Register to vote

You are legally required to register to vote. Registration is on an individual basis, so you can only register yourself.  Anyone else will have to apply on their own behalf.  

You can only vote if you are registered. You can register if:

• you are 16 or over (but you cannot vote until your 18th birthday) AND 
• you are a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen (you have leave to enter or remain in the UK or do not require leave to enter or to remain in the UK) permanently living in the UK, OR 
• certain European Union citizens can register to vote at local government elections and Police and Crime Commissioner elections but not UK Parliamentary elections IF they have 'retained rights' or are a citizen of Denmark, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal or Spain.  'Retained rights' means they have been permanently resident and registered in the UK since before to 31 December 2020

Registration for students

Students may be entitled to register at either or both their home address and their college or university (term time) address. However, you may only vote once at any one contest, only once in any single police area or once to any single local authority election held on the same day, or only once in a UK general election.