Who can vote in UK elections
Who can vote in UK Parliamentary elections?
British citizens, qualifying Commonwealth citizens (including Cyprus and Malta) and citizens of the Republic of Ireland are entitled to vote in UK Parliamentary elections.
Citizens of European Union member states are not entitled to vote at such national elections.
European Union member states are:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bulgaria
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Italy
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- The Netherlands
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
Who can vote in local government elections?
British citizens (except those registered as overseas electors), qualifying Commonwealth citizens, citizens of the Republic of Ireland and citizens of the European Union member states listed above, are entitled to vote for councillors to the London Borough of Bexley, the election of the London Mayor and the election of Members to the London Assembly.
Citizens of European Union member states may also vote at European Parliamentary elections in the United Kingdom. However, they must make a separate application to do so. They must also renounce voting rights in their own member state for the same European Parliamentary election.
List of Commonwealth countries
British Commonwealth Countries
Antigua and Barbuda
Australia
Bahamas
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belize
Botswana
Brunei
Canada
Cameroon
Cyprus
Dominica
Fiji
Gambia
Ghana
Grenada
Guyana
India
Jamaica
Kenya
Kiribati
Lesotho
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Malta
Mauritius
Mozambique
Namibia
Nauru
New Zealand
Nigeria
Pakistan
Papua New Guinea
St Christopher & Nevis (formerly St Kitts & Nevis)
St Lucia
St Vincent & the Grenadines
Samoa (formerly Western)
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Solomon Islands
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Swaziland
Tanzania
Tonga
Trinidad & Tobago
Tuvalu
Uganda
Vanuatu
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Rwanda (2010)
British Dependent Territories
Anguilla
Bermuda
British Antarctic Territories
British Indian Ocean Territories
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Montserrat
Pitcairn Islands
St Helena St Helena dependencies: (Ascension, Tristan da Cunha, South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands)
Turks and Caicos Islands
Hong Kong
Following its transfer to Chinese sovereignty on 1 July 1997, Hong Kong was deleted from the list of British Overseas Territories. As a result, former residents of Hong Kong are not qualifying Commonwealth citizens by virtue of their residency in Hong Kong as Hong Kong Chinese is no longer a nationality. If an elector declares their nationality to be Hong Kong Chinese then the Electoral Registration Officer should exercise their powers to require evidence of the elector’s actual nationality and confirm the type of passport that they hold.
Any previous resident of Hong Kong who holds a British Dependent Territories, British Nationals (Overseas) or British Overseas passport meets the nationality criteria for all elections in the UK. Any previous resident of Hong Kong who only has a Chinese Special Administrative Region passport is Chinese and may not register.