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UK voters abroad

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Six years after I lost the right, and became democratically disenfranchised, I can vote again in the country that issues my passport. Watch out, Priti Patel*!

Anyone else found themselves in a similar position? It’s a good thing, right?

* I bet she’s quaking in her stilettos

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/16/britons-living-abroad-regain-right-to-vote-in-uk-elections-as-15-year-rule-ends

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Comments

  1. My assumption is, that along with the revision of constituency boundaries ‘to make populations more level’, it’s an attempt and under-the-radar gerrymandering my the sitting government. I know you visit the lovely Witham regularly to see family, Sal, but I can’t see why anyone who hasn’t set foot in the country for decades and has no intention of living under the control of its powers should get a say in its elections.

    • I’m not sure about gerrymandering, Gatz. My understanding is that a lot of pressure came from UK citizens resident in mainland Europe, particularly those prevented by the 15 year rule from voting in the 2016 referendum, even though they (we) were more affected and probably frequently more knowledgeable than many UK-based voters.

      Rights of expats – It’s an interesting dilemma. Living outside the UK for pretty close on 20 years, do I have enough connection or any legitimate right to vote there? As you say, I do visit the UK several times a year. Is that enough?

      Representation famously goes along with taxation. I may be unusual in that my ‘taxes’ are taken as an offset towards the contribution of the UK to the organization I work for. Post-Brexit, I don’t have any right to vote in Bonn, unless I take up German nationality. Where do my loyalties lie and what is my national identity? Forced to choose, I feel more British than German (though I would claim northern European if that were an option).

      • While I haven’t lived in the UK since 1981, I pay tax on income earned there and am presumably entitled to some say in how my contribution are spent. I certainly follow UK politics pretty avidly.

        That said, I have not registered to vote since leaving and so the only votes I have ever cast were for Labour in the elections of Feb and October 1974.

        My reasons for my non-voting are that because of the FPTP system, my vote has long been effectively null and void.

        During the early years I was working overseas I was on the electoral role in a solidly Labour seat (my first MP was Richard Crossman, one of the Labour greats of the 50s and 60s). More recently, I could have registered to vote in Wokingham, just outside Reading, but didn’t bother because the sitting MP there is the odious John Redwood.

        Having benefitted from freedom of movement, I would have voted Remain in 2016 and given what was at stake, I am gobsmacked by how many younger voters couldn’t be bothered.

        • I think, if the AFD have their way, all bets are off. The circumstances that would bring them to power are scary either way (electorally or non-electorally). I’m hoping that my host country has sufficiently learned from its own history to prevent that (re)occurring, though economic circumstance can lead to extremism, no matter the legal and moral constraints.

          My residency permits arise from employment and marital status and time already spent here pre-Brexit, but both have expiry dates. Renewal is likely, but never certain. There may become a time when I have to bite the bullet and become a (U OK) Hun.

            • I think I was being overly cautious – you just can’t tell for sure in these febrile times. I do have right of permanent residence, I will probably just have to get my permit cards renewed after 10 years.

  2. Means I can vote again in UK. Never have though when living overseas. Why should I help to decide who makes up the government in a place I don’t live? I would have probably voted in the Brexit vote if I could have though

    • Last poll I saw was that despite everything Liz would still win. There is a saying in South Norfolk “Stick a blue rosette on a pig and watch it go to Westminster”. I’m certain if they had the chance they’d vote for Trump.
      Some friends in a small village put a “No to Brexit” poster in their window. To this day very few people talk to them.

    • PP is reputedly a dedicated constituency MP, frequently to be seen in the pages of the Brainless and WItless Times, gladhanding with all sorts of community groups. With a background in PR for big tobacco and the alcohol industry, I am sure she knows how to position herself for maximum benefit.

  5. Given the cynicism of the Tories I assume they’ve done the maths and imagine the majority will be for them. Mine won’t, which will be very satisfying. Still, bit mad that I’ll have the vote in a place I haven’t lived for 20 years but don’t in the place where I’ve lived for those 20 years. However, v nice not to be completely disenfranchised for the first time since the Brexit vote.

    • FPTP suits Labour just as much as it does the Tories.

      Ultimately, anyone who lives in a – for want of a better word – “hardcore”
      Labour or Tory seat and doesn’t vote Labour or Tory is effectively
      disenfranchised.

    • In my case, NI number or passport is needed. But then I would be sent a postal vote to fill in and return, which theoretically anyone could intervene and do on my behalf.

      Voter ID for in-person voting is far more my idea of vote-rigging.

      • The postal vote has to be signed before you send it in and the signature checked against an original signature.
        I worked as election staff for a while and registered for a postal vote because I worked in a different constituency and therefore would have been unable to vote at home.
        I’ve not changed back.

      • No, just a 15 year resident’s visa. Can’t vote in French general elections just local which seems fair to me. We could apply for French Citizenship (several friends have successfully done so) but not sure we’re ready to go through the “In which year did Napoleon die” or “Sing the second verse of La Marseillaise” ordeal.

        • Don’t know about France, but can speak from personal experience of sorting out my wife citizenship here in Ireland. It was a lengthy process that involved having to jump through numerous hoops and pay a few thousand Euros for the privilege

        • The second verse?

          Nothing you can make that can’t be made
          (Love) No one you can save that can’t be saved
          (Love) Nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time
          It’s easy

            • France seems to be a case of a simple fluency test (even simpler if you’re an OAP) , answer a list of “Life in France” questions (politics, history, how to cook beef bourguignon etc) then it’s eighty euros for your passport.
              We’re just lazy immigrant freeloaders who apart from buying a house no Frenchman would ever buy, paying taxes, taking advantage of a world-class health service and drinking copious amounts of superb local wine, add nothing to the French economy.

              • As luck would have it, I am this very afternoon cooking a delish boeuf bourguignon. I’ve always used a recipe very much like that on the BBC Food website, and followed a similar method of preparation. But my method is very different from that given in Elizabeth Davids’s (English language) bible on these matter, French Provincial Cookery, wherein she issues various non-nons as regards my process. She does however also acknowledge, elsewhere in the tome, that there are as many recipes for boeuf bourguignon as there are French Provincial cooks, so how to prepare the dish (which is, after all, essentially just ‘beef with mushrooms and onions’ with a French name) might not really work as a nationality qualifier! And in any case, I make mine in a Dutch Oven.

          • May have mentioned this before, but one Xmas I and my offspring and my Australian wife and her offspring all settled down to do the UK and Oz tests. (We know how to have fun in our family.) We all passed the Oz test and all failed the UK one. 🤪

  8. I’ve been out of the UK for 30 years now and haven’t voted since I left. I had always taken the view that as I’m not resident, I should not influence the running of the country – although being from a safe labour seat in South Manchester (may not be the case now – haven’t checked) it wouldn’t have made a difference.

    I was actually totally unaware of the 15 year rule until fairly recently (it may have been on here that I read it).

    That said, with my elder son now at University in the UK and the younger one probably going this year, I could now argue that I now do have an interest…… may have to think about this.

    • You could argue you have an interest @Chrisf, in your head you may think so.

      Do you honestly believe because you are taking advantage of the UK’s education system you have a say in how this country is run?

      How much Council Tax I pay, Income Tax I pay, How the NHS is run, I think you get my drift. Yours thinking on this is selfish, ignorant and plain stupid.

      • Firstly, I am not taking advantage of the UK education system. Both of my sons are British citizens and so perfectly entitled to be educated in UK Universities (even though, as I have not been resident, I still have to pay ‘overseas rates’ – further showing I am not taking advantage).

        Secondly, if you read my post, I have not voted since I left the UK as I don’t believe that I should. It is only the fact that both sons are potentially going to stay on the UK after University and hence likely that we will spend a significant proportion of the year living there – I think that is enough grounds to say I have an interest and is not being selfish, ignorant or plain stupid.

      • @RayX The whole point of the forum is for discussion, but we draw the line at attacking individuals because of their points of view.

        Please don’t allow your participation into threads to stray into that area

  9. This ruling is a load of bollocks!

    You choose to live abroad and there’s nothing wrong with that, you lose the right to vote in a constituency where you no longer live.

    @salwarpe proclaims “It’s a good thing right”

    No it’s FECKING NOT!

  10. This is more of a grey area than I assumed, when first hearing of this change.
    My immediate reaction was outrage at what I perceived to be a bit of gerrymandering to bolster the chances of the Tories in the forthcoming General Election. I’m pretty sure that’s why they’ve decided to do it at this juncture, but the change does have merit in ways I’d not previously considered, so I suppose I’ll have to support it for Parliamentary elections, which can effect legislation on tax liability. Subject to registration of the fact that you have UK tax liability.

    People living outside the UK who still have UK tax liability should have a say in how much tax they pay and what it’s used for. No taxation without representation is a fundamental principle. My landlady, for instance, has lived in Spain for some years but owns property here, which presumably makes her liable for taxation on her rental income.

    Incidentally, those expats here wishing they could have had a vote in the Brexit Referendum and perhaps stopped our leaving the EU should bear in mind that among those non-residents who did get to vote in 2016, there were a not-inconsiderable proportion who voted, even against their own interests, to leave the EU. There would certainly have been a similar proportion among those who were denied a vote back then.

  11. My views are unchanged.

    If you live abroad you should not be able to have a say in another country’s democratic processes.

    What next? You want to vote in another nations elections because you went there for a holiday. Daft idea isn’t it? Not as daft as this latest Tory shenanigans.

    VOTE OFF!

  12. For many years after moving abroad I had absolutely no interest in voting in UK elections and, rightly or wrongly, justified this position to myself and anyone who asked by disclaiming that “I don’t live there anymore and therefore feel I have no real right to vote”. When I reached the 15 year limit, I just thought “so what”.
    Around 2014 however, over dinner one evening, a friend with a very senior position in the EU parliament asked whether I thought there was a chance the British might actually vote to leave the EU. I realised at that moment that I had never seriously considered this before. Eventually I said “yes, I think it is perfectly possible they might”. If I surprised myself with this realisation, it’s fair to say everybody else at the table was shocked. This was so unfathomable to their liberal, european way of thinking that I think they started to doubted my insider insight into the collective british mind.
    And although I still thought it wouldn’t happen, it made me realise that I had a dog in the fight, but no stick to poke it with.
    We’re all familiar with what happened next.
    Now I find myself again in a similar situation. Since Tuesday I’ve been able to reapply for my voting rights, but where? The last place I lived in London; where I studied; where I was brought up? It all seems so inappropriate and random. “Oh, who needs it” I thought. Yet realistically this country is still able to make decisions that influence my life and the lives of my children, even though I now possess dual citizenship. I guess I’m going to have to bite the bullet and sign on the dotted line, just in case.

      • From a short reading of the FAQs,

        Q. I left the UK in 1995 and I lived at several addresses – Barnsley, Birmingham and Blackpool – before I emigrated. Can I register at any one of them?

        A. You can register either in the last place you were registered to vote or in your last place of residence before you emigrated. You will need to provide evidence to support this in your application. Constituency shopping won’t be allowed.

  13. Basically, I agree with what Gatz wrote at the beginning of this thread. I’ve lived in Sweden for many years and pay no UK tax and this should not have a vote in the general elections.

    But I’m very interested to read about other people’s situations and opinions. There many different factors at play.

    And surely the whole point of this forum is to be able to throw out ideas and not be jumped upon?

    Incidentally, I do think that British citizens living abroad ought to have had a vote in the Brexit referendum as it had such a drastic effect on our lives.

  14. I’ve been abroad since 2002.

    I have family in the UK still, and some small pension funds. I will – hopefully in quite a few years – get some kind of inheritance when my parents carc.

    Should I vote? Probably not. My last constituency was a “weigh the vote” Tory stronghold, so my vote would largely be wasted. I live in one country and already vote in another. Feels a little like spreading my democratic choices a little thin.

    Unfortunately, I think the Government has painted what could be a nuanced picture with a thick brush stroke.

  15. As a general principle, I am not uncomfortable with UK Passport holders voting in UK elections.

    I suppose, if you removed that right based on where someone lives, you’d have to allow non UK passport holders who are living in the UK to vote. And that would be quite difficult to manage and, I would think, quite difficult for some people to consider – foreigners voting in our election.

    You have to pick a principle and stick with it I suspect.

      • I looked that up and it would seem to be true – from this government document. It quotes Clement Atlee:

        “As everybody knows, there are in Britain large numbers of people of Irish
        descent, some born in Eire and some born in this country, and there is a
        continual passage to and for of people who come over to work or to study or
        for pleasure. It would be an extremely difficult thing to decide in every case
        from day to day as to what the exact status was of a person with an Irish
        name, and if we had had to attempt to make all citizens of Eire aliens, it would
        have involved a great expenditure of men and money and a great extension of
        the control of aliens. …
        We therefore came to the conclusion that we should reciprocally decide that
        the people of Eire and the people of Britain should not be foreign to one
        another… I do not pretend that the solution at which we arrived is completely
        logical – very few things in the relationship between these islands have been
        completely logical – but I believe they are practical and I believe that they are
        to our mutual benefit”.

        So, a messy compromise.

        Ireland, despite its large diaspora, does not give voting rights to its own citizens abroad. Back in 2007, David McWilliams, economist and podcaster saw this as a mistake, as it loses out on the perspective and involvement of a large part of its citizenry. The world is interconnected whatever Brexiters and little Englanders might think.

        The connection between the citizens of a country living abroad and their homeland is, in my view, strengthened, by giving them suffrage.

    • I am now a Canadian citizen so can vote in all elections, local, provincial and federal. A friend has been here longer than me but remains UK passport holder only (he would prefer a Welsh one) and has permanent resident status here. I think he should be allowed to vote if he wants to. He can’t currently vote in any elections anywhere (until this change)

  16. Should such a thing ever come into being, a Welsh consulate could surely not be any worse than its British counterpart.

    When I lived in Jeddah in the early 80s, a mate got done for boozing and was offered a choice of three months in clink or 30 lashes in public before he was dragged on to a plane and deported.

    Since the official meting out the lashes has to hold a bulky ceremonial Quran under his arm while doing so, taking the lashes seemed like something a no brainer.

    Not to the junior official the Brit Embassy in Jeddah*.

    Conscious of the bad publicity garnered by UK red tops’ hysterical coverage of “barbaric floggings”, the wet-behind-the-ears diplomat recommended my mate do his porridge.

    The choice of words with which my mate sent the man back to the Embassy was far from diplomatic

    * At that time, the only Brit Embassy whose office wasn’t located in a capital city

      • Lashings were more about public humiliation than punishment (having been able to look inside the jail – two aircons between 50 people – where they incarcerated expats, I’d have gone for the lashes as well. The poor Indians, Pakistanis, Koreans, Filipinos and Yemenis who got banged up had it a million times worse).

        As mentioned above, the amount of welly with which a lasher can dispense each stroke is seriously limited by the hefty ceremonial Quran he has to hold under his right arm (always the right arm in Arab countries) while doing so.

  17. I’m totally happy with UK citizens based abroad being given a vote, on the strict proviso that they spare us the tedious “obviously it’s all gone downhill since I left” subtext chat (regardless of whether or not it happens to be true). They should also be forced to dress as Beefeaters on election day.

  18. Following the wonky logic of some people in this thread, If Brits abroad who pay no UK taxes shouldn’t be entitled to vote in UK elections, then presumably all foreign nationals who are currently working in the UK, even if only temporarily, should be entitled to vote provided they pay the corresponding UK taxes, NI, etc.

    “No taxation without representation” must also mean “if taxation, then representation.” But obviously it doesn’t. I’ve been tax-resident in Spain for 35 years. I’m not allowed to vote in general elections here simply because I’m not a Spanish citizen.

    This isn’t hard. In practically all Western countries, including the UK and the EU member states, it’s citizenship, not tax residency, that determines who has the right to vote in general elections.The 15-year rule that’s just been scrapped was an unjustifiable anomaly, inasmuch as it left me and many thousands of other British citizens globally disenfranchised for several years.

    • Given the regularity with which these excitable Johnny Foreigner types in the Iberian peninsula decide to change government, you’re probably better off not having a vote

    • Citizenship plus taxpayer status is what I favour, not taxpayer status alone. I don’t see why retained citizenship alone should entitle you to vote in UK parliamentary elections if your stake in the UK is minimal at best.

        • That’s a very good point, Archie.

          I suspect that there many people throughout the world who live and work in country where they have no vote.

          Switzerland, for example, was notorious for never allowing guest workers who had been on the Swiss labour force for many years, to stay in the country long enough to achieve residence status and the vote. They were kicked out of the country for a few months every year to prevent them from qualifying!

          Not having the vote was certainly the case for me for years in Sweden until I finally applied for Swedish nationality.

          And of course the fifteen year ruling meant that I was disenfranchised in the UK.
          That didn’t bother me too much as I had no plans to return and it didn’t feel right to vote in a country where I no longer lived.

          Sweden allows dual nationality. Many countries don’t. And renouncing one’s citizenship is not something one does lightly.

          As this Wikipedia article shows, citizenship and dual citizenship are very complicated issues,

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_citizenship

          Some countries are more generous than others, as regards entitlement to citizenship. If, for example, you happen to be born on a plane which is flying over US airspace you are, I believe, entitled to US citizenship.

          And if you are born on a Ryan Air flight anywhere in the world, I believe the benefits are extremely generous.

          Back to Archie’s situation. Logically you might think that if a person has been living and paying tax in a country for many years, they ought to be entitled to a vote in the general election. Nope! That’s not how it works, as far as I know.

          Are there any countries where this is the case?

          Maybe a few banana republics or tax havens?

          You would be amazed at how restrictive most countries are about enfranchising non-natives!

          Once again, the USA goes its own way. You can buy a raffle ticket, and if you are lucky, you can win a Green Card.

          Hilarious! The Swedish Board of Immigration would go ballistic if anyone proposed that here.

          • @Kaisfatdad

            In Switzerland there can be generations of e.g. Italians who never became Swiss. Born there, speak the lingo, have permanent residence but can’t vote (or do jury duty).

            I have met Irish people in New York (normally working in bars), with strong Irish accents, but they are US citizens as their mother came to the US for their birth, staying with close or distant relatives and paying for the privilege of using the local hospital.

            • Thanks @Dai. Two countries there with widely different approaches. I suspect that even if one of those Italians gave birth in Switzerland the child would not be entitled to Swiss nationality.

              There is a lot of “birth tourism” to the USA.

              “Each year, the United States become birthplace of 33,000 babies while their mothers visit the country as tourists — on top of hundreds of thousands more born by women on temporary visas and illegal aliens.”

              This site describes the legal issues:

              https://www.lawsb.com/giving-birth-in-usa-on-tourist-visa/

              The wikipedia page on birth tourism is worth a look.

              https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birth_tourism

              “No European country presently grants unconditional birthright citizenship except Finland; however, most countries in the Americas, e.g., the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil do so. In Africa, Chad, Lesotho and Tanzania grant unconditional birthright citizenship,[citation needed] as do some in the Asian-Pacific region including Fiji, Pakistan, and Tuvalu.[”

              Finland! That was surprising.

          • I’m not a citizen of NZ, I’m a Permanent Resident. That process was pretty straightforward really and I have voted in many NZ elections – so that’s the opposite of what you are saying, KFD. Unless you are calling NZ a banana republic or a tax haven…(no and hell, no).

            I am considering voting in the next UK GE because what happens there affects my family and friends. It is vital to dismiss the current Government.

  20. My 2d worth: I have permanent residency in Oz but no voting rights – probably a good thing since I have completely failed to get my head round the Oz electoral system. FPTP it ain’t.

    My only passport is British. All the tax I pay, which isn’t much, I pay in the UK (including council tax). Because of 14 years of accumulated rage and disgust I will definitely vote in the next GE, whether or not I’m there, even though it may be pointless in my constituency. Postal voting is too unreliable at this distance, so I’ll ask my lovely UK neighbour to be my proxy.

    Sorry to sound like our many-headed angry friend, but if people disapprove, tough.

    • Even though I haven’t paid any taxes in the UK for 35 years, I did invest money in the British state throughout my twenties by paying in all my NI contributions. I’ll soon be entitled to recover some of that investment in the form a small pension when I retire, so the pensions policy that will be followed by any new government is very much a matter I think I’m entitled to have a say in.

      Nurse!

      • Something I am following with great interest. Have you topped up your NI contributions for missing years? You can fill her boots until April 2025. I am waiting 5o hear how much I need to contribute for each missing year, hope is I can get close to a full UK pension

          • No, I’m not bothering topping up in the UK, because Spanish pensions are much more generous than UK ones (a full one here is about 85% of your average salary over the last 15 years). Instead, I’m having my UK years added to my Spanish years. The total will then be divided proportionally between the two systems, and each will pay me the corresponding proportion of their respective full pension. Er, if that makes sense (I’m not sure even I understand it fully).

            • OK, my state pension portion is going to be made up of bits of Swiss (good), Canada (similar to UK) and the UK one, I need as much as I can get.

      • I carried on paying NI until I was made redundant a couple of years ago, when I was way past pensionable age, obvs. So I get the full pension, which is nice. Something else that’s nice is the reciprocal arrangement between the NHS and Medicare here, which means that any state-funded stuff, eg doc appts, x-rays etc, are either free or subject to a chunky rebate.

  21. I have 2 passport dual nationality. I lived more than 50 years in the UK. I didn’t have much luck getting my choice of candidate elected apart from in Croydon in 97 when the seat turned Labour. That was joyous. I have a UK proxy but Wantage will always be Tory so why bother. I feel dual and I have the right so I go both ways. Sweden is proportional rep so you get several choices. Nice to try both systems.

  22. The wikipedia article on universal suffrage is an interesting read, particularly the country by country overview.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_suffrage#:~:text=Universal%20suffrage%20(or%20franchise)%20ensures,person%2C%20one%20vote%22%20principle.

    New Zealand was the first country in the word with universal suffrage. (Finland was second.)

    “With the extension of voting rights to women in 1893, the self-governing British colony became one of the first permanently constituted jurisdictions in the world to grant universal adult suffrage,[30] suffrage previously having been universal for Māori men over 21 from 1867, and for white men from 1879.[79] Plural voting (impacting men) was abolished in 1889. Some adult prison inmates are denied the right to vote.”

  23. I am glad to get my vote back although I will probably rely on a proxy rather than trust a postal vote from Japan ( where I have no vote at all, but then the LDP win everything anyway). I am aware that reactions to the law cut across party lines and some left wingers I know are unhappy about this, and concede that FPTP is not ideal for remote voting, but I consider suffrage a measure of modern citizenship.

  24. A word of warning to people based overseas looking for advice on UK pensions. Avoid those companies who promise to look into this stuff for “free”. They will be looking to “unlock” your UK pension and transfer it to a shit, high cost investment product and will be paid a hefty chunk of the transfer in commission. They don’t seriously check whether it’s in your best interests to transfer. Worse than that, if it turns out doing that was a bad thing, your non-UK adviser will run a mile and there’s not a lot you can do about it.

    Get info from Govt websites or media articles. Or go through a financial adviser that is regulated by UK financial advice legislation.

    Why is this an issue? Well…people who are in state-backed occupational pension schemes like the Civil Service, the NHS or the Police generally have a very good pension. Particularly if the service is long and they first started their career pre-80s. These pension schemes are enormously resilient and have inbuilt government-backed guarantees. If you transfer to an investment product in NZ (say) you are now hoping it’s going to be OK. If that provider goes under, then so do you.

  25. I became a pensioner about a year ago and before the Swedish Pension Service decided how much I would be payed I had a long phone interview with a lady who worked there who went through my entire working life with me.

    Even though I first left the UK at the age of 28 or so to work for a Danish travel company, Tjaereborg, she was convinced I would have the right to a certain UK pension. And got my permission to write to the UK Pensions Authority on my behalf.

    She was right, bless her! I now receive 300 pounds a month from the UK. And that makes quite a difference. I could buy the latest Joni Mitchell deluxe boxset or some Dick’s Picks,.

    Mrs KFD is so boring! She insists that I use it to buy food for the family rather than that exclusive De Luxe Gold Plated Re-issue of Trout Mask Replica!

    • You should hold out on that gold-plated reissue.
      There’s a diamond-studded one coming next year.
      With a live trout and instructions to make your own mask.

      • I knew that I could rely on you for jazz recommendations @Mike_H. I now realise that you are also an expert on all matters Beafheartian. So next time I want to splash out on some arcane Troutmask rarities, you’ll be the one I consult!

        I suspect that there are all manner of esoteric, exotic treats out there just waiting to be discovered. Zoothorn Rollo, the Mascara Snake, Winged Eel Fingerling, Rockette Morton and Drumbo have not been forgotten.

    • Although the image I often have of the retired Costa Del Sol-dwelling, red-faced/leather-skinned, Daily Mail-reading expat seems quite prevalent in the popular imagination, of the (gov. stats) estimated 3.5 million UK citizens abroad eligible to vote, a 2015 survey available from the OECD would suggest only 23% of that total are 55+ years old.

      The most popular destination country appears to be Australia. I wonder what proportion of them are disgruntled medics?

    • But isn’t the Triple Lock inapplicable to the majority of expat pensioners?
      Don’t a lot of them who retired abroad still only get whatever the pension rate was when they left the UK. With no parity with current rates unless their host country has a reciprocal arrangement with the UK?
      ISTR a discussion on this in a much earlier AW thread.

  27. The UK pension is one of the most miserly in Europe.

    While I doubt the leathery faced expats in the Costa del Crime need the £780 or so a month the govt doles out,
    there are loads of OAPs in the UK who have nothing else to get by on.

    They not only need the protection that Triple Lock offers them but thoroughly deserve it.

    That said, with ‘baby boomers’ now reaching or having passed retirement age, the time is coming
    when the UK and any other country offering a state pension is going to face huge problems in
    finding the funds to bankroll it

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