European elections: different results for EU citizens in UK
EU citizens in the UK took a different position to people in the respective countries when voting in the European Parliament election last weekend.
At the EU level, conservative parties came out as the winners together with the far-right, which made significant gains in France and other EU member states.
French citizens in the UK, however, made radically different choices, and contrasting views were recorded for other nationalities too.
As the modalities of the vote are decided at the country level, data about turnout and voting preferences of EU citizens in the UK are not available for all EU nationalities, but this is what we know so far.
France
In France, the far-right National Rally (Rassemblement national) obtained a resounding victory with 31.3% of the votes. The liberal party of Emmanuel Macron, Renaissance, received just 14.6% of the preferences, which led the President to call for snap parliamentary elections.
The two biggest parties were followed by the Socialists (13.8%), the left’s France Insoumise (9,9%), the conservative Les Républicains (7.3%) and the Greens (5.5%).
French citizens in England, however, voted in large proportion for the list of President Macron (28.8%), followed by the Socialists (21.9%), the Greens (14.5%), France Insoumise (10.5%) and Les Républicains (8,1%). The Rassemblement National received only 3.5% of the votes and the far-right groups combined obtained 9%.
For French citizens in Scotland the results were even different, with most votes going to the Greens (24.5%), followed by the Socialists (22.2%), Renaissance (17%) and France Insoumise (14.9%). The Rassemblement National obtained 2.3% and the far-right combined 5% of the votes, according to data published by French Morning London.
Among French citizens abroad, Renaissance was the largest party (21.9%), followed by the Socialists (18.7%) and France Insoumise (13.8%), while the Rassemblement National obtained 8.3% of the votes.
Poland
Polish citizens in Great Britain, like compatriots at home, supported the Civic Coalition of Prime Minister Donald Tusk with 40% of the votes. But far-right anti-migrant party Konfederacja came second (20.7%), while in Poland it obtained 12%.
The Law and Justice party (PiS), which obtained 36% of the preferences in Poland, was third for Poles in the UK (17%), with the Left (15.7%) and Third Way (5.1%) following. The Polexit party, which calls for Poland’s withdrawal from the EU, was supported by less than 1% of voters in the UK, writes Londynek.
Portugal
For Portuguese citizens in the UK, the winner was the Socialist Party, followed by the Democratic Alliance (AD). This mirrors the results in Portugal, but none of these parties reached 20%, while at home they were both above 30%.
Italians in the EU
Italians in the UK could only vote by returning to Italy because under national rules, in the European elections citizens abroad can cast their ballot at consulates only if they live in other EU member states.
While there are no data about Italian voters from the UK, those who could vote in Europe chose primarily the Democratic Party (30%), followed by Brothers of Italy, the party of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni (19%), and the Greens (17%). All the other parties were below 10%. In Italy, Meloni’s party obtained 28% of the votes and the Democratic Party 24%. Only 7% of Italians abroad eligible to vote cast their ballot.
Low turnout
Although EU citizens in the UK showed high interest for the European elections in a survey carried out last year, the participation these elections was low.
Only 25,397 Poles registered to vote and 21,983 voted, compared to over 160,000 who took part in the national elections last year. About 680,000 Polish citizens live in the UK.
Among the 180,000 members of the Portuguese community, only 2,619 voted at the consulates in London and Manchester.
Among French nationals in England and Northern Ireland, the participation was 19% (23,123 out of 121,170 registered), an increase compared to 12% in 2019, but EU citizens could also choose to vote for a British candidate then. In Scotland, the turnout was 28%.
The Romanian Embassy said that 31,212 nationals voted in the European elections from the UK, “the largest turnout of the Romanian diaspora in Western Europe”, but a small proportion of an estimated population of over half a million.
Across the EU, around 11 million EU citizens living in another member states were eligible to vote. Their turnout has traditionally been low.
“Their registration in host countries was hampered by language barriers, as for instance in Croatia, and early deadlines, for instance up to five months in Spain,” said civil society group Election-Watch.EU.
The overall participation in the 2024 European elections was 51%, similar to 2019.
Claudia Delpero, Europe Street News © all rights reserved
Photo: Philippe Stirnweiss © European Union 2024 – Source : EP
This article is published in cooperation with El Ibérico, French Morning London, Londra Italia, Londynek and Ziarul Românesc as part of a public information project about the European elections funded by the European Parliament office in London.
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