An expatriate living in France - and without the right to vote in the UK - plans to stand as a parliamentary candidate in the upcoming General Election.

James Jackson will put himself in the running to become MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip – a seat also being contested by London mayor Boris Johnson.

His campaign in the run-up to May 7 will be focused on giving British citizens living abroad the right to vote in their country of origin.

Mr Jackson, who left the UK in 1996 to work in the Falkland Islands before retiring to live in France, said: “Due to the law preventing Britons who have lived abroad for more than 15 years from voting in elections, I, along with thousands of others, am disenfranchised.

“Strangely, there is nothing in law that prevents me standing as a parliamentary candidate.

“This Kafkaesque situation means that, theoretically, I could win a parliamentary seat and take my place in the House of Commons, despite living abroad and not having a vote.”

According to the Electoral Commission, there are currently some 5.5m Britons living abroad, of whom only around 20,000 are registered to vote.

Mr Jackson, 71, said of those who could not vote: “The majority of these disenfranchised Britons have strong links to their country. They hold British passports, have UK bank accounts and debit cards, many pay taxes on their income from UK sources, receive UK state pensions, buy from UK outlets on the internet and have relatives and friends in the UK.

“They can easily be identified by NI number, passport number or Inland Revenue records. They are not hidden people of no importance who have no links or pride in being British.”

Retired Mr Jackson formerly lived in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, working as treasurer of the former Colwyn Borough Council, before becoming internal auditor/treasurer for the Falkland Islands Government.

He said he chose to stand in Uxbridge and South Ruislip because he wanted to run against London mayor Boris Johnson, who also supports giving expatriates the right to vote in the UK after 15 years.

Mr Jackson, who plans to fill out the necessary forms in Hillingdon this week, said he did not realistically expect to receive many votes, but wanted to raise awareness of his cause.