Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made recent representations to his Venezuelan counterpart on taking steps to allow a democratic and peaceful transition following the recent presidential election in that country.

The UK does not accept the legitimacy of the administration put in place by Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela in 2018. The UN was clear the outcome of the Venezuelan elections in July this year cannot be deemed credible without the National Electoral Council publishing full results. The Foreign Secretary has publicly called for the swift and transparent publication of full, detailed results to ensure that the outcome reflects the votes and the will of the Venezuelan people; this was echoed in a G7 statement on 31 July. The UK also joined a coalition of countries in signing a Dominican Republic-led regional statement on 16 August demanding an end to repression and respect for human rights.

The UK continues to pay testament to the millions of Venezuelans who turned out to vote in the presidential election on 28 July. Along with the UN and international allies, we remain deeply concerned about allegations of serious irregularities in the declared results. Despite repeated calls, Venezuela's National Electoral Council has still not produced full results or credible evidence of a victory for Nicolas Maduro. Publicly available records appear to show Edmundo Gonzalez secured the most votes by a significant margin.

The UK continues to work with international partners to achieve a peaceful solution in Venezuela. Dialogue remains the only solution to ensure that the will of all Venezuelans is respected.