Actually, no, not always.
Certainly if its a general election then its only people in the UK and UK citizens abroad who can vote. As is right.
But we’ve had quite a few Tory PM’s who are simply voted in by their party with no public vote. As we know once the party MPs have reduced the candidates down to two then the party members get to vote. Surely this is all UK citizens? Nope. There are some members whose profile we have no means of knowing. They don’t live in the UK, have never been residents or citizens here and have no right to vote in our elections. Astonishingly, since 2018 these foreign members have been permitted to determine who the UK prime minister should be. Anyone. So much for sovereignty.
Does that seem right? Does that make the process vulnerable to outside influence?
So anyone including non U.K. citizens can vote in the party leader ?
Surely this would be open to manipulation form foreign powers ?
I don’t agree with anyone living abroad getting a vote in anything the UK does. They chose to leave, so they vote on things in their new county. Harsh? Probably, but they left.
The whole political system is past it’s sell by date, and it’s up to the common people to change it. There are a lot more of us than them…
This isn’t just about people who have left UK, though.
It includes people who were born in other countries, of any nationality, who have never even been to UK and have no connection with UK.
Providing they pay the £25 a year membership fee, they can join as “Conservatives Abroad” and have the same voting rights within the Conservative Party as UK Conservative party members, which includes electing the Party Leader after they have been members for 3 months.
It’s estimated that about 1% of Conservative Party members are “Conservatives Abroad” - so about 1600? - although the Tories try to keep their numbers shrouded in mystery.
I think it should not be allowed - no UK political party should be allowed to have foreign members who are not UK Residents, in my opinion, and they definitely should not be allowed to vote on matters which shape our UK politics, such as Party Leadership Contests.
While the Tories are in power, with a big majority, they are never going to change the electoral rules if they are benefitting from them.
I was going to suggest that perhaps The Electoral Commission should review this issue - then I remembered the Tories have already taken over control of the Electoral Commission in an unprecedented power grab earlier this year in the Elections Act.
The Tories not only have control over who can vote in their own internal Party votes but the Government can now override the Electoral Commission in decisions about election campaigning and donations - it is now a Government Minister who gets to decide these matters. 
Makes you think the Tories are just the mouth piece of the status quo
Dunnit ?? 
can anyone give a reference for this to be permitted surely it is not just common practice
Details of Conservatives Abroad membership and voting rights is on their website
We need to remember that the only interest all politicians have in their job is to gain power & money. Putin is a fine example of that & I believe that, if labour managed to get back to the UK government they would be no better.
All politicians are liars & think they know what is best for the country & it’s people, and we foolishly think that our vote gives us some say in what happens!
In Russia the Romanov family executed, ending a 300-year imperial dynasty In Yekaterinburg, Russia, Czar Nicholas II and his family are executed by the Bolsheviks, bringing an end to the three-century-old Romanov dynasty.
History has a habit if repeating itself, so when things get really bad for the people it may just happen here, and I can think of one group of people who would want to take over this country!
It happened in Russia just over 100 years ago !
I’m sure I read somewhere that in this round of “Pick Your PM”, 16 year old party members were allowed to vote? Surely this in itself is a breach of protocol, as you can only register to vote when you are 16, but not actually cast your vote until you are 18.
If I’m wrong in that, please feel free to correct me - I can’t link to where I read it, as it was ages ago, but these are the rules here
Let’s list some MPs (recent & current) and see if we think this damning claim is correct in all cases:
Claire Short
Ed Davey
Yvette Cooper
Hilary Benn
David Lammy
Jess Philips
Rory Stewart
Ruth Davidson
Tom Tugendhat
Mhairi Black
I hope its not all true as I still believe some people go into politics to try to make things better for others.
I think all members of the Tory Party can vote in a Party Leadership vote and the minimum age to join as a member is 15, I think.
The Labour Party accepts members aged 14 and above, so they would get to vote for their Labour Party Leader.
The difference between the two parties is that Labour Party membership criteria is that you must be a UK citizen or have lived in UK for at least a year.
Conservative Party membership criteria has no restrictions on nationality or country of residence. It seems that people of any nationality, living anywhere in the world can be voting members.
I was reading about an Italian lawyer, living in Italy, who has never been a UK citizen and has never lived in England but has some business dealings in UK - he voted in the last Leadership election which appointed our new Prime Minister.
That was just one example of someone from another country having a say in who is our PM - no point banging on about UK being Independent, then allowing foreigners to influence our political parties from within!
I don’t agree that is true for ALL politicians.
Some people go into politics to try to improve life for people and work hard for their constituents.
We tend to hear about the politicians who do bad things more often than those who act with integrity and compassion.
I haven’t heard of any politician recently (as in since pre-covid) who has acted with integrity and compassion. I agree with you that this might be their intention when starting out, but once they hit the big time, its everyone for themselves and their friends (in my opinion)
Of the 650 MPs in Westminster Parliament, the national media tend to report on the activities of only the main frontbenchers and the MPs who have done something wrong.
We never hear much about all the other backbenchers, who get on with their work in their constituencies - if they get a mention, it is usually only in the local news of the constituency they represent.
I agree that some do a good job in their constituency, but they are rarely the ones that try to climb the ladder to power. If they did the national newspapers would soon find something they had done wrong!
I have a feeling that we are going the same way as the Russians Twink, each day (even on the forum) we hear more and more anti royalist grumblings, and the media are stirring the pot. And with the passing of our Queen, now might be the time someone might have a go, because I believe they are waiting in the wings.
I believe that most politicians start out to make a difference, but as they move higher up the ladder of importance it seems like they are ‘Got At’ I also really believe that Farage was warned off because he had developed quite a following and was becoming dangerous to the status quo.
He seemed to distance himself from any further activity concerning politics without a suitable explanation.
I remind you of my father’s view that once in position for too long, the vast majority of rulers/politicians develop the ailment of “powerosis”.