So Brits who live abroad can now vote in the General Election.

Nicenanny3

I personally don't think their will be a big take up of this many living in the UK do not bother to vote and if you/I lived in another country why would you bother I certainly wouldn't, also how will it work, which constituency or would be MP do you vote for or are you allocated one by the government 🤔

The answer is on page one of the thread.

Yes I thought that would be the response. So the taxation and representation is obviously not so important? Citizenship is what counts?
But we are British citizens, who moved to France under the rules of EU freedom of movement with the intention of (perhaps / probably ) moving back at some point, just like some people give up their second homes.
It is possible to be invested in two countries, you know.

I personally don't think their will be a big take up of this many living in the UK do not bother to vote and if you/I lived in another country why would you bother I certainly wouldn't, also how will it work, which constituency or would be MP do you vote for or are you allocated one by the government 🤔

Simple answer to that; NO, if you live for a time and work in a country, but decline to become a citizen, then absolutely not, you should not have a vote. Some people go to live and work for a period in a country, my son spent two years working in Sri Lanka after university, he didn’t expect to get a vote, he wasn’t a citizen. My daughter lives and works in New Zealand at present, she has residency but is not a citizen. She does not have a vote. People should have a vote in the country they live in, pay taxes in (not just income tax because they are forced to by the rules) and have an allegiance to. Citizens qualify for all of these and are the only ones who should have a vote!
If you want to vote, live in Britain and become a citizen, if you are not already a citizen. That shows your loyalty and interest in the country.

MOnica I pay tax in the UK on my UK occupational pension because that is what HMRC and the double taxation treaty demands. So does everyone else who worked in government, local government, NHS, military etc. I have already explained that I have no vote in France.
I would like to ask a question of people who think that British passport holders who live abroad should have no vote in the UK.
Do you think that migrant foreign nationals who do not have British passports, but work and pay taxes in the UK should have the vote?

The mere fact that someone cares about country or has a continuing interest in etc etc , is not a good enough reason for having the vote.

You should need to be invested (not in the monetary sense) in a country because you live there and work there and where the government affects your everyday life, to have a vote.

For 32 years we have had a holiday home in France. It is in Normandy se we are there practically every month for a stay, but we have never considered we had any right to demand to vote in France, even though we have far more invested in that country than many an expat has in Britain.

We will still have a continuing interest in the country after the house is sold next week and we will continue visiting frequently, but again we do not expect to have a vote.

Go elsewhere and pay your taxes to another government and, as I have said 'No representation without taxation'

Seismic in this particular case! 😂

Joseann I don't think I need to experience subtle changes and undercurrents to make a judgement on the current government and decide who to vote for, though I will vote tactically. 😂😂😂

maddyone you don't get to vote in both countries. Before Brexit we could vote (and stand) in local elections here in France, but not regional or national. After Brexit, even as a UK taxpayer I had no vote anywhere for anything, until this year.

What is it that I can't know?
OK, I'll re phrase that from my own perspective. There's a lot that I can't feel about the UK when living abroad. Subtle undercurrents and changes. Because I'm NOT physically there experiencing what is going on, and witnessing the resulting effects.
I had three dependent children, at school and at university, living back in the UK when I chose to live in France, but I never once assumed that I should have my vote there to determine their futures. My reasoning was that I had opted out of living there. I was no longer part of the system.

I think an overall decline of 12% since Brexit, is a bit more than a vagary. It's obviously not good, but without turning this into a competition, between 2003 and 2008 I saw a 30% decline in my income, way before Brexit, and have my business accounts for that period. I survived!

I totally agree with you Joseann.
Those who wish to live in one country and vote in both simply want their cake and to eat it.
People who live abroad should concentrate on the community they live in.
My daughter lives in New Zealand. I don’t vote in New Zealand just because the government there affects her. When I spend two months at a time in New Zealand visiting her, although we live in an AirB+B when we’re here, we’re contributing a lot to the economy, paying tax on our purchases and the property we stay in, but we don’t expect to vote here just because our daughter and grandchildren live here.
You pay your halfpenny and you take your pick, one thing or the other, not a foot in both camps.

If you pay your raced here yes if not no.

I understand that you have lived in France Joseann, so you will know that people do move here, then back to the UK, which is one good reason for staying in touch. I know about my former MP because he is high profile and actually one of the good ones. I shan't vote for him, because I am a lifelong member of the Labour Party and have paid my dues all the time we have lived in France. I talk about life here and in the UK to family and friends throughout Britain, watch TV, read, newspapers and (in normal times) visit often. What is it that I can't know?
I pay tax in the UK and whilst I understand the vagaries of the exchange rate, I think an overall decline of 12% since Brexit, is a bit more than a vagary. We have the spreadsheets recording our income.
Before anyone tells me to get involved in the country I live in - I was an elected local councillor in my village until Brexit took away my right to stand for election.
These countries, among many others allow citizens abroad to vote.
France, , Germany, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, the United States.
Why should the UK be different?

Whilst I appreciate what you are saying, Mamie, I do feel that once you have made a commitment to live in France that you should relinquish the right to vote in the UK.
Of course, the future of children and grandchildren is important, but conversely their own political choices might be the complete opposite of one's own. So a vote for one particular party might not be productive for them.
I also find the idea of voting back in a constituency I left 15 or 20 years ago barmy. How would I know what was really going on there? I haven't had the chance to speak to the MP on the doorstep or while canvassing. And it's highly likely it would no longer be the same MP as when I left anyway. When I moved to France I was living in a constituency 200 miles away from the one I later returned to. In fact voting for the one party I favoured while in rural Devon would have been a disaster when I was planning to later reside in London.
I also think that if I made the decision to live abroad, I should just accept the vagaries of the exchange rate. We all know it can fluctuate at the drop of a hat, but that has always been the case. Long before Brexit was even thought of, my business abroad, the income of which came in pounds sterling, had good and bad years. I just factored that in to my expenditure. C'est la vie.

Whitewavemark2

Sunak must be looking looking to the (quite near) future 🤞, as I suspect that you won’t see his proverbial for steam if he loses the election and off he will go to live the dream in USA, but retain his vote.

But I did read somewhere that ex-pats are more likely to vote Tory - largely an older demography.

Actually it isn't true that most migrants are older. The work of British in Europe showed that most migrants to Europe are younger working people. There may still be some die-hard Tories, but the few that I knew before Brexit have changed their minds given what has happened to their pension transfers! As it was Boris Johnson who introduced this, I reckon Stanley told him we would all vote Tory. 😂😂😂

Yes, you go to the gov.uk site and fill in a form. You need your passport number and National Insurance number. You vote in the constituency in which you were last registered. I then filled in another form to give my daughter a proxy vote as postal votes can be unreliable.
I am very grateful to the late Harry Shindler, a veteran of the battle of Anzio in World War II who fought for many years for our right to retain our vote and sadly died last year.

www.gov.uk/voting-when-abroad

vegansrock: I seem to remember reading that you should register to vote in the last constituency in which you lived before leaving the UK.

My brother has lived in Europe for most of his life. He cares about the UK and how it has gone downhill over the last 14 years. I hope he votes for the sake of his UK family. How would he register to vote? What constituency would he vote in?

I am British living in France and I shall be voting in the UK, just as French citizens (amongst many other countries) keep the right to vote even if they do not live in France.
I pay taxes in the UK on my occupational pension.
The decisions of the UK government have a massive impact on my life, given that my income is subject to the vagaries of the exchange rate and Brexit and its aftermath has had a negative impact on our lives.
I care deeply about my children and grandchildren and their lives in the UK. I care about the NHS, education, the justice systems, the rise in poverty and and the impact of Tory policies.
I believe that I have not just the right to vote, but a duty to vote to get rid of this appalling government that is destroying my country.

I’m amazed that this can be enacted without a vote in Parliament. It’s a big change to the rules and potentially involves a lot of people.

Oh goodie, I’ll be able to vote. Haha. As if you’d want to ! It is not right, is it? Many of us have no idea of internal politics and if, like us, you have been away for 50 years plus, why on earth would you interfere with a country? There’s some nutjobs around in positions of authority.

Sunak must be looking looking to the (quite near) future 🤞, as I suspect that you won’t see his proverbial for steam if he loses the election and off he will go to live the dream in USA, but retain his vote.

But I did read somewhere that ex-pats are more likely to vote Tory - largely an older demography.

Well, back in the 1770s, when the Americans were agitating for independence their cry was 'No taxation without representation'.

The modern version of this should be 'No representation, without taxation'

If you do not pay your taxes to the UK, you do not vote in our elections. Possible for the first 5 years, you could keep the right to vote by paying, say £1,000 a year to HMRC, but after that, you really have no longterm investment in this country, so why should you vote?

Other people can feel how they like, it doesn’t make it right that those who have chosen to live elsewhere have little idea of what the situation is here, but regardless, they should not have a vote.