The Sunday Times 7 March 2021 - by Jamie Nimmo
Buried in Wednesday’s budget was a plan to scrap a 2002 rule that prevents citizens from voting in British polls if they have lived abroad for more than 15 years.
Among those likely to regain their say in how Britain is run are Sir Mick Jagger, who owns homes in France, California and on the Caribbean island of Mustique; and the former Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green, who is based in Monaco. Sir Richard Branson too, of Virgin, who owns the Caribbean island of Necker, will be able to vote again thanks to the rule change.
The government’s plan will also benefit Lewis Hamilton, the Formula One champion who lives in Monaco and would have reached the 15-year barrier next year. He left for Switzerland in 2007, then five years later moved to Monaco.
The new rules will also give the vote back to thousands of British expatriates who retired or set up businesses abroad.
An estimated five million British citizens live outside the UK, but only 230,000 of them registered to vote in the 2019 election, according to the Electoral Commission.
One tycoon who will benefit from the change said: “The cynical view would be there’s a gross excess of Conservatives over Labour in the offshore community. It wouldn’t surprise me if that turned out to be the rationale.”
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “Most of British expats retain deep ties to the UK. Many have family here, are planning to return, have a lifetime of hard work behind them or may even have fought for our country.”
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