- Starmer is said to believe the legislation could be ‘extremely straightforward’
Keir Starmer is set to lower the voting age to 16 in one of Labour‘s first acts if it wins the July 4 general election.
The dramatic policy could even be in the King’s speech as Starmer is said to believe the legislation is ‘extremely straightforward’.
The Labour leader has previously hinted at his eagerness to give children a role in elections with a report by the National Policy Forum saying it would help restore faith in democracy in September.
It would bring England in line with Scotland and Wales, where 16 and 17-year-olds can already vote in their local and devolved authority elections.
‘I would be extremely surprised if it wasn’t in the King’s Speech,’ one Labour source told The Times.
The move to enfranchise younger voters is set to benefit the party in future elections – with analysis by the broadsheet showing that if the teenagers vote in the same way as 18-24 year olds they could flip as many as eight seats red.
Sir Keir Starmer (left) and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar launch Scottish Labour’s General Election campaign at City Facilities in Glasgow.
Keir Starmer speaks with staff, during a visit to C&W Berry builders merchants, in Leyland, Lancashire
Its rollout would mean around 1.5million people would be given the vote in the biggest change since 1969, when the voting age was lowered from 21. Youngsters are ten times more likely to vote Labour.
Slamming the move last year, Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands said: ‘This is nothing but a desperate attempt to rig the electorate.
‘Everyone knows adulthood starts at 18 – that’s when you can get married, start drinking, and smoke. Labour only want to lower the voting age for their own political advantage.
‘Despite Sir Keir’s short-term promises to be pro-business, it’s no surprise that Labour is dancing to their union paymasters’ tune. He will say anything that suits him at the time.’
Britain was the first major nation to lower the voting age in parliamentary elections from 21 to 18 in 1969 under a Labour government.
Patrick English, director of political analytics at YouGov, told The Times: ‘We would generally expect that lowering the voting age would be electorally advantageous to Labour, as younger people are significantly more likely to back them over the Conservatives, or indeed any other party.’
The Scottish independence referendum of 2014 was the first time 16 and 17-year-olds could vote.
It took less than six months to pass the legislation, with researchers at Sheffield and Edinburgh finding that it made voters more likely to turn out as they grew older.
Conservative Party Chairman and Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office Greg Hands arrives in Downing Street to attend the weekly Cabinet meeting
Surveys suggested that 75 per cent of them took part – a greater proportion than young adults (54 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds) but still fewer than among the older generations (85 per cent of 35 to 54-year-olds).
The rule has been extended to the Welsh Senedd and Welsh councils since 2021.
Asked about the idea last year, party leader Sir Keir Starmer said: ‘They can have babies, they can work, they can join the Army, so there are big things you can do at 16 and 17, it’s not such an outlandish idea.
Florence Eshalomi, the shadow minister for local government, told the broadsheet: ‘Fourteen years of chaos under the Conservatives has left many feeling ignored and left out by the political system. Labour is committed to restoring a sense of trust and national pride and that includes by strengthening our democracy.’