‘Labour’s plans for electoral reform must include voting rights for all residents’

Earlier this month, Labour released a policy paper detailing their strategy on democracy and elections. While the electoral reform plans are a step in the right direction towards a more inclusive democracy, they still exclude over four million voters; residents I have the opportunity to connect with every time I am canvassing.

I have been a Cambridgeshire County Councillor since 2021, and while many politicians only doorknock registered voters, I find it is important to knock on every door. I am there to represent everyone – regardless of how they vote or whether they vote at all.

Having these door-to-door conversations with unregistered voters, I inevitably meet community members who are unable to vote. These are residents who pay the same council tax as I do, and have the same right as everyone else to reach out to me as their councillor or attend a surgery. But they do not have a say in electing their councillor, or who will be making decisions on their behalf at county hall.

Over four million residents born outside of the UK cannot vote in general elections, and over one million cannot vote in any elections – not even for their local town councillor. Voter eligibility in England is unnecessarily complex, and it is difficult even for campaigners to explain on the doorstep.

A Polish resident in St Ives can vote in local council elections regardless of whether they arrived before or after electoral changes caused by Brexit were implemented – because Poland and the UK have a bilateral voting rights deal. If you are knocking on doors, do you know which other countries have a bilateral voting rights deal?

A few doors down the road, the Romanian resident who has lived there for five years can vote for their councillor, but another Romanian who arrived in 2023, for example, cannot. Meanwhile, the US citizen who lived in the same town for 20 years cannot vote in any elections, while the Indian student who arrived two years ago could vote for the local councillor in 2025, but also for the MP last year.

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‘Voting rights based on residence is easier to understand and easier to implement’

This is not an equitable electoral system, and to make it even more complicated, the system is not consistent across the UK. From 2020, in Scotland and Wales, any resident with lawful status, such as on a work visa or refugee status, can vote in local and devolved elections. What is interesting is how uncontroversial these changes were at the time, and in the elections that followed. This feels in stark contrast to how politicised the issue of migrants’ political participation has been, at least recently, in England.

“A key part of democracy is making sure everyone has a voice” – the government’s strategy says. The main justification for extending the right to vote to 16 and 17-year-olds is because they can work, pay tax and “contribute in so many ways to our society”. If it is “right and fair” that young people have the right to vote, why don’t the same arguments apply to residents born outside of the UK? Residents – our neighbours – who work, pay tax and contribute to our communities?

I believe that all residents should have a say in decisions impacting them – at least at the local level. Labour, when in opposition, agreed with this. A Labour amendment on the last Elections Bill proposed extending the right to vote to all lawful residents in local elections (as it is the case in Scotland and Wales) and to all residents having settled status or permanent residency in general elections. Many councils, including my own, have passed motions agreeing with the principle of residence-based voting rights for local elections, and asking the Government to consider the case for it.

Voting rights based on residence, rather than a complex system of citizenship, historic agreements and bilateral deals, will not only be easier to understand, but also easier to implement, reducing elections costs to local authorities and supporting the integration of all residents in our democracy and wider society.

The Government’s plans for automatic voter registration process will also be facilitated by residence-based voting – registration is not fully automatic if you have to exclude certain nationalities and update the system depending on bilateral voting rights deals.

But most importantly, residence-based voting rights will encourage participation. When I moved to the UK from Romania, I only found out I could vote as an EU citizen in local elections at the time from someone at university. Over a decade later, as a councillor, I am that person informing some people that they can vote, when they had no idea they were eligible.

The upcoming Elections Bill is an opportunity to have a simpler, fairer and more inclusive system – alongside votes at 16 and automatic voter registration, implementing residence-based voting rights, at least at the local level. If you agree, you can sign our petition asking them to consider the millions of residents who contribute to our society, but cannot vote where they live.

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