From 7 May 2024, following a change to legislation, European Union citizens will only be able to vote or stand as candidates at Local Government elections in England if they are:
- A 'Qualifying EU citizen' – These are citizens from countries with reciprocal agreements (bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights Treaty) who have ‘leave to remain’ in the UK or who do not need ‘leave to remain’ in the UK. These countries are currently Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
- 'EU citizens with retained rights' - EU citizens from any other EU country who have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31 December 2020.
Note: Citizens from Ireland, Malta, or Cyprus are unaffected by these changes and will retain their voting rights in all UK elections while resident in the UK.
If you’re an EU citizen living in the UK, whether you can vote depends on the type of election and your citizenship. The first scheduled elections these changes will apply to in England are the local elections in May 2025.
More information, including a tool EU citizens can use to find out which elections they can vote in, can be found here.
Changes to EU Citizen’s Voting and Candidacy Rights – Frequently asked questions
Eligibility Confirmation Review (ECR)
We wrote to all EU citizens currently registered on the Electoral Register in September 2024 to either:
- confirm that they are being retained on the register following a data-based review as being a qualifying EU citizen or having retained rights; or
- ask EU citizens to confirm if they remain eligible to be registered under the new criteria. Depending upon the response the election either remained on the register or were removed. Anyone who did not respond has been removed from the Electoral Register.
Changes to candidacy rights
Changes to candidacy rights for EU citizens were effective from 7 May 2024. EU citizens elected before this date can remain in office for their full term.
From 7 May 2024, EU citizens wishing to be candidates must have been legally resident in the UK before 31 December 2020, or be from a qualifying EU country, to be eligible to stand and take up office.
New citizenship or a change to nationality
Obtaining a new citizenship or a change of nationality since a person last registered to vote, may affect eligibility to register to vote and vote in some elections. Please contact Electoral Services for more information.
Electoral Services:
Telephone: 01476 406080, ask for elections
Email: elections@southkesteven.gov.uk