Indian-origin migrants that form the UK’s largest foreign-born voter population can play a decisive role in the country’s May 7 general elections which can result in a hung Parliament.
The party leaders from the ruling coalition — Conservatives and liberal Democrats — and Opposition labour redoubled their efforts to win over the electorate in one of the closest elections in British history where every vote will count. The British Parliament is made up of 650 seats with 326 required for a majority. In the last elections in 2010, which also presented a hung result, the Tories had 307 and labour 258.
The liberal Democrats’ 57 helped the Tories cobble together a majority but with the Nick Clegg-led liberal Democrats losing much ground this year, any coalition talks are expected to run on for days as parties may be forced to resort to horse-trading.
For the first time, in this year’s elections, it is predicted there are a significant number of seats where the migrant vote is likely to have the biggest impact — areas where there are large numbers of eligible migrant voters and a relatively small majority for the sitting MP.