Running electoral registration - England

The Representation of the People (Franchise Amendment and Eligibility Review) Regulations 2023 updated the franchise for local government and Police and Crime Commissioner elections and  came into effect on 7 May 2024. 

This  means that in order to vote or to stand in local government elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections after this date an EU citizen will be required to be:

• a qualifying EU citizen, or 
• an EU citizen with retained rights

This change will not affect the rights of citizens from Ireland, Malta or Cyprus who are eligible to be registered to vote and stand in all elections in the UK.

Meaning of qualifying EU citizens

A person is a qualifying EU citizen if they:1  

• are a citizen of a country with which the UK has bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty 
• are resident in the UK with any form of leave to remain, or do not require such leave 

Currently the UK holds bilateral treaties with the following countries:

• Denmark
• Luxembourg
• Poland
• Portugal
• Spain

In this guidance we refer to these countries as the EU5. 

Meaning of EU citizens with retained rights

A person is an EU citizen with retained rights if they:2  

• are a citizen of a country with which the UK does not have bilateral Voting and Candidacy Rights (VCR) treaty 
• have been legally resident in the UK since before the UK left the EU on 31/12/2020 (the Implementation Period Completion Date – IPCD)

The member states of the European Union which do not currently have a bilateral VCR treaty with the UK and are not Commonwealth countries are:

In this guidance we refer to these countries as the EU19. 

For more information on the eligibility of EU citizens, as well as information on retained rights and settled (or pre-settled) status, see our guidance Can a citizen from the European Union register to vote? .