What Does The Reduced Voting Age Mean for the Country?
We elected our current government with a manifesto committed to lowering the voting age for elections in the hopes of increasing the political engagement of young people and restoring trust in politics. It has now been confirmed that plans are in place for sixteen-year-olds to be given the right to vote in time for the next general election, due to take place by 2029, which is part of the plan to modernise UK democracy. But why is this a controversial topic?
By lowering the voting age from eighteen to sixteen, it would be the biggest change to the electorate process in the UK since it was reduced from twenty-one to eighteen in 1969, and political parties have contrasting viewpoints on the matter. Labour and other left-leaning parties argue that young people should be given the right to vote on issues that affect them as they already have significant rights such as being able to work and pay taxes.
Conversely, members of the Conservative and Reform parties have expressed concern that those under eighteen years old are not mature enough and some even argue that young people are much more likely to vote for centre or left-wing parties in comparison to the older generation. This is because of the YouGov's latest voting intention poll which revealed that amongst 18-24 year olds labour is in the lead at 28%.
Whether the right to vote for sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds will have an impact on the election result is debatable, as they only make up around 3% of the population and turnout is typically lower for younger age groups. However, with the House of Commons recommendations for politics and democracy to be taught in more depth at schools, and the proposal for a newly developed curriculum from the age of 11, perhaps we will we see a more politically engaged generation.
Matilda Hodgkin
Sources:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn01747/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c628ep4j5kno
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/trackers/voting-intention?crossBreak=1824
