According to British media, Poles in the UK have a unique opportunity to show their impact on British political scene. The statistics claim that almost half a million Poles are to cast their votes in this year’s elections.
Potential of Polish votes has been recognized by some of the most important British media. BBC has recently published an ample article entitled “Poles seeking to get their voices heard” which describes to what extent has Poles managed to influence the British political scene so far.
The survey conducted by Polish City Club and Ipsos Mori showed that 72% of Poles in the UK intend to participate in the upcoming elections. Such a significant potential turnout is certainly due to huge campaigns conducted by several Polish media and organizations: almost 100 thousands leaflets have been distributed on the streets, Polish Professionals, New Europeans and Polish City Club organizations have been actively encouraging members of Polish diaspora to participate in local as well as EU elections, and Polish Express Newspaper has been running Polaku głosuj! campaign which aim was to introduce the Poles to voting procedures.
The campaigns in mention prove that Poles are getting more and more active participants of the British political debate. George Byczynski, the leader of Polish Professionals, an organization which helps Poles working in the UK, cited in the BBC article claims that the upcoming elections will be the ones in which Poles will participate in largest numbers.
Regardless of the actual turnout, the impact Polish activist have already made on British media is huge and will certainly help to build the positive image of Polish diaspora in the UK.
