Expats without a vote but hoping to do so in next year’s general election have been given a reason to hope they can, although pundits believe it will not come in time.
A Bill is in the works to restore voting rights to any British expats who’ve lived abroad for more than 15 years.
Although the Bill has gone on to its next stage, the second reading, this will be on March 6. With the general election looming in May and the need to dissolve Parliament before then, some feel it is unlikely that the Bill could be passed into law in sufficient time.
A Conservative MP, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, is working to get the current 15-year rule abolished. That rule prevents voting for Britons who have resided outside the UK for more than 15 years.
The ruling impacts on some one million of the 5.5 million British expats, according to Mr Clifton-Brown, and serves as a “real disincentive for people to register and vote”.
Currently, around 32,000 expat citizens are registered, but the MP holds that this “disappointingly” low number is not a reason to deny expats their rights.
He said that only three countries have stricter rules on overseas voting than Britain – Ireland, Greece and Malta do not let their expatriate citizens vote at all.
"Now we have to try to get a second reading debate. But there's not enough parliamentary time left between March and the dissolution of the House for it to go through all its preliminary stages," said another Conservative MP, Sir Roger Gale.
But all is not lost as the Conservatives have made an election manifesto pledge to restore voting rights to all British citizens should the party be successful in the general election.
But for some stirring words from Mr Clifton-Brown:
"I believe this to be incredibly unfair and unjustified when the people that have lived abroad for more than 15 years are people that have decided to move to a different country having paid into this country's system for their whole working life and who still have strong connections to the UK. Why should they, after all of that, be disfranchised from their country of origin?" he asked.
"We must surely question why, as a country with a proud history of democracy and a wide franchise, we set some of the strictest rules in the world against our own citizens," said the MP.
Voting for expats has gradually been gaining traction. Only in 1985 was voting first allowed, but only for those who had lived abroad for fewer than five years. This was upped to 20 years in 1989, but then reduced down to 15 in 2000.
Should you be able to vote if you don't live in the UK? Watch this interview with Harry Shindler.
