The junior party in Britain's ruling coalition is chasing expat votes in Hong Kong after setting up its first ever overseas branch.
The Liberal Democrats Abroad Hong Kong group already had 10 members and was hoping to motivate up to 10,000 expats to take part in a referendum on Britain's voting system, chairman Tom Hope said.
'The Liberal Democrats have always been squeezed out by the 'first-past-the-post' [electoral] system so it's timely that the Hong Kong branch is setting up now and we can let people know it's not too late to register to vote in the UK,' Hope said.
British citizens are able to vote for up to 15 years after leaving the country, a fact many are unaware of, according to Hope.
'I think there are at least 10,000 people, probably more, who are here on short-term contracts,' he said.
However, the deadline for British expatriates to register to vote in the May 5 referendum is April 14, so the branch has less than three weeks to reach out to thousands of potential supporters in Hong Kong.
