Commonwealth Team observe UK General Election

The RCS and Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK worked in partnership to bring a Commonwealth Observation Team to the UK General Election.

In their final report, the team of Commonwealth Election Observers said that the UK electoral system is "not corrupted, but certainly corruptible".

Download the Commonwealth Election Observers' Final Report Icon: Acrobat PDFhere or a Summary version Icon: Acrobat PDFhere

Read our press release about the launch of the reportIcon: Acrobat PDFhere

The 11 Observers, all from Commonwealth countries, included young Parliamentarians and civil society democracy activists. Their arrival in the UK on Sunday 2nd May marked the first time that a Commonwealth team had observed elections in a developed country. The Observers also took advantage of a recent change in UK law which allowed them into polling stations for the very first time.

The aims of the Observation Team were to:

 gain insight into the electoral processes of the UK
 share lessons from their own countries
 make recommendations for improvement

Their programme included:

 briefings from key political organisations
 several days shadowing prospective candidates in constituencies around England and Scotland
 observing polling stations and the count
 submitting a final report

Dr Dhananjayan Sriskandarajah, Director of the RCS said...

Andrew Tuggey, Secretary of CPA UK said...

For Observer profiles, video blogs and quotes, click on the left hand menu links. Download our Press Release about the arrival of the Observation teamIcon: Acrobat PDFhere.

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