Electoral Register (Britons Abroad)
Philip Dunne condemns the decline in the number of overseas expatriates registered to vote in UK elections.
Mr. Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con): What estimate the Electoral Commission has made of the number of Britons living abroad who are on the electoral register. [312129]
Mr. Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that although it has not made such an estimate itself, the Office for National Statistics collects and publishes annual electoral registration data. The most recent figures are for the electoral registers of 1 December 2008, and they show that there were 13,695 entries for overseas voters on UK electoral registers. The ONS is due to publish figures for the 1 December 2009 electoral registers next month.
Mr. Dunne: I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for giving us those figures, which appear at first sight to reflect a decline of some 2,000 since the previous year. Does he agree that this is a disgraceful performance, and what can he recommend that the Electoral Commission can do to give recommendations to any incoming Government to improve the ability of overseas expatriate citizens to participate in our national election?
Mr. Streeter: It is a matter for the Government and for this House whether the law on how people can register and vote from overseas is changed. The Electoral Commission is committed to increasing the number of eligible people who are registered to vote, and has recently conducted a campaign that resulted in nearly 7,400 overseas voter registration forms being downloaded from the commission's website. The commission plans to run further activity in advance of the general election targeting British citizens living abroad.
