As the Electoral Commission launches Overseas Registration Day, Conservatives Abroad Chairman, Heather Harper urged expat voters to register. In a letter published in The Telegraph’s weekly edition she reminded expats that they account for nearly 8% of the total British electorate but that only 0.5% actually register to vote.
“Just imagine how our vote would be listened to if the other 99.5% were registered to vote” she said.
Here comments were used in the Telegraph article on overseas registration where she pointed out that the key to changing the law which prevents expats who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting is to get as many expats as possible to register.
You can read the full article here
Letter to The Telegraph
Dear Sir,
Anita Rieu-Sicart makes a plea (Weekly Telegraph, January 29 – February 4 issue) for Conservative voters living abroad to mobilize and vote. She is absolutely right. But before they can vote, the most important thing any overseas voter can do is to register, and to make sure that all the other British expats they know register as well.
One of the reasons ex-pat views are not listened to is that so few of us are registered to vote. In the last general election only 23,000 out of an estimated 3.5 million eligible expats actually registered. That's around 0.5%. Just imagine how our voice would be listened too if the other 99.5% were registered to vote. Together we form nearly 8% of the total UK electorate.
The next elections coming up in the UK are the European Parliamentary elections on 22nd May 2014 and the General Election on 7th May 2015. If you’re a British citizen who has lived abroad for less than 15 years, you’ll be able to vote in these elections as long as you register in time. Yes, I know a huge number of electorally frustrated expats who have lived abroad for longer than 15 years – but getting as many people registered as possible is key to getting the law changed.
The deadline for registration to be able to vote in the UK in this year’s European Parliamentary elections is midnight on Tuesday 6th May.
You can register on line from anywhere in the world on the Electoral Commission website www.aboutmyvote.com. You will need your last full address in the UK and your passport details. But please, do it now!
Heather Harper
Chairman, Conservatives Abroad