Brits Living Overseas Register to Vote in Large Numbers After Government Change – But Non-British UK Residents Locked Out

Nearly 100,000 British citizens living abroad have registered to vote in the past month, after the Government changed the law to let millions more people vote from overseas. 

For the first time, in this General Election, British citizens living abroad are eligible to vote regardless of how long they have been living outside of the UK.

Due to the change, there are estimated to be 3.5 million Brits living overseas who are now eligible to vote on 4 July. 

Since 18 May, 94,602 Brits living overseas have signed up to vote in the General Election, ahead of today’s deadline to register. In the same period of time in the 2019 General Election, just 8,369 Brits overseas signed up to vote.

While the figure is dwarfed by the 2.17 million registrations since 18 May from UK residents, it is likely to renew a debate about who gets the right to vote in elections. 

Previously, Brits living overseas lost their vote after 15 years of being abroad – a policy quietly abolished by the Government in January. 

But, many people living in the UK who do not have citizenship are unable to vote in general elections – no matter how long they have lived here and paid their taxes. 

It comes after Rishi Sunak told the Daily Mail that Britain is heading for a one-party state if Labour wins the election and gives the vote to “immigrants, and all the rest”, as Politico reports. 

Commonwealth citizens living in the UK and citizens of the Republic of Ireland can already vote, as well as immigrants who have secured British citizenship. 

But it is a questionable claim from the Prime Minister as it is Rishi Sunak’s party which dramatically expanded the franchise – with little debate – to millions more ‘foreigners’. They just happen to be Brits living in other countries.

The Conservatives also introduced mandatory photo ID which former minister Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested was a form of “gerrymandering” to sway elections in the party’s favour.

---

No Representation 

Frankie Gaynor is the advocacy manager for the Migrant Democracy Project, which campaigns for the right to vote to be based on residency. 

Gaynor, 24 and from South Florida, has lived in the UK for two years and told Byline Times that she came here to undertake a master’s degree. “Now I have chosen to make this country my home, yet I have no say in who represents me — not even at the local level,” she said.

She has pledged to “fight for the right to vote for others like myself who have no say in shaping our political future”.

“If I were living in Wales or Scotland, I could vote at the local level,” she added. “It makes no sense for the rules to apply differently in other parts of the UK.” 

Ukrainian refugee Masha Goubernik, also 24, told Byline Times: “I have already fled war twice, as an internal refugee and now a refugee in the UK. Most of my family and friends are refugees and migrants, and we might stay in this status our whole life due to political situations out of our control. 

“That shouldn’t mean we are excluded from the right to vote in our home, the UK. We want to be equal and active parts of society. We want to shape our own future, we want to vote.”

Gabrielle Gombert, who lives abroad, is simply happy she has her right to vote back: “I’m enormously grateful for that – I actually have a say in my future again. But it is bitter-sweet because it’s impossible not to look back and think of all those pivotal moments when my vote would have, could have and should have counted. 

“Registering to vote again has been straightforward so I am hopeful the same will apply to the rest of the process up to the casting of the vote.”

According to a House of Commons briefing, until 2015, the number of overseas voters registered to vote had never risen above 35,000. Following registration campaigns, by the UK General Election of 2017, a record 285,000 registered overseas voters were registered. 

This dipped to 105,000 by December 2021, as overseas numbers tend to decline between elections. “Many do not renew their registrations in years when no election is expected,” the briefing explains. However, the number of registered overseas voters is likely to be much higher this year following the extension of the franchise. 

---

Millions Missing

Around 7.5 million eligible voters overall are estimated to be missing from the electoral roll, as of this February, which demo