Commonwealth Team To Observe UK General Election

Commonwealth Team To Observe UK General Election

The Royal Commonwealth Society and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK are delighted to announce the impending arrival of their Observation Team to the UK General Election. 11 Observers, all from Commonwealth countries, will arrive in the UK on Sunday 2nd May.

This is the first time that a Commonwealth team has observed elections in a developed country. The observers will be taking advantage of a recent change in UK law which will allow them into polling stations for the very first time.

The 11 Observers will include young Parliamentarians from 7 Commonwealth countries, plus 4 civil society democracy delegates. (See below for more details.)

The Observation Team will:

gain insight into the electoral processes of the UK

share lessons from their own countries

make recommendations for improvement

The participants will be in the UK from Sunday 2 May until Sunday 9 May. Their programme will include:

briefings from key political organisations

several days shadowing prospective candidates in constituencies around England and Scotland

observing polling stations and the count

submitting a final report

Dr Danny Sriskandarajah, Director of the RCS said: “For far too long, election observation has been a one-way street. Given how much effort has gone into designing strong democratic systems and electoral processes in many developing Commonwealth countries, Britain has much to learn from the rest of the world. I hope our Observers will contribute to and inform the debate on electoral reform in the UK.”

Andrew Tuggey, Secretary of CPA UK said: “This innovative project is most welcome – and overdue. It will give Commonwealth MPs a detailed and practical insight into how their colleagues in the House of Commons are elected, during what promises to be a most exciting political contest. Their views and those from the civil society delegates will inform CPA UK’s important work on strengthening parliamentary democracy”.

ENDS

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