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French residents of South Kensington are preparing to help pick Britain's first elected representative to a French parliament.
The campaign, which will centre on the area, follows legislation passed to give French citizens who live abroad their own MPs in the 2012 national elections. The law creates 11 constituencies for expatriates - a move that officials say is without precedent.
The third constituency covers the UK, the Irish Republic, Scandinavia and the Baltic states but 102,470 French voters are registered in the UK, compared with 22,071 in all the other countries that make up the seat.
The winning candidate will therefore effectively be an MP for Britain, say French officials.
Constituents include some of France's most successful figures, such as Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, bestselling author Marc Levy and pop star Renaud.
Campaign offices are being established in South Kensington and polling stations will be set up in the Charles de Gaulle lycée in Cromwell Road, and other places frequented by the French - which could include cafés, according to Hervé Fabre-Aubrespy, the government adviser overseeing the move.
"It is a challenge for us, because nothing similar has ever been done anywhere," said Mr Fabre-Aubrespy. "No one has carved the world up into constituencies in this way."
British citizens who live overseas vote in the constituency that was their last address before leaving the country. After 15 years abroad, they lose their right to vote. Similar rules have applied in France until now.
Reader views (2)
The 11 new MPs representing French expats worldwide in the French parliament are in addition to 100+ members of a special expat assembly and 12 senators in the upper house. Virtually all advanced democracies in the world make arrangements for their own expat citizens to vote in key elections in their home country. Meanwhile, the UK does nothing to ensure its own expat citizens are represented, and even denies the right to vote to expats who have lived abroad for more than a very arbitrary 15 years. Time indeed for a big change! International mobility is a fact of life in the modern world, as everybody else has understood. Wake up, Gordon!
- Christopher Chantrey, Paris, France
So much for the Human Rights Act, British Citizens living abroad lose their vote after 15 years. The UK law needs reforming to bring into line with Human Rights?
- Andrew, London