Over 5 million Britons live overseas where their only option for representation is in the constituencies where they last lived. Here their needs and interests are in a tiny minority and the MP has no incentive to represent them.

In 17 other countries, including France, Italy and Portugal overseas citizens have direct representation in Parliament. None of these countries has as many expat citizens as the UK.

On April 28th 2022 the Elections Act received Royal Assent. A key part of the Act was the removal of the restriction on British citizens who have been resident overseas for more than 15 consecutive years from voting in UK elections.

While this is a positive recognition of the need for representation for British citizens living overseas it does not go far enough. MPs For Expats has been set up to campaign for real representation through the creation of constituencies for British residents overseas.

What you can do

Sign our petition on the UK Parliament site

Write to your newspaper of choice

Write to your current MP

Follow us on facebook and twitter

The key facts

  • On average, there were 71,631 people registered to vote in parliamentary elections in each UK constituency in December 2021 1
  • More than 5.5 million people from Britain live overseas and leave the country at a rate of around 2,000 a week2
  • 2 million British expats were excluded from the Brexit vote in 20163
  • Since legislation was passed in 2012 there are eleven seats in the French Parliament for expats4