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Leigh Turner

Ambassador to Austria and UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Vienna

12th February 2016

#RegisterToVote

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A guest blog by HM Consul Timothy Fisher, British Consulate-General Istanbul

100 years ago my great grandmother was protesting on the streets of London with other Suffragettes campaigning for the right for women to vote in Britain. It was a time when the right to vote was a hot political topic.  A century later, voting remains as important as ever, as the UK prepares for a referendum on membership of the European Union before the end of 2017, possibly as soon as this year.  If you qualify and register, your vote will count.

So what does it take?  If you are a British national who has been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years, you can apply to register online and it only takes a few minutes.  You will need your National Insurance number and date of birth and have your passport to hand if you have one.  You can still register without a national insurance number but you may need to provide some more information to show who you are.

To encourage you to register, the Ambassador in Ankara, Richard Moore and our Istanbul Consul General, Leigh Turner are each offering one lucky registered British national in Turkey an afternoon tea in the splendid Ambassador’s residence in Ankara and in the magnificent Pera House, Istanbul, built as the British Embassy to the Ottoman Empire in 1844.  For a chance of winning, tweet a picture of yourself registering to vote to @HMConsulTurkey before 29th February and I will enter your name in the draw.

My personal view is that voting is a privilege and a responsibility and we owe it to those who campaigned and suffered to get the vote, like my great grandmother, to exercise that right.  So please do register to vote at www.gov.uk/register-to-vote.

Follow Leigh Turner on Twitter @LeighTurnerFCO

9 comments on “#RegisterToVote”

  1. +
    Mr Leigh Turner..
    Consul General and Director…
    General for Trade and Investment.

    How is the perspectives that would be happen all nowadays.
    As you know ;Investors had not to be able to make by a position;too cooperative
    dream which realize the trade teams around investigating.
    Under this causitive macro sighting where to get there if we understand in a nightmare…..
    Regards…..
    Mr J.F.Montagne.
    Byzantium Constantinopole.

  2. I have lived in Istanbul for nearly 30 years now and have always refrained from voting in UK elections as I believe that non-residents should not be choosing constituency MP’s to “represent” them.
    However, the vote to decide whether or not the UK stays in the European parliament will directly affect me and my family so I am disappointed that all UK citizens are not being allowed to cast a vote.

    1. “I’m sorry that you will not be able to vote in the upcoming referendum. As part of the legislative process allowing for the referendum to take place, the extent of the franchise was debated in Parliament. Parliament voted to apply the same franchise as used in UK general elections. This is, of course, disappointing for those people in your position.”

  3. Dear Tim
    Well said… I couldn’t agree more . It is a right but it is definitely a privilege to vote that is still not available to so many especially women globally even today. My grandmother was too young to be a suffragette but remembered the day the right to vote was won in Britain. She believed anything could then be possible as a young women in a rapidly changing world
    We must cherish and use the rights we have as British Citizens.
    Regards to you and your lovely family
    Fond regards and often in our thoughts and prayers,

    Jennifer Hume

    1. “Thank you. Having worked in a number of countries where the right to a free vote was only tenuously held, I am reminded that, for all we might complain about our democracy, it is an important privilege to be able to vote and know that it matters.”

  4. Hi,
    I got British citizenship in 2011 through my mother Mrs Mollie (Kent) Emre. I have a British passport (no insurance number) and I live in Ankara.
    Will I be able to vote?

    1. “If you have not been registered to vote in the UK in the last 15 years, unfortunately you will not be able to register as an overseas voter. There may be exceptions if you are a crown servant, British Council employee or in the armed forces. You can find more information at http://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote“

Comments are closed.

About Leigh Turner

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of…

I hope you find this blog interesting and, where appropriate, entertaining. My role in Vienna covers the relationship between Austria and the UK as well as the diverse work of the UN and other organisations; stories here will reflect that.

About me: I arrived in Vienna in August 2016 for my second posting in this wonderful city, having first served here in the mid-1980s. My previous job was as HM Consul-General and Director-General for Trade and Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and South Caucasus based in Istanbul.

Further back: I grew up in Nigeria, Exeter, Lesotho, Swaziland and Manchester before attending Cambridge University 1976-79. I worked in several government departments before joining the Foreign Office in 1983.

Keen to go to Africa and South America, I’ve had postings in Vienna (twice), Moscow, Bonn, Berlin, Kyiv and Istanbul, plus jobs in London ranging from the EU Budget to the British Overseas Territories.

2002-6 I was lucky enough to spend four years in Berlin running the house, looking after the children (born 1992 and 1994) and doing some writing and journalism.

To return to Vienna as ambassador is a privilege and a pleasure. I hope this blog reflects that.

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