More UK-born residents able to vote in elections there after law change

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

British and eligible Irish citizens who have been living here for more than 15 years are now eligible to vote in the upcoming UK general election.

A new law means that a previous time limit has been removed.

Brits living overseas can go online to register to vote in the UK no matter how long ago they left. They can register online at www.gov.uk/registertovote and will need to confirm their personal information every three years.

Census 2018 data shows about 1400 Gisborne residents were born in the United Kingdom and Ireland. More than 800 of these have become eligible to vote under the law change.

“Hundreds of thousands of Brits live in New Zealand — it’s important for them to be aware that they will be able to cast a ballot at the next UK general election,” British High Commissioner to New Zealand Iona Thomas said.

Applicants will need to provide details of the address and time they were last registered or resident in the UK, and local authorities must be able to verify an applicant’s identity and past connection to the area.

Stats NZ figures show 271,000 UK-born people now call New Zealand home.

According to the Financial Times’ general election poll tracker, Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party are in the driving seat with an average 44.3 percent of the vote in election polling.

Rishi Sunak’s ruling Conservative Party is on 24.9 percent, with the recently formed Reform Party (formerly the Brexit Party, founded by Nigel Farage) now led by multi-millionaire Richard Tice, on 9.6 percent.

The Liberal Democrats are on 9.5 percent and the Green Party is on 6 percent.

The UK uses the First Past the Post system, where the party with the most votes wins. It must, however, still be able to hold a majority in the House of Commons to avoid a hung Parliament.

The election is expected to be held sometime in the second half of this year.