Forum Topic

Voting rights

Does no one else find it amazing that whilst registering to vote may be admirable, is it not worrying, and wrong, that so many nominally called 'foreigners' will decide the political make-up of London (or elsewhere for that matter) and have a dictation on the future of this country for the people who have NO other choice other than to live in the country they were born into, as British citizens of course. Poles and others of course can easily move back home, usually within the end of a tax year! Are there not any proper Londoners left who feel any passion about this? Long gone is the London I was born and bred into and knew well, before flight. And I am only 33.- Ex-Londoner, UKIs he right? What do you think? This is a copy of a posting I  came across on another site, and never realised that almost anybody can cast a vote in the forthcoming elaction.....Can we vote elsewhere if we choose to. What is the criteria?

Andrew Michael John Atkinson ● 6838d2 Comments

Andrew, the situation in the European Union is possibly more complex than you might expect. Bob Whatley, whom we both know, recently told me of a visit to his holiday home in Spain where he spoke to a candidate of the British Labour Party's local partner party (PSOE) who was standing for the local council. Bob doesn't speak Spanish fluently, but this candidate was as English as Bob and yourself. My understanding is that if you moved to Poland, which I accept is unlikely, you could vote or stand in local elections there just as they can in the UK.Incidentally, Bob was telling me of the concerns of the Spanish locals about the pressures on their health service caused by hundreds of thousands of elderly Brits living in the south of Spain who expect treatment from the Spanish health system. Given the numbers of elderly British living abroad, I don't really know whether the effects on our health service would be better or worse if they had to come here for treatment.Meanwhile, I hope you are well and are continuing to rough them up at Hounslow nick!

John Connelly ● 6838d

"never realised that almost anybody can cast a vote in the forthcoming elaction.....Can we vote elsewhere if we choose to. What is the criteria?"You can vote in local or European elections if you are an EU citizen and have a local address here. It was part of the Maastricht Treaty, and was seen as a logical consequence of freedom of movement within the EU.UK citizens have similar voting rights in other EU countries.  My wife and I have a flat in Paris which we live in for a couple of months or more in every year.  We pay our taxes there and take an interest in local politics and Parisian life, so it seemed natural to want to vote in their local elections.  So this year, we shall help to elect both the Paris and London Mayors!  For European elections, we can vote only once, either in London or Paris.In Paris, we had to show proof of residence (utility bill, council tax assessment or similar) and identity (passport), but there doesn't seem to be a similar requirement here as far as I can see, other than quoting an address.

Richard Jennings ● 6838d