Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their response to the Commonwealth Secretary-General's letter inviting heads of government of all Commonwealth member states to make known to her by 26 November their views on Zimbabwe’s request to re-join the Commonwealth.

The UK has always been clear that we would like to see Zimbabwe return to the Commonwealth when the time is right. However, currently we do not share the Secretariat's assessment of Zimbabwe's progress or readiness in line with the shared values and principles laid out in the Commonwealth Charter. Whilst we recognise there has been progress, we believe further steps are needed on democracy, governance and human rights before Zimbabwe makes a formal application to re-join the Commonwealth. We note some of the findings in the Commonwealth Election Observation Report and support the recommendations. We would encourage a further Commonwealth assessment mission to Zimbabwe in 2025 to follow up on these areas. The UK strongly values our partnership with Zimbabwe and stands ready to support further reforms in this regard, through the Commonwealth and other fora.