![\"Reform](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/a7a00da185a0f5dd7323e10cf0f1cbc6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzcyMTE3NjIy-2.83336648.jpg\")
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Reform UK has unveiled proposals for electoral reform, including a significant restriction on postal voting and the removal of voting rights for Commonwealth citizens.<\/p>\n
Nigel Farage, outlining the party’s plans in the Sunday Telegraph and the Mail on Sunday, asserted that postal voting has turned the UK\u2019s elections into a “laughing stock” and that allowing non-British citizens to vote is “absurd”. Under Reform UK\u2019s proposals, postal voting would be severely limited to the elderly, disabled, serving armed forces personnel, and those working overseas during an election. This contrasts with the current system, which allows any eligible voter to cast their ballot by post.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, the party aims to strip Commonwealth citizens of their right to participate in UK elections. Currently, Commonwealth citizens who qualify as residents can vote in all types of UK elections, a provision Reform UK seeks to abolish.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Reform UK confirmed the changes would not affect Irish citizens, who also have the right to vote in parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n
The policy was born out of Mr Farage\u2019s belief that allowing Commonwealth citizens to vote \u201cundermines national sovereignty\u201d and leads to elections being fought over international rather than domestic issues, Reform UK said.<\/p>\n
In 2012, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated there were around 1.2 million Commonwealth nationals living in the UK.<\/p>\n
Mr Farage said: \u201cFor too long, postal voting has allowed our elections to be turned into a laughing stock, riddled with fraud, intimidation and outright cheating. It\u2019s been allowed to go on for years and has poisoned trust in our democracy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMeanwhile, allowing non-Brits \u2013 people with zero connection to this country \u2013 to vote on our future is absurd. It is right that only British citizens should be able to vote in British parliamentary elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why a Reform government will immediately ban wholesale postal voting and ensure only British citizens can vote in elections in order to bring back trust to British democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
open image in gallery<\/p>\n
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage (front left) and Reform UK\u2019s Gorton and Denton by-election candidate Matt Goodwin (front right) (Danny Lawson\/PA) (PA Wire)<\/p>\n
The announcement comes after Reform UK asked the police to investigate allegations of election fraud in the Gorton and Denton by-election this week.<\/p>\n
Election observer group Democracy Volunteers warned it had witnessed \u201cconcerningly high levels\u201d of \u201cfamily voting\u201d \u2013 an illegal practice where two voters use one polling booth and potentially direct each other on voting.<\/p>\n
Mr Farage promised to take \u201caction\u201d after the next general election if nothing is done about the allegations, adding: \u201cIf this is what was happening at polling stations, just imagine the potential for coercion with postal votes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tory party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said allegations of \u201cfamily voting\u201d taking place in the Gorton and Denton by-election are \u201cdeeply concerning\u201d but branded Reform UK\u2019s plans a \u201cheadline-grabbing\u201d exercise.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cRushing to impose sweeping bans on postal voting is a kneejerk reaction that risks disenfranchising pensioners, disabled people and overseas British citizens who rely on postal ballots to have their say.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must safeguard our elections with proportionate, evidence-based reforms, not headline-grabbing measures that could lock law-abiding voters out of our democratic process.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Reform UK leader has frequently complained about postal voting when his parties have lost by-elections.<\/p>\n
When his former party, Ukip, lost the Oldham West and Royton by-election in 2015, Mr Farage alleged postal votes had been abused, saying the result raised questions about the conduct of elections in constituencies with large ethnic minority communities.<\/p>\n
When his Brexit Party lost the Peterborough by-election in 2019, Farage again criticised the postal vote system.<\/p>\n
The Brexit Party candidate challenged the result in court but later withdrew the challenge and was ordered to pay the winning Labour candidate\u2019s legal costs.<\/p>\n
The latest Electoral Commission data, from 2024, shows no evidence of large-scale election fraud in the UK, with 94% of allegations resolved locally with \u201cwords of advice\u201d, or resulting in the police taking no further action.<\/p>\n
Reform UK MP Richard Tice questioned the validity of postal ballots when his party\u2019s candidate lost the Rochdale by-election in 2024, stressing the result should act as a \u201cserious wake-up call\u201d to the electorate and those in power.<\/p>\n
In none of those cases was postal voting fraud ever proved and none resulted in any convictions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-452008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}