Poland's Thatcherite disciples?

To Kraków yesterday for the annual conference of Conservatives Abroad, which attracted British expats from around the world all of whom supported the Conservative party in the UK.

They came from the Middle East and America, Germany, Benelux and of course Poland, but mostly from Spain and France, where the largest numbers of British expats are to be found (mainly retired and well-off I might add). There are over three million British citizens living outside the UK (more than 5% of the population)* and the majority are natural Conservative voters, socially conservative but economically liberal.

The biggest single political issue for this group (into which I count myself) is our inability to vote in UK parliamentary elections. Poles (and indeed most other nationalities) have it much easier. If you are, say, a Polish citizen living in London when a parliamentary or presidential election is called, you merely need to register at the Polish embassy or at your nearest consulate, and then turn up to vote there. British expats need to fill in either a proxy vote form or apply to vote in a postal ballot. Their votes go to the constituency in which they last voted.

The Conservatives Abroad conference moved that the UK system be changed to one whereby British citizens resident in a foreign country can vote directly at their embassy. This would certainly get me to vote (the current system is far too bureaucratic and inconvenient).

Despite having lived in Poland for over 13 years, I have a close bond with the UK, having family and friends there. I have an stake in the British economy, with a London house, and my company and state pension one day coming from there. So the right to vote is important to me.

Had I been able to do so, I would have voted Conservative in the May elections, though the system of expat votes going to the last UK constituency they voted in would have meant my vote going into Ealing North, which in any case was won by Labour with an increased majority.

The Conservatives Abroad conference was also notable for the presence of MEP Michał Kamiński from Law and Justice (PiS). Mr Kamiński (below) is the chairman of the European Conservatives and Reformists grouping in the European Parliament.

And here's my problem. The Conservative party is a member of this grouping along with PiS. Although I could not find anything to disagree with at all with what Mr Kamiński had to say last night (nor indeed his fellow PiS MEP Adam Bielan who I had the pleasure of sitting next to at dinner), PiS as run by Jarosław Kaczyński is way, way off the spectrum when it comes to my own political tastes, for reasons I explained here.

* See graph at bottom of this page. There are more British citizens living abroad than citizens of any other OECD country!