People away on holiday during elections should not be allowed to vote, says Reform as it unveils plan to drastically limit postal ballots

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 09:37 EDT, 28 August 2026 | Updated: 09:54 EDT, 28 August 2026 People who are on holiday when there is an election should not be allowed to use a postal vote, a senior Reform politician said today as the party seeks to curb the practice.Danny Kruger said anyone wanting to cast a ballot would have to turn up to the polling station 'in person' even if it clashed with a booked trip away.Nigel Farage's party wants to massively reduce the amount of postal voting, limiting it to serving members of the armed forces, diplomats and the elderly or disabled.Of the 29 general elections held since 1918, almost half (14) have taken place in May, June and July, popular holiday months. They also have to be held within 25 working days of being called, potentially affecting people who book holidays months in advance.Asked whether the party was effectively disenfranchising people who happen to be on holiday when an election takes place, East Wiltshire MP Mr Kruger, a former Conservative shadow minister, told Times Radio: 'Absolutely not, no.'If people are not around for the day in which the election is happening, they're disenfranchising themselves.'It was put to him that holidaymakers can cast postal votes under existing rules, to which he replied: 'If you want to vote in our elections, you need to do it in person. That is a traditional principle. Danny Kruger said anyone wanting to cast a ballot should turn up to the polling station 'in person' even if it clashed with a trip away. 'The postal vote is an exception awarded to people who are literally unable to get there.' Reform has called for sweeping changes to the electoral system, including removing the right of Commonwealth citizens to vote and banning campaign material in foreign languages. It argues its proposal to remove the right of Commonwealth citizens to vote would prevent 'hundreds of thousands of immigrants from influencing our choice of political leaders in parliamentary elections and local government elections in England and Wales'.Under existing rules, a qualifying Commonwealth citizen is defined as someone from a Commonwealth nation who has been granted permission to enter or stay in the UK or who does not require such permission.The Liberal Democrats said Mr Kruger's remarks about postal voting showed how 'wildly out of touch' Reform were.The party's Cabinet Office spokeswoman Lisa Smart said: 'Whilst Nigel Farage can jump on a private jet to get wined and dined in Mar a Lago, when its hardworking Brits trying to head off for a break, they get slammed by Reform UK.'Threatening to take away postal votes and telling people they are disenfranchising themselves from democracy simply for taking a holiday shows just how wildly out of touch they truly are.'We should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder.'