UK political parties continue to woo Brits abroad ahead of election
British political parties are continuing to attempt to win over British citizens abroad ahead of the country’s general election, which will take place on July 4.
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey made a YouTube video on Sunday in which he made the case for British voters abroad to vote for his party.
“The Liberal Democrats are an internationalist party. We believe in countries working together. We are the only party which wants to rebuilt Britain’s relationship with Europe in a proper, secure way, and I think we are the only party who really thinks about British citizens living abroad,” he said.
He said his party “wants to make sure that our country takes them into account in all sorts of ways” and urged Brits abroad to register to vote.
The Liberal Democrats are the only major United Kingdom-wide political party which has a stated aim of the country eventually rejoining the European Union.
They are a member of Renew Europe and were last in government between 2010 and 2015 in coalition with the Conservative Party.
Meanwhile, incumbent governing party the Conservative Party announced that should they win the election, they will create a Minister for British Citizens Overseas, who, they said, will “represent them across government”.
Foreign Secretary David Cameron described the move as the “logical next step” after the law was changed to allow British citizens living abroad to vote regardless of how long they have been living aboard.
The party said the new minister will “tackle the issues that matter to overseas electors”, including “tax, pensions, tuition fees, bank accounts, or visa arrangements”.
The Conservative Party is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists and have been in government continuously since 2010.
Last week, the Labour Party had targeted the votes of Cypriots living in the UK, creating the Labour Cypriot Society, and “calling on Cypriots up and down the country to vote for change and cast their vote for the Labour Party”.
“The general election will be a choice between a weak and divided Conservative Party that has crashed our economy, decimated public services, and diminished our international standing, and a dynamic, progressive Labour Party that will deliver for our community,” they said.
In addition, it pointed out there is an estimated population of more than 300,000 Cypriots in the UK, and that the Cypriot community in the country can “play a significant role in this election”.
With this in mind, they pointed out that the Labour Party is fielding three candidates who belong to the UK’s Cypriot diaspora: Bambos Charalambous in the Southgate and Wood Green constituency, Nesil Caliskan in the Barking constituency, and Andrew Achilleos in the Romford constituency.
The Labour Party is a member of the Party of European Socialists and were last in government between 1997 and 2010.
July’s election will be the first to be held since the UK changed its electoral law to allow its citizens living outside the country to vote.
It is believed there are over 40,000 British citizens currently living in Cyprus, with over three million people worldwide having been re-enfranchised when the law was passed in January.
Those registered will vote in the parliamentary constituency of their most recent address in the UK and will be able to vote either by post or by sending a proxy voter to a polling station.
The deadline for voter registration for the forthcoming election is June 19 at 1.59am Cyprus time.
Voters from England, Scotland and Wales can register to vote online at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote, while voters from Northern Ireland must fill out a paper form available at www.eoni.org.uk/register-to-vote/special-category-registration and email it to overseas@eoni.org.uk.