Who we are:
Migrant Democracy Project exists for migrants at home in the UK who want to shape a society based on social justice, reflecting their needs and interests, through community power building.
We exist at the intersection of democracy and immigration allowing us to better connect the immigration issues we are facing across the UK with long-term, democratic solutions that we can lead on as experts through lived experience.
It is imperative for migrants to become active holders of power in UK politics to shape policies and create social change in their interest.
Why do we need this work?
Migrants have unequal access to democracy in the UK - some have full voting rights, others have local election voting rights, while some do not have any democratic say. Generally, participation levels of migrant communities are relatively low.
Migrants’ interests and needs in the UK are at best ignored, and at worst actively undermined, by the political system. Politicians rarely see first-generation migrants as a powerful voting bloc and/or a group for whom progressive policy should actively be catered to.
Consequently, migrants in the UK have been suffering the consequences of an unjust system, with the hostile environment affecting every aspect of their lives in the UK.
Electoral Commission data shows how Commonwealth and EU citizens with voting rights have significantly lower democratic participation rates compared to British and Irish citizens.
Academic and third sector research shows participation gaps and a lack of migrant representation in elected positions.
Polling shows that a majority of British people agree every resident should have local election voting rights.
Our Values
Lived Experience
Our migrant experience and struggles guide our work. Migrant Democracy Project was set up by first-generation migrants to work in the interests of first-generation migrants.
Anti-Racist
Anti-racism is at the heart of our work and partnerships. We know people are racialised in a system of white supremacy, disproportionately impacting black and brown migrants as well as British-born people of colour.
Solidarity
We work for and with migrants and oppressed communities fighting for social justice, acknowledging our collective power. We stand as allies, share resources, and make collective demands to shape a more just society.
Intersectional
Our experience of migration intersects with multiple systems of inequality and forms of discrimination. Migrant Democracy Project understands and challenges forms of discrimination to prevent the reinforcement of inequalities.
Empower Migrants
We build migrant power through information, training, and organising collective action on shared goals.
We are campaigning for long-term, structural change through power-building wins. We work with people at different stages of their political journey to achieve shared goals.
Build Power
Our story
In 2020, Our Home Our Vote started as a the3million campaign encouraging EU citizens and all UK migrants to participate in UK politics.
In 2021, we started working in partnership with POMOC’s #WeVote campaign informing EU migrants about their voting rights. Together, we collaborated on leaflets, videos, and resources on democratic participation.
For the 2021 local elections, co-founders Lara Parizotto and Alex Bulat took Our Home Our Vote to Peterborough, Corby and Northampton encouraging EU citizens to register to vote and participate in the local elections. We spoke to hundreds of EU citizens who ended up voting for the first time!
Co-founders Lara and Alex both got elected as councillors, bringing representation to their migrant communities and developing a passion for organising migrants for power at all levels.
After the 2021 local elections, the Elections Bill was announced. Our campaign gained more momentum and took its current shape. The Bill announced the removal of some EU citizens' voting rights. In response, we decided to campaign for every resident, no matter where from, to have a right to vote - like they do in Scotland and Wales. Our advocacy efforts during the Bill's passage through Parliament can be found here.
At this stage, POMOC joined as an official partner of the Our Home Our Vote campaign. Together, we hired 4 voting rights Ambassadors who worked on media, research, and advocacy and have since been extending our campaign reach.
In 2022, the campaign moved to a new home - Migrant Democracy Project.