Tory members of the European Parliament have complained that letting EU citizens vote in UK elections after Brexit will hurt their party in the polls.



In WhatsApp messages seen by BuzzFeed News, they said the idea was “madness” and warned the Tories “won’t win any votes from the new arrivals from the EU”.

In a message to the Conservative MEPs’ WhatsApp group last night, senior Brexiteer Daniel Hannan claimed he had seen an extract of the draft withdrawal agreement with the EU.

Hannan said that the government had agreed to enfranchise all EU citizens in the UK in a blanket deal, writing: “For what it’s worth, it will also significantly bolster the non-Tory electorate”.

At present EU citizens can vote in local elections in the UK, but most cannot vote in general elections, with the exception of nationals from Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus.

The prospect of giving EU citizens the vote in UK general elections after Brexit angered Leave-supporting MEPs who feared they would vote for other parties.

David Campbell Bannerman, a former UKIP MEP who defected to the Tories, replied: “It’s madness Dan - are we intent on damaging our own party’s vote?”

Amjad Bashir, another former UKIP defector to the Tories, said: “I think the party is pressing the self-destruct button. We’ve already lost the commonwealth vote and won’t win any votes from the new arrivals from the EU.”

John Flack commented that giving EU citizens the vote in national elections or referendums would be “madness”, asking: “Will Brits in Spain and France be able to vote in their national elections? I very much doubt it. Seems like yet another one sided give away.”

But Remain-supporting MEP Charles Tannock backed the plan, writing: “I suspect this sweetener has been added by HMG as part of the deal in order to secure onward movement for Brits in EU.”

He added: “I’m obviously delighted EU citizens can keep their voting rights as stripping such rights in the UK is normally only imposed as a sanction for serious criminals.”

Labour and the Lib Dems said the Tories were right to be worried about their popularity with EU nationals.