Conservatives Abroad have officially launched their smooth new website today, which is hoped will help to engage with the ex-pat community around the world.
200,000 people are leaving Blighty for places like Australia and Spain every year, and the IPPR estimates that ex-pats now account for 10% of all British citizens. They are a huge consituency to tap into.
Few Conservative organisations need to utilise the internet as much as CA, so it's great to see the website has both a members' forum and a blog.
Deputy Editor
This is an excellent initiative and could well tip the balance in some marginal seats.
Greetings from here in Gibraltar, by the way.
http://www.conservatives.gi/
Posted by: Geoff | December 13, 2006 at 17:41
I agree with Geoff above. The new website is a welcome development. And the idea of tapping into the expatriate vote is one the Party should embrace enthusiastically. There are thousands of expatriate Brits in Turkey- most of whom are currently unregistered to vote. We are hoping to form the first Conservatives Abroad in Turkey probably in January. And we will be vigourously tackling the issue of expat voter registration from day 1.
Posted by: GC | December 13, 2006 at 18:56
GC, if we can be of any assistance from here with practical advice about running an effective overseas branch then (without wanting to step on CAbroad's toes) feel free to email me.
Posted by: Geoff | December 13, 2006 at 19:27
Greetings too from Bangkok Thailand where are British Conservatives living and working
Posted by: Pauline Buffham | December 13, 2006 at 20:59
Thank you for your positive comments so far. We feel that the site, along with the branches of Conservatives Abraod, is something we can really develop to help make a difference at the next election
Posted by: conservatives abroad | December 13, 2006 at 23:19
Hello also from Sydney Conservatives Abroad.
If you know anyone in Australia who:
1. Has come to Australia from the UK within the last fifteen years;
2. Is still a UK citizen; and
3. Is enrolled and prepared to vote for us
- then please contact me on the email address attached here. A rough thumbnail estimate suggests we could have 200-250 000 eligible UK voters living in Australia. We have set ourselves some goals and we are hungry to make a differenc to the election.
I'd like to acknowledge the sterling efforts of Lesley Taylor at CCO as well.
Posted by: Alexander Drake | December 13, 2006 at 23:44
I thought non-resident voters were limited as to duration of voting rights
Posted by: TomTom | December 14, 2006 at 07:51
Yes TomTom - fifteen years. See point 1 in my previous post.
Posted by: Alexander Drake | December 14, 2006 at 07:55
For detailed voting rights information visit: www.conservativesabroad.org/vote.php
Posted by: conservatives abroad | December 14, 2006 at 08:09
An excellent initiative.
I suspect that Labour is quite keen to encourage its political opponents to emigrate - and this is a good way of countering that.
Posted by: Sean Fear | December 14, 2006 at 10:29
An excellent initiative. I have my overseas registration paperwork which I had sent to me before I left the UK, but can't actually do anything with it until I find another Brit who will vouch for me. This will help expats do that which is a critical step in the registration process. (I assume that is because they don't trust the natives, which considering how easy it is to fraudulently vote in the UK is a laugh).
And my former UK constituency is one we have to win to form a government.
Posted by: Gildas | December 14, 2006 at 16:14
Any Tories in Berlin and interested in getting something off the ground should no hesitate to email me. I'm interested in getting us started here (many many Brits around), but I'm terribly short on time myself at the moment. So basically any help would be much appreciated.
Posted by: Tim | December 14, 2006 at 17:00
Anybody wanting to set up a branch or need to find someone to countersign their forms should contact us here: www.conservativesabroad.org/getintouch.php
and we will try help you
Posted by: conservatives abroad | December 14, 2006 at 17:10
Hello,
is this forum still active? I just checkd and saw that the last comment had been posted in 2006.
Best,
Klaus
Posted by: Klaus Jurgens | February 28, 2009 at 21:59