Will British expats save the Conservative Party in just under six weeks time? Over three million British citizens living abroad have regained their right to vote in British General Elections and referendums following the implementation of the Elections Act 2022.
This represents the biggest increase in the British electoral franchise since the introduction of full female suffrage in 1928.
Earlier this year the 15-year limit on voting rights was scrapped and British citizens worldwide will be able to register to vote online regardless of how long they have been overseas.
This will be linked to the last UK address they were either registered to vote at or lived at.
However the future of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is looking very uncertain.
He is facing a mass departure of MPs with the number of resignations surpassing the level the Conservative Party suffered before a landslide defeat in the 1997 election.
Sunak, in power since 2022, this week called a national election for July 4, but his party is far behind in the opinion polls after a period of high inflation, low economic growth and a steady stream of political scandals.
Looking on the bright side, he can always think about returning to the Balearics for a family summer hoiliday.
Two years ago, just after having been elected PM the spitting image of Sunak was caught on video dancing at a club in Ibiza - or was it him?
To register as an overseas elector an individual must be a British citizen resident outside the UK who:
• Has been registered to vote in UK Parliamentary Elections as resident in the UK within the previous 15 years, OR
• Left the UK when they were too young to have registered to vote, provided their parent or guardian was registered at the place where they were last resident in the UK. This is also subject to a 15-year limit, from when the individual left the UK.
An individual applying to register as an overseas electors will apply to register in respect of:
• the last UK address at which they were registered, or
• if they were never registered, the last UK address at which they were resident.
Currently, those who were too young to be registered to vote when they left the UK can rely on a parent/guardian’s previous registration. Going forward the intention is that those who were too young to be registered to vote when they left the UK will instead be eligible to vote by virtue of their own previous residence in the UK. They will not need to rely on a parent’s previous registration or residence.