Petition details
Campaign to retain the rights of EU citizens to vote in local elections
In the 2018 Tower Hamlets Labour manifesto for the Mayoral and Local Council Elections, current Mayor John Biggs stated:
“We will campaign for the UK government to retain the rights of EU citizens to vote in local elections.”
We, the undersigned, demand that Tower Hamlets Council take
action to fulfill this manifesto promise: To campaign for the UK
government to retain the rights of EU27 citizens to vote in local
elections, and to pass a motion at Tower Hamlets Council to support
this campaign."
On reaching 30 signatures Eligible to present to Council
This Petition ran from 21/09/2018 to 07/11/2018 and has now finished.
108 people signed this Petition.
Council response
Thank you for bringing your petition to the Council. Brexit is
such an important issue and with 111 days to go, its worrying that
we do not have a deal that will pass through Parliament and with a
No Deal Brexit on the horizon I appreciate how nervous all our
residents must be.
As of October 2018, the Government has reached an agreement with
the European Union on citizens’ rights, allowing UK nationals
to stay in EU member states after March 2019. There is, however, no
mention of any agreement on the rights of EU citizens to vote or
stand in local elections in the UK.
According to the Local Government Association (LGA), EU treaty
provisions protecting voting and standing rights would not apply in
the UK post-Brexit and this is consistent with the current draft
Withdrawal Treaty. LGA says councils must understand the rules for
those voting and seeking election next year. The deadline for the
delivery of nomination papers is on 3 April 2019, directly after
Brexit.
In November 2018, Chloe Smith MP (Parliamentary Secretary, Minister
for the Constitution) confirmed in a written response to a
Parliamentary Question that the Government did not anticipate any
changes to the current UK primary legislative framework for
candidacy and voting rights made before the May 2019 English and
Northern Ireland local elections. In the response, Chloe Smith MP
clarified that in order to provide certainty to prospective
candidates, it will be the policy intent of the Government that
candidates who are validly nominated and elected at or before the
May 2019 local elections in England and Northern Ireland should be
able to serve that term or office in full, notwithstanding any
wider changes to voting and candidacy rights in the future.
[https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-10-08/175803]
According to a survey by The Guardian, nearly half of all British
citizens supported an extension of the voting rights of EU nations
in Britain to include a right to vote in general elections after
Brexit[2], with only 10% of the British public supporting removing
the rights after Brexit.
I am clear of our support to ensure our EU residents have a right
to participate in local democracy and will continue to monitor the
ongoing situation around the Brexit deal and make representations
at all levels, including campaigning, to ensure EU residents in
Tower Hamlets have the right to vote and stand locally.
As Labour politicians we have backed extending the right to vote
in general elections to EU nationals.
Yours sincerely,
Mayor John Biggs