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Five politicians from across the Channel Islands are in the UK touring polling stations this week to scrutinise the running of the general election.
Jersey Deputies Tom Coles, Inna Gardiner and Hilary Jeune are among the 32 politicians from the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association taking part in an Election Observation Mission.
They will also be joined by Deputy Heidi Soulsby from Guernsey and Ian Carter from Alderney.
The aim is to ensure that the election is conducted correctly, and to identify any potential improvements that can be put in place for future elections.
The CPA members have been meeting candidates and officials at eight locations across the country, including seats in regions of Birmingham, Glasgow, Northumberland, East London, Bristol, Cambridgeshire, Brighton.
Counts will also be observed on election day, before the team produce a report on any successes and failures.
The CI team will be joined on the mission by political colleagues from Anguilla, Australia, Grenada, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Trinidad & Tobago and Turks & Caicos who are all participating.
This Electoral Assessment Mission will be led by Hon. Dr Otiende Amollo, the Head of Mission and member of the National Assembly of Kenya.
Dr Amollo said: “I welcome this opportunity to work with Commonwealth parliamentarians to observe the 2024 General Election in the United Kingdom on 4 July. I know from my own experience that election missions play an important role in strengthening democracies.
“Our role will be to observe the democratic process, share our findings and make recommendations in line with international best practice.
"The parliamentarians being deployed in the UK are drawn from regions across the Commonwealth and will be impartial observers of the voting process.
"We look forward to observing electoral practices in a variety of contexts, regions and nations, reflecting the diversity of the United Kingdom itself.”
Sarah Dickson, CEO of CPA UK, explained the organisation was set up “over 100 years ago to strengthen ties between the parliaments of the Commonwealth".
She said: “Our core mission is to strengthen parliamentary democracy and therefore we regularly assess and issue recommendations to improve the electoral process across the British Islands and Mediterranean.
"We are delighted to invite Commonwealth parliamentarians to participate in one of our biggest election missions ever this July for the UK General Election.”
Since 2010, the UK branch of the CPA and the British Islands and Mediterranean Region have organised nineteen short-term Election Observer Missions and Election Assessment Missions – most recently in Jersey and the British Virgin Islands in 2022 and 2023.
However, this is not the first time Commonwealth MPs have observed a UK General Election – previous election assessment missions were carried out in 2015 and 2017.
CPA British Islands and Mediterranean Region is a signatory to the Declaration of Principles of International Election Observation and Code of Conduct for International Election Observers, agreed at the UN in 2005.
It is committed to ensuring a professional approach based on observation of all aspects of the electoral process in accordance with international obligations, commitments and standards for democratic elections.
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