Who we are:
Migrant Democracy Project exists for migrants at home in the UK who want to shape a collective future rooted in social justice, reflecting our needs and interests, through community power building.
We are led by the principles of abolitionism, universalism, harm reduction, and solidarity in all our work. Our struggle is not only to get rid of oppressive systems. Our fight is to build just ones instead.
Our lived-experience guides our work in building migrant power in the UK.
“Abolition is not absence, it is presence. What the world will become already exists in fragments and pieces, experiments and possibilities. Abolition is building the future from the present, in all of the ways we can.” - Ruth Wilson Gilmore (Gilmore and Lambert, 2019).
Our work:
POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
We are registering eligible migrants to vote and informing communities about UK politics and their democratic rights.
VOTES FOR ALL
We are campaigning for the right to vote to be extended to all residents, no matter where they are from.
ELECTING MIGRANTS
We are getting migrants elected to bring our lived experience to politics and better represent our communities.
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 many have no vote at all.
Voter registration rates are lower for migrant voters
Electoral Commission data shows that only 66% of Commonwealth and EU citizens are registered to vote compared to 87% for their British counterparts.
Over 1 million people across the UK have no right to vote at all
Research commissioned by MDP shows that over 1 million people have no right to vote at all and over 4 million do not have the right to vote in General Elections.
Migrants are under-represented in elected positions
Research by MDP and LSE show that 40% of London’s population is made up of first-generation migrants. Yet, only 16% of elected councillors are first-generation migrants. If Parliament was to be representative of the population, 104 MPs out of the 650 would be first-generation migrants. Yet, only 28 are.
Our theory of change
What if migrants became a powerful voting bloc in UK politics?
What if we could vote for policies and politicians working in our interest and not against us?
Migrants make up one in every six residents in England and Wales, yet first-generation migrants are still negatively affected by hostile immigration policies.
But we are many and can exercise our collective power for a just future.
“MIGRANTS ARE ORGANISED → EVERY ONE HAS A RIGHT TO VOTE → MORE MIGRANTS ARE REGISTERED TO VOTE → MIGRANTS ARE VOTING FOR POLICIES AND POLITICIANS IN THEIR INTEREST → MIGRANTS ARE ELECTED BRINGING LIVED EXPERIENCE AND ACCOUNTABILITY → WE ARE BUILDING A JUST SOCIETY FOR ALL”
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