§ Mr. Peter Bruinvelsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of foreign nationals resident in the United Kingdom; and what is his estimate of the number of citizens of the Irish Republic resident in the United Kingdom who are registered to vote in the United Kingdom parliamentary and local elections.
§ Mr. MellorIt is estimated from the most recent labour force survey that about 1.1 million foreign nationals, of whom nearly half a million claimed to be citizens of the Irish Republic, and about 0.5 million Commonwealth citizens were usually resident in the United Kingdom in mid-1984. It is not known how many of these Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Irish Republic were on the electoral register as there is no requirement for applicants for electoral registration to state their citizenship-nationality. Other foreign nationals are not entitled to register.