Thursday, April 22, 2010

Gulf-based Brits could decide General Election: April 20th last day for voter registration

The General Election of May 6th could be one of the closest for a generation and Brits based in the Gulf could influence the decision in a number of constituencies,

Heather Harper, Patron of Gulf Tories, says that key constituencies like Hammersmith and Crawley could be enough to decide the result. "In these areas, less than 100 votes each way are predicted to be enough to decide the outcome not only for that constituency but for the election as a whole. As it is estimated that there are perhaps as many as 100,000 eligible British voters in the GCC it is very possible that the result of the British General Election could turn on overseas votes."

Talking about the campaign to get expatriates living in the Gulf region registered to vote, Gulf Tories chairman, Douglas Hansen-Luke, said; “For the last three months this group have been alerting locally-based British citizens of their right to vote and how to go about it.”

Talking about the role expatriates can play in the Conservative plans after the manifesto launch, Philip Dunne, Deputy Chairman of the International Office of the Conservative party, with responsibility for Conservatives Abroad said “British citizens living overseas have a role to play in helping to solve the big problems the UK faces and help change the country for the better.. Living and working overseas, British expats can help promote British services and products, skills, technologies and education around the world. Our expats will only do that if they feel a part of what is going on in Britain today. The Conservative Manifesto invites British expats to get involved.”