Scottish Government to introduce bill to allow immigrants with temporary British status to stand in parliamentary elections World News

The Scottish government plans to introduce new legislation to allow Commonwealth citizens with limited leave to stay in the UK to participate in local council elections, after discovering loopholes in electoral laws passed last year, the Daily Mail reported.The bill is expected to be tabled after the Scottish Parliament returns from its summer recess, with the aim of implementing the changes ahead of local authority elections due in May 2027.The legislation, which comes into effect in August 2025, aims to allow foreigners with a limited period of stay to stay and participate in elections. But it later emerged that the rules for local council elections did not apply to Commonwealth citizens with the same immigration status.Parliamentary business secretary Jamie Hepburn said the omission was unintentional and did not reflect the purpose of the Scottish Elections (Representation and Reform) Act.“We have identified a loophole in the terms,” ​​Hepburn said, adding that the government wanted parliament to “address this anomaly” before next year’s parliamentary elections.The proposed amendments only apply to local government elections. The government said the issue did not affect the eligibility of Commonwealth citizens with limited permission to remain in the Scottish Parliament.The move follows the election of Indian-born Scottish Greens MP Q Manivannan, who became the first person to remain in the UK without permanent residency and win a seat in the Scottish Parliament.The planned reforms have drawn criticism from political opponents. A Holyrood source told the Daily Mail: “It is bizarre that just weeks after the Q Manivannan incident, the SNP is trying to encourage more foreigners with limited rights to stand in next year’s local council elections.We may end up with a situation where dozens of newly elected MPs are either unable to serve their full terms, costing taxpayers millions in unnecessary by-elections, or may serve out their terms halfway around the world. It is outrageous that people rightly feel this is a priority for the SNP. “The Scottish Government said it had received no indication that any Commonwealth citizen with limited rights of residence had been elected as an MP under current rules.