Voting if you live abroad - Votes for Life

The 15-year residence limit for British citizens living overseas has now been removed. This means that any British citizen living abroad who has previously lived in or been registered to vote in the UK now has the right to vote at UK Parliamentary elections — regardless of when they left the UK.

Voting by proxy

Voting by proxy allows you to appoint someone to vote on your behalf.

The person you appoint as proxy must be:

over 18 years old
registered to vote in the UK
eligible to vote at the election or referendum that you're appointing them for
able to travel to your allocated polling station in Lambeth, unless they apply to vote by post as proxy - when elections take place, you can find out where your polling station is
in possession of a valid form of photographic ID.

A person can only be appointed as a proxy for up to 4 electors, of which no more than 2 can be based in the UK.

The quickest way to apply to vote by proxy is online through GOV.UK.

Apply for a proxy vote

You’ll need to provide your National Insurance number, as well as submit a photograph of your signature. If you do not have a National Insurance number, you can provide a different kind of evidence of your identity.

Get a paper proxy voting application form sent to you

If you cannot apply online, you can ask for a paper proxy voting application form to be sent to you. We’ll send a freepost reply envelope for you to return your completed form in.