Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

(iStock)

In 1969, Harold Wilson’s Labour government lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. Fifty years on, some believe the time has come to lower the voting age to 16.

The idea is not a new one. It was first rejected by Parliament back in 1999 and again in 2005.

But in 2014, 16- and 17-year-olds were granted a vote in Scotland’s independence referendum.

This - combined with the overwhelming age gap between remain and leave voters in the UK’s 2016 European referendum - has firmly placed the voting age back on the national agenda.

1. Who supports lowering the voting age?

   Currently, all the opposition parties in Parliament back the idea of adding 1.5 million teenagers to the electorate by lowering the voting age to 16.

   Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn stated: “We cannot allow this Conservative government to deny one and a half million people their full rights as citizens.”

   In 2017 a bill brought by Labour MP Jim McMahon failed to go to a vote after running out of debating time despite the backing of the other opposition parties.

   Politicians who advocate lowering the voting age often argue that at 16, citizens have taken on enough responsibilities to deserve the chance to have their say.

   Molly Scott Cato, the Green Party’s candidate for Bristol West, believes: "At 16, you're eligible to pay taxes, you can leave home, you can get married, you can even join the armed forces.

   "If you can do any of these things, you are entitled to vote - you are entitled to have a say in the direction of your country, you're entitled to have your say on the key issues affecting your life."

   Alternatively, Professor David Runciman says an ageing electorate means young people are now massively outnumbered resulting in an inbuilt bias against governments who plan for the future.

   He goes several steps further than those advocating the vote at 16, suggesting the way to counter the democratic imbalance is to give the vote to everyone over the age of six.

2. Who opposes lowering the voting age?

   Conservatives have countered advocacy of lowering the voting age by asserting that 18 is the age when somebody becomes recognised as an adult and full citizenship rights are obtained.

   Questioned on the issue before to the last election, Theresa May said: “I continue to think it’s right for it to be 18.

   “Of course we now expect young people to stay in educational training up until 18.”

   Standing in for May at PMQs earlier this year, David Lidington, her de facto deputy, suggested that those under 18 did not have “sufficient maturity and responsibility” to vote in elections.

   This stance was labelled hypocritical and self-interested by Labour, who highlighted that Tories allow members aged 15, 16 and 17 to vote in their leadership elections.

   Some consider support for votes at 16 to be a cynical ploy to introduce a demographic into the electorate that would be more likely to vote in favour of opposition parties.

   Professor James Tilley agrees such decisions are made for political gain rather than from principled conviction. He posits that many of the responsibilities afforded to 16-year-olds are not as significant as those advocating votes at 16 make out.

   For example, 16 and 17-year-olds must get permission from parents before they are able to marry or join the army.

   He contests that rather than lowering the voting age it should be increased due to a slowing rate of maturity. He cites research by Prof Lucinda Platt which shows that only 29% of 16- to 19-year-olds are currently in full-time work, compared to around four-fifths in the late '60s.

   Yet, the largest obstacle for votes at 16 could simply be public opinion. In 2013, a YouGov poll showed that 60% of British Adults opposed the idea and only 20% supported it.

   YouGov research from 2018 shows that whilst the public are still opposed, there is growing support for extending the franchise, with the way in which the question is worded having a significant impact on the response. Thirty-four per cent of the public support 16- and 17-year-olds' right to vote, but only 24% backed reducing the voting age.

3. What would the impact be?

   ONS research highlights that there are 88 out of 650 constituencies where the number of 16- and 17-year-olds outnumber the majority held by the sitting MP. Thirty-four are held by Conservative MPs who are the most vulnerable to losing their seats should the franchise be extended – based on the notion that young people are more likely to vote Labour.

   If these seats changed hands Labour would become the largest party in Parliament.

   It’s possible lowering the vote could have had an equally substantial effect on the EU referendum. In a survey conducted by the Student Room 82% of 16 and 17-year-olds opted for remain. Such a turnout would have closed the gap of 1.2 million between Remain and Leave.

   However, these predictions rely on all 16- and 17-year-olds turning out at the polls. But young people currently record the lowest levels of turnout, with 18-to-19-year-olds the age group least likely to vote at the 2017 general election.

   The only other major European country to lower the voting age to 16 is Austria, in 2007. Prof Sylvia Kritzinger says that the move hasn’t particularly changed Austria’s political landscape; however, it has resulted in more political education and therefore created habitual voters. Some 79% of Austrians aged 15 to 30 have voted in the last three years, the highest rate in Europe where the overall average is 64%.

4. Will it happen?

   A change appears unlikely so long as the Conservatives remain in power.

   However, with the rest of the major parties openly endorsing the idea and May’s grip on power looking increasingly precarious it could be only a matter of time before the voting age is lowered to 16.

   Who knows? Maybe in another 50 years, Prof David Runciman’s proposal of votes for six-year-olds will become a reality.