People aged 16 and 17 will be able to vote in the next general election, after Labour announced a major move to lower the voting age.
Last year’s Labour Party manifesto committed to lowering the England voting age to 16, in order to ‘increase the engagement of young people in our vibrant democracy’.
It means that voting in the UK general elections will now match the voting age in Scotland for the Holyrood elections and Wales for the Senedd elections.
Today’s announcement comes alongside other election reforms, including extending voter ID to include bank cards and the introduction of new rules against foreign political interference and abuse of campaigners .
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said ‘far too many people’ had been put off voting by the voter ID rules introduced by the previous government, with the Electoral Commission finding around 750,000 people did not vote due to a lack of ID.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: ‘We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy, supporting our Plan for Change, and delivering on our manifesto commitment to give 16-year-olds the right to vote.
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‘We cannot take our democracy for granted, and by protecting our elections from abuse and boosting participation we will strengthen the foundations of our society for the future.’
Young people should have a say in elections because they are old enough to ‘pay in’, the Prime Minister has said.
Sir Keir Starmer told ITV News: ‘I think it’s really important that 16- and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they are old enough to go out to work, they are old enough to pay taxes, so pay in.
‘And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the Government should go.
‘So I’m really pleased we are able to bring more young people into our democracy and give them a chance to have a say over how their taxes are paid and what they are going to be used for.’
When is the next general election?
The next general election is due to take place before August 2029, as the last one took place in July 2024.
However, the Prime Minister is able to call one at any point before that date.
That is currently unlikely, as Labour holds a considerable majority in the House of Commons.
In Scotland, 16 and 17-year-olds have been able to vote in local and Scottish Parliament elections since 2015.
The voting age is still 18 in most of Europe, though it is 16 in countries including Germany, Belgium and Austria.
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