Britain’s next general election isn’t until August 2029. But when it comes, 1.5 million more people – some of whom are currently just 12 years old – will have the chance to weigh in. The country’s ruling Labor Party said it is following through on a 2024 campaign promise to lower the minimum voting age from 18 to 16. It’s part of a larger package of election law changes announced Thursday.
In the United Kingdom, Scotland and Wales already let 16- and 17-year-olds vote in local and regional elections. The British government says the change, which will affect national elections, will encourage more participation in the democratic process.
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How are people reacting to the change?
So far, reaction to the change has been widely positive, with teenagers and many political leaders alike praising the move.
“I feel like a lot of young people just feel subjected to, like, watch political elections and they have very strong views, but their views aren’t really listened to because they’re young,” 17-year-old student Ana Fonseca told Reuters.
Mathew Caronno, a 16-year-old student agreed.
“I’ve always been kind of frustrated just watching politics and not being able to do anything,” Caronno said. “And I know loads of other people who feel the same, who are really interested in politics and get frustrated watching all the older people vote. And I just think it would be really amazing because so many of these policies affect younger people and they have to just sit and watch and don’t have much of a voice but now they will be able to do something about it.”
Many of the United Kingdom’s political leaders lauded the move.
“I think it’s really important that 16- and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they’re old enough to go out to work, they’re old enough to pay taxes,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer told British news outlet ITV.
“I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on,” Starmer said.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said in a post on X: “Young people already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the military. It’s only right they can have a say on the issues that affect them.”
“This great announcement by the Government is a huge step forward in our democracy,” London Mayor Sadiq Khan posted.
“Young people deserve a greater say in their future.” Scotland’s first minister, John Swinney, also took to social media.
“Young people here have a stake in shaping our future, and it made Scotland’s democracy stronger,” Swinney said. “The UK is finally catching up – this change is long overdue.”
Some react negatively
But the leader of the U.K.’s right-wing Reform Party, Nigel Farage accused the Labor Party of attempting to “rig the political system.”
Downing Street rejected that accusation, the BBC reported.
“We are determined to restore trust in democracy, and votes at 16 is critical to engaging young people,” a government spokesperson said during a daily press briefing. “It will empower them to participate in society and effect real change, locally and nationally.”
Some young people have also voiced opposition and concerns. According to an ITV News poll, about half of British 16- and 17-year-olds don’t think they should be allowed to vote.
“This is not the win for young people Starmer thinks it is, it’s just him trying to win back votes from Reform and it will backfire,” 17-year-old student Chloe Brown told BBC News.
“It is that, like, small worry about, like, people who are just going to, like, take their parents’ opinions and just then just vote with what their parents say,” 17-year-old student Isabelle Laine-Euden told Reuters. “And then they might just, like, end up voting for what the parents tell them to vote for because that’s all they’ve been, like, surrounded with, I guess. So that’s a bit of a worry. But I think most young people will make sensible decisions.”
Do other countries allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote?
Britain joins a small list of other countries that allow voting as young as 16. Others include Austria, Brazil and Ecuador.
Some countries in the European Union allow people as young as 16 to vote in European parliamentary elections. Among those are Germany, Belgium and Malta.
In the United States, the 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, sets the minimum voting age at 18.
What else is in the voting package?
Lowering the voting age was just one of several changes in election law announced by the U.K.’s center-left government.
Others include creating an automatic voter registration system and allowing voters to use bank and veterans’ cards as a form of identification at polling stations. That rule comes after about 4% of people who didn’t vote in the last general election said it was because of voter ID rules, according to Britain’s Electoral Commission.
The government also announced stricter rules for political donations to protect against foreign interference.
