Sweet sixteen (and never been canvassed)

Fulfilling an election manifesto pledge, the Labour government has announced it will be bringing in voting for sixteen and seventeen year-olds in time for the next UK general election.

Sixteen and seventeen year-olds in Scotland and Wales currently enjoy the right to vote for the Assembly and Sennedd, and in local elections, but this does not apply in Northern Ireland or England. According to the Electoral Commission, plans to lower the voting age are unlikely to be implemented in time for the next scheduled Northern Ireland Assembly election in 2027. The first time this cohort will be able to cast its vote, therefore, will be in the general election, which must be held before August 2029.

This announcement has caused controversy in some quarters, which is odd considering it was a manifesto commitment by a party that went on to win a landslide majority. Those who find this a disturbing prospect are no doubt the very people arguing that sixteen and seventeen year-olds have an insufficient grasp of politics.  Honouring its manifesto is the first test and primary democratic duty of a party newly-elected to government and those who fail to grasp that fundamental principle have absolutely no right to question young people's competency to vote.

Whilst I admit it will be an anomaly that the minimum driving age remains seventeen, and eighteen for tobacco, alcohol and lottery ticket purchases, those limits were set with the aim of preventing harm to young people. It would take a highly cynical and jaundiced view of the democratic process - even in light of recent events in the USA - to class casting a vote in a western liberal democracy as a dangerous activity. An onerous responsibility certainly but surely not a harmful one?

Against the backdrop of a quarter of the UK's prison population having been children in care, with 4.5 million children (31% of all children) living in poverty, 164,000 children in temporary accommodation and one million young people not in employment, education or training (NEET), their ability to vote at age sixteen is not a luxury, it becomes existential. Politicians will only take young people's issues seriously when they know they will be coming after them at the ballot box.

However, a poll of five hundred sixteen and seventeen year-olds conducted by Merlin Strategy for ITV News found that only 51% surveyed felt the voting age should be lowered and only 18% would definitely vote if there were an election tomorrow. While this is undoubtedly a disappointing response, might it possibly have something to do with their finding little in the existing political offer to engage their interest? If so, they are not alone.

Voter turnout in the 2024 general election was estimated at 60% but that figure includes the lowest turnout in the country, in Manchester Rusholme, of 40%. This hardly speaks of an engaged electorate of any age, although we know the elderly are the most enthusiastic voters. With active encouragement over the next few years I suspect a good proportion of the 1.5 million youngsters eligible to vote would do so. The future may seem bleak but it is theirs to shape.

I can only hope they seize the opportunity to do so as soon as it presents itself.

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