Roger Casale and the late Harry Shindler MBE in San Benedetto di Tronto, Italy
The Representation of the People Bill offers Parliament a chance to ensure British citizens abroad are not only able to vote but properly represented, writes Roger Casale.

Around five million British citizens now live abroad. Thanks to recent reforms they have regained the right to vote in UK elections. But for many overseas voters the reality is that exercising that right remains difficult in practice.

The United Kingdom has taken an important step forward. Through reforms introduced under the Elections Act 2022, the long standing fifteen year limit on overseas voting was abolished. For decades British citizens who had lived abroad for more than fifteen years lost the right to vote in UK parliamentary elections. Removing that restriction potentially restored voting rights to millions of British citizens around the world.

But extending eligibility is only the first step. The real challenge now is ensuring that overseas voters can participate meaningfully in UK democracy.

For many years I worked alongside the late Harry Shindler, the Second World War veteran who challenged the rule that prevented many British citizens abroad from voting. His legal case eventually reached the European Court of Human Rights and helped draw international attention to the democratic deficit created by the restriction. The abolition of the fifteen year rule through the Elections Act 2022 marked the culmination of a long struggle to restore the voting rights of British citizens living abroad.

Yet restoring the franchise has also exposed the limitations of the current system.

At the last UK general election I was living in Italy. From experience I knew there was a real risk that if I relied on postal voting my ballot would not arrive back in the UK in time to be counted. In the end I flew back to Britain simply to vote in person.

It proved how much every vote can matter. My MP, Ben Coleman, won the Chelsea and Fulham seat by just 152 votes including mine.

In closely contested elections the inability of overseas voters to return ballots in time is not a minor administrative inconvenience. It can affect the outcome of democratic representation.

Working with partners we surveyed overseas voters about how the postal voting system works in practice. Voters told us when their ballots arrived, when they sent them back and whether they believed they were counted. The responses revealed a consistent problem: many overseas voters receive their ballots too late to return them within the tight electoral timetable. For voters living thousands of miles away the current system often makes participation extremely difficult even when they are properly registered.

We are therefore calling for practical reforms to make overseas voting work more reliably. These include allowing overseas voters to download ballot papers securely rather than waiting for postal delivery from the United Kingdom, and allowing ballots to be returned through British embassies or consulates, reducing delays in international postal systems. We have also proposed automatic voter registration when British citizens renew their passports overseas, ensuring eligible voters are informed of their rights and added to the electoral register without unnecessary barriers.

Former Minister Tom Brake, now director of Unlock Democracy, has argued that “if millions of British citizens abroad now have the right to vote, the system must work for them in practice.” Dr Ruvi Ziegler, Chair of New Europeans, has also emphasised the importance of ensuring that overseas citizens can exercise their democratic rights effectively. Meanwhile Bruce Darrington of the British Overseas Voters Forum has long highlighted the practical difficulties overseas voters face, noting that “too many voters receive their ballots too late to return them in time.”

The Representation of the People Bill now before Parliament offers an opportunity to address the next stage of reform.

Following the removal of the 15 year rule, the potential overseas electorate has expanded dramatically. Government estimates suggest that around 3.5 million British citizens abroad may now be eligible to register, compared with roughly 190000 overseas voters registered for the 2024 general election.

One proposal now being discussed is the creation of overseas constituencies, allowing British citizens abroad to elect Members of Parliament dedicated to representing their interests and giving this growing electorate a direct voice in Westminster.

Countries including France, Italy and Portugal already provide parliamentary representation for citizens abroad through overseas constituencies.

The question of overseas representation is increasingly being raised in Parliament. During the Second Reading debate on the Representation of the People Bill, Martin Wrigley warned that millions of citizens abroad risk being overlooked, arguing that “we are completely ignoring a whole section of voters: our overseas voters.”

Meanwhile Manuela Perteghella, who chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Citizens’ Rights, has highlighted the need for Parliament to consider how representation should evolve following the expansion of the overseas franchise.

The right to vote has now been restored to around five million British citizens living abroad. The next step is to ensure they can use it and that their voices are properly represented in Parliament.

About the author

Roger Casale is Founder and CEO of New Europeans and a former Labour MP for Wimbledon. He served as the Member of Parliament for Wimbledon from 1997 to 2005 and has long campaigned for democratic rights and representation for citizens across Europe, including the voting rights of British citizens living abroad.