Kamal Ghorui
British MP Rupert Lowe has called for foreign nationals to be banned from contesting elections in the UK following the election of Indian-born politician Q Manivannan to the Scottish Parliament.Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth and affiliated with Restore Britain, criticised the rules in a post on X following recent local election results.“Foreign nationals should not be permitted to stand for election, and a Restore Britain Government would ban it,” Lowe wrote.He also criticised existing election rules after Manivannan, a non-binary candidate representing the Scottish Green Party, secured a seat on the Edinburgh & Lothians East regional list despite not having permanent residency status in the UK.“An Indian was elected to the Scottish Parliament, even without a permanent visa to stay in the UK,” Lowe said in the post.“This is wrong – they should not be allowed to stand. Our position is very straightforward. British elections for British people.”Manivannan, an anthropologist and poet originally from Tamil Nadu, is reported to be the first person elected to Holyrood without indefinite leave to remain in the UK.The Scottish Greens candidate currently holds temporary immigration status and had reportedly sought financial support from colleagues to extend a graduate visa, which would allow continued residence and employment in Britain.The issue became politically contentious after the Scottish government changed eligibility rules last year, allowing individuals with limited leave to remain in the UK to stand as candidates in Scottish Parliament elections.Previously, only people with indefinite leave to remain or permanent immigration status could contest seats at Holyrood.Manivannan has publicly described themselves as a “queer Tamil immigrant” and has spoken about social justice, identity and environmental activism.
