Alan Cumming loses out on referendum vote

ACTOR Alan Cumming has revealed he will not be allowed to vote in next year’s independence referendum as because an £80,000 flat he bought in Edinburgh has been deemed not to be his main address.

Alan Cumming speaking at the Yes Scotland launch. Picture: Ian Rutherford

In a blog on his website on his website, the Broadway star said he would not be able to vote Yes because he spends most of his time at his New York address.

He wrote: “At the beginning of this year I sold my flat in London and bought a home in Edinburgh. I wanted a base in Scotland again, I wanted to be nearer my mum.

“I had been registered to vote in London and now registered in Edinburgh. I looked forward to being able to vote in the independence referendum next year.

“Unfortunately I’ve since discovered that I can’t. Because my main residence is in New York and I will be working there on Broadway for most of next year I am ineligible to vote and have had to come off the electoral roll.”

The X-Men star hit out at claims he had tried to buy a vote in the September 2014 poll. He said: “Over the past month I have been accused of trying to buy a vote, as though I had no intention of ever using my flat in Edinburgh. I am actually writing this from its living room.”

He added: “Whilst the No Campaign will be happy that I am not indeed able to vote in the referendum next year and they appear to have won by their media bashing of me, it is a Pyrrhic victory, for they have only spurred me to use the voice I have to reach out further and louder to express my views.”

Cumming, originally from Aberfeldy, has been a high-profile supporter of Scottish independence. He appeared alongside First Minister Alex Salmond and a host of other A-list names when the Yes campaign was launched in May last year.

Cumming has also starred in many films and TV shows, including Eyes Wide Shut and Taggart.