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Indians largest foreign-born voter group in Britain: Study

Over six lakh India-born migrants form the UK’s largest foreign-born voter population and they could play a decisive role in certain constituencies in the general election in May.

According to a new study titled ‘Migrant Voters in the 2015 Election’ released here on Thursday, 6,15,000 Indian-origin voters are expected to vote in the May 7 election. The figure is far ahead of the other migrant groups on the voter list ? those from Pakistan at 4,31,000, the Irish Republic 2,97,000, Bangladesh 1,83,000 and Nigeria 1,82,000.

The figures compiled for the joint study conducted by Manchester University and Migrants’ Rights Network are derived from the UK’s Office for National Statistics analysis of 2001-2011 census data and include voters who are eligible to vote as Commonwealth citizens or have become British citizens after living in the UK for five or more years.

The study concludes that although migrants do not tend to vote as a bloc, previous patterns suggest they are likely to prefer parties viewed as positive about race equality and immigration.

“[Anti-immigration party] UKIP have made all the running with the immigration debate in the past few years and we have seen all of the parties looking to offer a harder line on migrants. 
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