Brexit fears boost French voter registration in Britain
Tens of thousands of French nationals will cast their ballots for their country's next president at polling stations in the UK.
Sunday 23 April 2017 21:23, UK
The number of French expats in the UK who have registered to vote back home has increased by 10% since Brexit, a French election official has told Sky News.
About 100,000 French voters live in Britain, 97,000 thousand of them in London and the surrounding areas.
The president of the polling station at the Lycee Francais Charles de Gaulle, Eduard De Guitaut, told Sky News: "The number of French people who registered to vote here and registered their details at the French consulate increased by about 10% in the last year, post the Brexit vote.
"A lot of them were worried and they wanted to feel like they have some administrative contacts here that they could call on if they needed to.
"So we have a bigger pool of voters and we expect 50,000 French citizens to vote here.
"In my polling station I expect about 1,200 voters compared with about 800 five years ago."
Anissa Zine El Abidine volunteered to help at the polling station during the presidential election.
She said she still feels a "huge attachment and commitment" to her country, although she lives in London and voting in the French election is carrying out her "civic duty".
"Obviously the new president will play an important part in that negotiation," she said, referring to Brexit.
There are 54 polling stations across the UK from London to Birmingham to Belfast and Aberdeen.