Jo Dyer to stay in the race for Boothby after receiving confirmation her British citizenship has been revoked

Independent Jo Dyer will stay in the race for Boothby after receiving confirmation overnight her application to revoke her British citizenship had been successful.

Independent candidate for Boothby Jo Dyer has successfully cancelled her dual UK citizenship and will stay in the race forthe marginal seat.

Ms Dyer revealed on Saturday her citizenship had been revoked by the British Home Office in February but Covid-19 Royal Mail delays in London left her without written confirmation for another two months.

Her run for the nation’s third most marginal seat in the Federal Election has been under a cloud since The Advertiser revealed last week she had not received confirmation of the cancellations.

Without the direct involvement of British Consul General in Melbourne Steph Lysaght, who emailed her the Home Office confirmationon Friday, Ms Dyer was to have suspended her campaign on Wednesday.

Jo Dyer outside her campaign office in Kingswood. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“Yesterday there were those who were prepared to say my campaign was in Dyer straits, but today I am pleased to advise thatit’s all systems Jo,” a smiling Ms Dyer said at her campaign office on Unley Rd.

“I am relieved. We also have confirmation from the Royal Mail that (a hard copy) the document is on its way.

“The difficulty was actually finding a human being to talk to in the UK system.”

Australian MPs are not allowed to be dual citizens under Section 44 of the Constitution, as it is believed to create a conflictof interest on matters of national security.

Independent Boothby candidate Jo Dyer . Picture: Tricia Watkinson

The failure to secure the cancellation before nominating her candidacy left Ms Dyer explaining the timeline of the bungle to the media on Saturday.

Ms Dyer said she had only decided to run on December 8 last year, and the decision to cancel the citizenship was “a big wrench” for many because of their ties to other countries.

She said she tried to cancel her citizenship on the same day as nominating.

“I was completely aware that dual citizens cannot sit in our parliament, and took immediate steps,’’ Ms Dyer said.

She will now send evidence that the citizenship had been revoked to the Australian Electoral Commission.

Ms Dyer said she was campaigning on a platform for “better climate change targets, a powerful independent corruption commission, better care for all people, and greater gender equity”.

If she had pulled out Ms Dyer had promised to give back already spent donation money she had raised through a “GoFund Me” campaign. She said this had been a six-figure sum.

Ms Dyer said she had set up the GoFundMe campaign at the same time as applying for her citizenship to be revoked.

Ms Dyer criticised the law which requires candidates to renounce their secondary foreign citizenship.

Boothby is being contested by the former Adelaide Writer’s week head, as well as Labor’s Louise Miller Frost, and Rachel Swift for the Liberal party.