UK Speaker backs Zimbabwe's Commonwealth return, legislative support
UK Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has pledged to support Zimbabwe's bid to rejoin the Commonwealth of Nations. The move follows Zimbabwe's 2003 withdrawal and a 2018 reapplication, signaling a potential thaw in diplomatic relations.
Why it matters
Readmission would reintegrate Zimbabwe into a major international political and trade bloc, potentially boosting its economic and diplomatic standing.
THE United Kingdom’s (UK) Speaker of the House of Commons, Lindsay Hoyle, has thrown his full weight behind Zimbabwe’s bid to rejoin the Commonwealth, promising to lobby the UK Executive to expedite Harare’s return.
Speaking during historic talks with Zimbabwe’s Speaker Advocate Jacob Mudenda in London this week, Hoyle assured Mudenda that he would push the UK government to fast-track Zimbabwe’s readmission.
Hoyle said he would “engage with the Executive so as to expedite Zimbabwe’s efforts for full membership on this elite Club of the Commonwealth of Nations.”
Describing the modern Commonwealth, Hoyle told Mudenda: “The contemporary Commonwealth is a different grouping from its past, founded on the relationship of independent and equal members.”
The pledge is a major diplomatic win for Zimbabwe, which quit the Commonwealth in 2003 and reapplied in 2018.
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