HL Deb 06 June 1990 vol 519 cc1373-4

3.16 p.m.

Lord Stallard asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether children who emigrated to Canada with their parents and have now reached the age of 18 years are eligible to vote in United Kingdom elections.

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, British citizens aged 18 or over who left the United Kingdom before they were old enough to register as electors are now able to do so and to vote at parliamentary and European parliamentary elections here provided that they left less than 20 years ago. A parent or guardian must have been included on the electoral register here at or about the time the young person went abroad.

Lord Stallard

My Lords, I thank the noble Viscount for that Answer. What steps are being taken by the Government to inform those people and the many thousands of others in similar circumstances in other countries of their new status? How will they be registered? How will their votes be cast? What will be the estimated cost of the whole exercise?

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, to answer some of the noble Lord's questions, a publicity campaign is being waged with a total budget of £760,000, of which some £45,000 will be spent in Canada. The noble Lord asked how overseas electors will register. They can fill in and return an application form to the electoral registration officer for the area where they were last registered or where their parents or guardian were last registered. The forms and explanatory leaflets are available from diplomatic and consular posts. They should be completed by 10th October in any year. Overseas electors will vote in the constituency in which they were last registered or where their parents or guardians were last registered. They would vote by proxy.

Baroness Jeger

My Lords, will the noble Viscount explain how young people who were below the age of 18 when they left this country could have been on an electoral register? Secondly, has he an estimate of how many young people are involved? For how many years can they go on voting? Can they continue voting in this country for the rest of their lives?

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, I sought to make it clear that young people who had emigrated with their parents or guardians would register where their parents or guardians had been registered. I believe that I explained that the time limit was 20 years. It is not without limit of time.

Baroness Jeger

My Lords, how many are involved?

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, the estimate is that there are some 2 million to 3 million overseas electors. I am afraid that I cannot give the noble Baroness an estimate of the number of young people included in that figure.

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