To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have, if any, to allow prisoners to vote in (1) parliamentary, and (2) other elections; what assessment they have made of the case for allowing prisoners to vote in such elections; and whether they plan to publish the results of such an assessment.
Answered on
13 July 2022
It is the Government's long-established position that when someone commits a crime, which is sufficiently serious to receive a prison sentence, they are deemed to have broken their contract with society to such an extent that they should not have the right to vote until they are ready to be back in the community. We have maintained that position for all elections that fall within the UK Parliament's competence.
This position was clearly set out in the Government's 2019 manifesto, which stated: 'We will maintain the ban on prisoners voting from jail'.