Some EU citizens who enter the UK from 2021 will not have voting and candidacy rights in local elections from 2022. This will create an unequal situation where some EU citizens will have the right to vote while others will not.
The London Assembly fears this complexity in voting eligibility may cause confusion and reduce voter turnout, so it has today called for the Elections Bill to be amended to extend local election voting rights in England and Northern Ireland to all qualifying foreign nationals.
Sem Moema AM, who proposed the motion said:
“All Londoners should have a say in how their area is run. It is only right that people who live, work and contribute so much to our capital, get to take part in the democratic process and have their votes count.
“Over a third of Londoners were born abroad and this huge portion of the population should not be side-lined.
“While the Government’s elections bill protects some EU citizens voting rights, others are left out. For the sake of fairness and to prevent confusion, steps have to be taken to ensure no one is excluded. This includes non-EU citizens too”.
The full text of the motion is:
The Assembly notes the Elections Bill is currently being debated in Westminster. The Bill will introduce a number of measures including mandatory photographic voter ID,
overseas voting, and voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens.
37% of Londoners were born abroad and 12% are from the European Union (EU). They live, work, study, make use of public services, and call London their home. Many of our foreign-born residents from EU and Commonwealth countries can vote in our local elections. However, the approximate 377,000 residents born in non-EU and
non-Commonwealth countries cannot.
The Assembly welcomes that the voting and candidacy rights of EU citizens with
pre-settled and settled status who entered the UK before 2021 will be maintained. We further welcome the Mayor’s actions to support EU Londoners with 1.4 million people accessing the European Londoners Hub.
The Assembly expresses concern that EU citizens who enter the UK from 2021 and are not covered by the Withdrawal Agreement, or by bilateral treaties covering voting rights, will not have voting and candidacy rights in local elections from 2022. This will create an unequal situation where some EU citizens will have the right to vote while others will not. We also fear this complexity in voting eligibility may cause confusion and reduce voter turnout.
The Assembly calls on the Mayor of London and the Chair of the London Assembly to separately write to the Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, requesting that the Elections Bill be amended to extend local election voting rights in England and Northern Ireland to all qualifying foreign nationals in line with voting rights in Scotland and Wales.
Notes to editors
- Watch the full webcast.
- The motion was agreed by 14 votes for and 6 against.
- Sem Moema AM who proposed the motion, is available for interviews.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Alison Bell on 07887 832 918. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer.