Hong Kong students at UK universities could help decide the next British prime minister
Group starts campaign to raise awareness that Hongkongers born before 1997 and studying or working in the UK can cast a ballot for June 8 election
Hong Kong students at universities in Britain are rushing to register to vote ahead of the upcoming UK general election, as the race heats up to decide the country’s next prime minister.
There are an estimated 30,000 Hongkongers studying in UK universities who were born before the 1997 handover, thus making them eligible to vote on June 8.
Clement Ngu, 22, one of the campaign’s coordinators, said most Hongkongers studying in the UK were not aware they were eligible to vote. “We thought we should do something about it,” the third-year politics student at the University of Sheffield said. “It does not matter if your British National Overseas passport is not valid anymore – you can still take it to your local authority and vote if you register.”