Tag Archives: lib dems abroad

George Cunningham

The Overseas Vote: Please encourage your British family and friends abroad this weekend to register!

By George Cunningham | Fri 14th June 2024 - 1:00 pm

An additional 2.1 million Brits abroad will be eligible to vote at the General Election on 4th July, but many still don’t know about their new rights. There’s just five days left to get the word out and have them register, as registration closes on Tuesday at 23.59hrs UK time, whether at home or abroad.

The abolition of the 15-year rule – which had previously stopped the right to vote for any Brit who has been out of the country for longer than that – means that all British citizens abroad of voting age who have ever lived in the UK have their right to vote restored since January this year for general elections and some referendums.

This has more than doubled the number of eligible British voters abroad from approximately 1.4 million to about 3.5 million, a sizeable increase!

Please take action – send your family and friends abroad an email straight away or give them a call. They should go online this weekend and register at https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote if they have not done so already. They will be registered to vote at their last constituency address they lived in.

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George Cunningham

Lib Dems Abroad urge overseas voters to register for the General Election

By George Cunningham | Sun 14th January 2024 - 8:55 am

Tuesday, 16th January heralds big increase in eligible overseas voters – let’s ensure it makes a difference in key Lib Dem marginals

With a crucial UK General Election on the horizon this year, Liberal Democrats Abroad (LDA) are urging millions of Brits living overseas to make sure they register to vote so they can exercise their full democratic rights.

Up to now, British citizens living overseas have only been able to vote in UK elections if they had lived in the UK in the previous 15 years and had been registered to vote. But on Tuesday 16 January, all that changes as 2.1 more million UK citizens are now eligible to vote, bringing the total number of Brits abroad eligible to vote to about 3.5 million. That’s an eligible electorate almost the size of Scotland’s.

Please tell your family and friends abroad to register to vote, or to renew their registrations from 16th January 2024 here.  

Lib Dems Abroad – made up of Lib Dems in Europe, Lib Dems in France andLib Dems Overseas Local Parties – are spearheading this effort on behalf of the party which will then evolve into the General Election campaign which will be waged by the party for the first time across the globe. 

In line with party policy, we will be working closely with local parties, especially our target seats. We have created the Overseas Voter Hub – for local parties where we will be putting up information useful for their campaign teams; register for access on this page. You are most welcome already to book a briefing online there to find out more. We will also be present at our 2024 Spring conference, where we’ll have a stand and hope to run a training session. Come and find out how we can help you welcome your new overseas voters !

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George Cunningham

Making Putin Pay

By George Cunningham | Sun 24th April 2022 - 11:55 am

This week, G7 finance ministers said that they – together with the international community – will be helping Ukraine to the tune of more than US$ 24 billion this year and beyond. And the door is open for more.

However, this is just a drop in the ocean of blood and destruction in Ukraine. Already three weeks into Russia’s invasion, President Zelenskyy had estimated that Ukraine had suffered half a trillion US dollars’ worth of damage to housing and infrastructure, let alone the ongoing cruel cost of human suffering and death.

Western countries are reported to have frozen at least half of the Russian Central Bank’s estimated US$ 600 billion of foreign currency reserves which are in their possession. Rather than help its own people have better lives, Russia is said to have been gradually putting aside such a colossal sum since Crimea’s 2014 annexation to have a handy “fortress Russia” war chest. They are now experiencing serious difficulties, as much of that prop is no longer available to them.

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George Cunningham

Lib Dems Abroad about to join the party’s campaigning mainstream

By George Cunningham | Sun 27th February 2022 - 7:55 am

This week, I was pleased to join forces with our Lib Dem Peers at the second reading of the Elections Bill at the House of Lords.

For us at Lib Dems Abroad, the Elections Bill is a gamechanger that will bring us into the campaigning mainstream of the party.

A huge 8% of all Brits are living outside the UK. The likely abolition of the 15-year rule will allow all Brits abroad of voting age the right to register and vote at the next UK General Election.

Our members, led by the three “local” party chairs – Lib Dems in Europe (Tom McAdam), France (Jenny Shorten) and Overseas (Mark Iliffe) – and myself, will fly the flag for the party by organising an extensive voter registration campaign for British citizens across the world once the law is implemented and the government’s own campaign has started.

Brits living abroad will need to be included in the party’s manifesto for the first time (previous Lib Dem manifestos had already supported the abolition of the 15-year rule and overseas constituencies).

Then, of course, Lib Dems Abroad will work in partnership with UK local parties to coordinate the party’s campaign for the overseas vote at the next UK General Election in 2-3 years’ time, groundwork for which will start shortly.

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George Cunningham

Lib Dems Abroad about to join the party’s campaigning mainstream

By George Cunningham | Thu 24th February 2022 - 4:18 pm

Yesterday, I was pleased to join forces with our Lib Dem Peers at the second reading of the Elections Bill at the House of Lords.

For us at Lib Dems Abroad, the Elections Bill is a gamechanger that will bring us into the campaigning mainstream of the party.

A huge 8% of all Brits are living outside the UK. The likely abolition of the 15-year rule will allow all Brits abroad of voting age the right to register and vote at the next UK General Election.

Our members, led by the three “local” party chairs – Lib Dems in Europe (Tom McAdam), France (Jenny Shorten) and Overseas (Mark Iliffe) – and myself, will fly the flag for the party by organising an extensive voter registration campaign for British citizens across the world once the law is implemented and the government’s own campaign has started.

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Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged | 5 Comments
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