allowing all British citizens previously resident to be eligible, will mean around 3.5 million British nationals living overseas would be eligible to register to vote.

Labour is not in favour of ending the 15 year rule.

There is more info in The Connexion. OH has volunteered to be a test case, which is presumably to see if the system works.
We haven't taken dual citizenship, but as our pensions come from the UK and the UK pays my health cover (S1), we are going for it.

[Quiksilver]

Let's hope it doesn't take as long as ETIAS etc to be implemented I can see the logic of the Labour Party thinking that most ex-pats would probably vote Tory, but I suspect that they're wrong. For every château-owning, champagne-swilling toff there must be at least a hundred plebs who watch from afar and feel it's time for a drastic change...

[Hotrodder]

Although it's a bit late. Brexit has been done, and so has UK.

[MAD87]

Funny, I thought the Tories were dragging their feet over this issue through fear of emigrants voting massively against them. And what's with Labour? In favour of Brexit, agin voters' rights. What a shower they all are.

[Blaze]

Funny, I thought the Tories were dragging their feet over this issue through fear of emigrants voting massively against them. And what's with Labour? In favour of Brexit, agin voters' rights. What a shower they all are.

Whilst the idea of having the right to vote somewhere is appealing, neither of us knows who we'd vote for in the UK. You'd have thought that the last few years of Tory and Labour chaos and disarray would have inspired any would-be Liberal politicians to jump at the chance of doing something.

[Pathca]

Try living in the UK ! I don’t actually know who I would vote for now is the time for another party to start a move but that doesn’t seem to be happening
It’s irrelevant to me anyway because I live in one of the safest Tory seats going ,as cunning boundary changes put my traditionally Labour voting area in with them

[niemeyjt]

If the polls are to be believed, in common with many other countries across Europe, the far right party seems to be on the rise.

FPTP may keep them at bay, for the moment . . . but if the Liberals manage to persuade Labour to bring in PR that will change.

A Conservative - Change UK coalition with Nigel Farage as PM?

[L Austin France]

In Feb this year I mailed my old UK towns election officer to ask whats happening about overseas voting rights.
They replied;
"Whilst the Elections Act has come into force, the legislation which removes the 15 year registration limit relating to overseas electors does not take effect until August 2023.
We haven’t as yet heard how applications will be made but would suggest that you contact us again in August when we will have more information."
I forgot about it until reading this thread so mailed them yesterday to ask for an update.
I'll report here if & when I hear anything,

[Polarengineer]

These voting rights are high on the agenda for VOLT France, the most progressive political party in Europe. They also propose allowing voting rights for the country that you live in, so then I could also vote in French elections as well as, Dutch, UK and European. These all have an influence on my life, so why not.

[Blaze]

They also propose allowing voting rights for the country that you live in

That would seem to be logical - I'd like at least to be able to vote in our local elections.