About BOVF
What we have done so far
A selected timeline. The Forum was founded in 2023 and has been meeting parliamentarians since autumn 2024.
May 2026
Early Day Motion on family reunification
BOVF supported an Early Day Motion on family reunification, reflecting the Forum’s work on the minimum income requirement and the evidential rules that defeat applications on technicalities.
April 2026
BOVF-inspired amendments debated at Committee Stage
Amendments reflecting our proposals were tabled by Martin Wrigley MP and debated during Committee Stage of the Representation of the People Bill. The government voted down a proposed study; the Bill continues through Parliament.
January 2026
20-country report on voting reform published
“Recommendations for the United Kingdom to enable voters living overseas to fully and properly participate in national elections” — benchmarking 20 countries and recommending embassy ballot return via diplomatic bag and downloadable ballot papers.
November 2025
Times Higher Education discussion on expat student fees
BOVF took part in a Times Higher Education discussion on the fee status of students from expatriate British families, reaching a sector audience that had largely not encountered the issue.
October 2025
Meetings with Martin Wrigley MP and James MacCleary MP
Discussions that led directly to the amendments tabled during Committee Stage of the Representation of the People Bill the following spring.
September 2025
First European meeting in Milan; three branches launched
BOVF’s first meeting in Europe, and the launch of branches for Italy, Australia and New Zealand — extending a network that had until then been concentrated in Asia.
July 2025
Second APPG on Citizens’ Rights
A second appearance at the APPG, taking the pattern of concerns gathered across our branch network into a cross-party parliamentary forum.
June 2025
Taipei event with BritCham, and talks in Cambodia and Pattaya
Our first collaboration with a chamber of commerce, alongside community talks in Phnom Penh and Pattaya focused on frozen pensions and on registering people on the day.
March–April 2025
Second round of MP meetings, and Unlock Democracy
Meetings with Jack Rankin, Chris Hinchliff, Ian Sollom and Manuela Perteghella, and with Tom Brake of Unlock Democracy to discuss where overseas voters fit within the wider democratic reform agenda.
February 2025
Survey press release on the awareness gap
We published survey findings showing that most British citizens overseas were unaware the 15-year rule had been abolished and that they could vote again.
January 2025
Inaugural APPG on Citizens’ Rights
BOVF attended the first meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Citizens’ Rights, establishing a standing cross-party forum for the concerns of British citizens abroad.
September–December 2024
First round of MP meetings
Meetings with Chris Hinchliff, Joe Powell, Sir Roger Gale, Jack Rankin and John Cooper — the beginning of the Forum’s direct engagement with parliamentarians, deliberately across parties.
A note on how to read this
None of the above is a change in the law. What it represents is a set of proposals moving from nowhere to the floor of a Commons committee in under two years, with the government obliged to respond on the record. That is the stage we are at, and we would rather say so plainly than overstate it.