Johnson: expat voting rights.

Johnson: expat voting rights. | POOL

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporter20/02/2021 14:57
TW
3

"The (British) Government is committed to scrapping the arbitrary rule that prevents British citizens who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from participating in UK parliamentary elections, and to making it easier for expats to vote," said Chloe Smith, Minister of State for the Constitution and Devolution, in a letter to Sir Roger Gale, the British MP who has been campaigning for expat voting rights.

"Most British citizens overseas retain deep ties to the United Kingdom. Many still have family here, some will return here. Many will have a lifetime of hard work in the UK behind them, and some may have fought for our country. We are considering the appropriate legislative vehicle to deliver these changes, which are manifesto commitments, and we will make an announcement on our intentions in due course," she said.

Only those citizens who have lived outside British for less than 15 years can vote at the moment and expat Britons living in the Balearics were unable to vote in the Scottish independence vote or on Brexit.