POL Q Collard + Rev June.pdf (598.55 kB)
The UK politics of overseas voting
The enfranchisement of non-resident citizens has always been controversial in the UK, where for historical reasons, voting rights are not as closely associated with citizenship as elsewhere. The introduction of ‘overseas’ voting in the 1980s by the Conservatives was contested by Labour as a form of ‘international gerrymandering’ since expatriates were widely assumed to be disproportionately wealthy and therefore more likely to vote Tory. Expatriate campaigners have been increasingly vocal in denouncing the ‘electoral injustice’ of the ‘fifteen-year rule’ which disenfranchises them after fifteen years abroad, and the exclusion of so many from the EU referendum highlighted their cause. A recent private member's bill proposing ‘votes for life’ for UK expatriates aimed to meet their demands to abolish the time restriction, now considered anachronistic. But their arguments were hijacked by historically embedded attitudes and disputes driven by party politics, ending in a dramatic and bewildering filibuster which this paper elucidates.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
Political QuarterlyISSN
0032-3179Publisher
WileyExternal DOI
Issue
4Volume
90Page range
672-680Department affiliated with
- Politics Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2019-06-25First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-07-23First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2019-06-24Usage metrics
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