Bill to allow 16 year olds to vote to be debated in parliament

roxie39

What exactly are the arguments for allowing 16 year olds to vote? (apart from the fact that Keir Starmer wants it?)

This is a good article from the House of Lords library

lordslibrary.parliament.uk/votes-at-16/

I agree with Casdon, better at 16 when doing "adult" things is a novelty, than 18 when there are so many distractions that are more interesting than politics.
Try to get more into the habit of voting, then hopefully they will go on doing it. most will know from the politics we're beseiged with on news / social media, where their sympathies lie, they're not going to spend hours reading the full manifesto of every party on the local ballot paper, they can easily make time to get to a polling station.
Some young people will be easily influenced by celebs / looks etc, but then most adults have knee jerk reactions to things & believe their designated source of opinion, or get taken in by self-serving maverick demagogues, & that's comparable.
So not a problem in my view.

mine cant decide what to wear never mind vote, should be 21

What exactly are the arguments for allowing 16 year olds to vote? (apart from the fact that Keir Starmer wants it?)

Well it was in their manifesto, I doubt it’ll be a hill that the Tories want to die on especially as they believe in 16 year olds being able to vote for their leader so I’m betting it’ll become last. As a pp said, the world won’t end

I don't support 16 year olds voting as I don't think most of them have enough knowledge or experience. They haven't yet learned how to pay their way in the world or what policies will affect them in order to do that. I recognise that a lot of people don't understand what they are voting for really but don't see that we should compound that problem especially with Reform in the offing!

knspol

16 year olds have far too many other things to deal with, GCSE's, school, friendship groups, online activity, music, socialising, boyfriend/girlfriend issues etc etc. Imo they do not have the time (and probably the inclination) to spend the requisite amount of time to understand and decide which party they should vote for.

Whereas their parents have nothing to do but go out to work, raise the children, do the shopping, cook the meals, clean the house, do the washing and ironing, help out friends snd family, organise summer holidays, plan a birthday party, help with the homework, get quotes for house snd car renewal insurance. take thr car for its service … thank goodness they're not too busy

Graphite 13.03.

Thank you for the link- I've just finished watching that Nov 25 Youth Parliament. What wonderful, teenage, articulate, values driven, hopeful, diverse parliamentarians they made.

The 11.36 contribution from the Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) for Trafford was apt and topical. He reminded us how the bombing, in the 1941 WW2 blitz, of Old Trafford football stadium, home to Manchester United FC , was rebuilt by its diverse population and created unity in the city.

Current trending news- Jim Radcliffe, Britain's seventh richest man, living in Monaco in order to avoid UK taxes, has the audacity to make inflammatory and divisive comments about UK being "colonised by immigrants". Yet his Manchester Untied football club, as this proud teenage MYP reminded us, was rebuilt by a diverse immigrant population, over 80 years ago, and brought unity to Manchester. Yet Radcliffe promotes division whilst not even paying a penny in UK taxes.

I would take the teenage MYP values over Radcliffe's values any day of the week. UK needs more values and hope in government. 16 year old teenagers are in education, debating political topics that have meaning to society and making choices and decisions that will affect their future and society's future. I support the vote for 16 year olds.

16 year olds have far too many other things to deal with, GCSE's, school, friendship groups, online activity, music, socialising, boyfriend/girlfriend issues etc etc. Imo they do not have the time (and probably the inclination) to spend the requisite amount of time to understand and decide which party they should vote for.

No don’t agree.. Some will deliberate but most will vote the same as their parents as influenced by what they hear. Others will vote based on personality. Then again when young teenagers they might well veer to the extreme right or extreme left just to be “different”. They lack experience and may well be influenced by the Daily Mail. Of course all the above could also apply to the older generation.

I'm another active Lib Dem but disagree with the party about lowering the voting age.
At 21, just graduating, I had no clue. The railroad of school and university shields the young from facing the economic and social realities of life.
18 is quite young enough to be able to vote - if a young person can be bothered. Which, as we know, most can't.

I was agin' it at first because I thought that the young should be protected from the responsibility of voting until 18 so allowed to be a carefree in that department just for a little bit longer.
I've been reassured that there'll be an educational programme to produce well-informed, civically responsible voters and that can't be bad. As someone has observed the franchise is wasted on some people who don't use their vote and there are adult voters who won't consider as much as a well informed youngster.*And voting in the UK is not obligatory* so they don't have to bother if they don't want.
An almost more interesting debate is the age at which people can marry , join the army etc. Those arguments are woth an essay or a book. We should decide on an age for adulthood and stick to it and then youngsters can aim at an age at which they stand on their own two feet , not fear it.
Sociey can't decide whether to mollycoddle young people or force them into adulthood at 16 by giving them the vote.
Yours faithfully haven't properley thought it through yet.

Or the Guardian, Mirror and for good measure The Sun

Brilliant, Tuliptree!

I’m 100% with @Grantanow

I don't know what age would be ideal to start voting as individuals differ a lot in maturity. It doesn't seem fair that a young person may pay taxes but has no say in how the country is governed.
I don't think 16-year-olds are more susceptible to voting influence. There are an awful lot of adults who get their information from one source only, or they just parrot the opinion of whoever is shouting the loudest. Just look at MAGA in the US. Ethnic minorities who voted for them getting surprised when they are being deported. Having said that, with all the fake news and media bias out there, it sometimes feels like a full time job trying to keep up with what's actually happening in the world. I think we, who are not in employment anymore and have more free time, have a responsibility to get informed, look at multiple news sites and channels on political issues so that we can get as objective a picture as possible.

It was in the Labour Manifesto, so it’s not a surprise. It’s worked fine in Wales. In reality, the young people who do vote are such a small proportion of the electorate that it isn’t likely to affect the outcome in many seats at all.
I think it’s a good idea for young people to be educated about the importance of using their vote whilst still at school. Hopefully it will encourage them to turn up to vote throughout their adult lives.

We absolutely should have PR.

The people rejected AV in 2011 but that is just a watered down version of FPTP.

The Labour government acquired a massive seat majority in 2024 having gained only 34% of the vote. 66% of voters didn’t want this.

The d’Hondt formula (which the Senedd will use in 2026) would allow seats to be allocated in proportion to the number of votes. That’s fair.

All indications are that, based on FPTP, we could have a hung parliament ianyway n 2029 which could cause instability and policy gridlock if no one party wins a large number of seats, albeit not an overall majority, but at least it will be fair.

Labour should be addressing this now.

*

I wonder if people are familiar with the UK Youth Parliament. It is a national, non-partisan initiative established in 1999 that empowers young people aged 11–18 to use their voice for social change.

Here is the House of Commons session which took place on 5 November 2025.

I do urge you to find the time to watch this especially from 11:56 on housing.

parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/89a3202a-c04e-4e5b-a1f1-da4df00c06d4

Mamardoit

I think 16 is too young. The age of majority is 18 and the fact that they can't marry, obtain credit, be sent to war, buy sharp knives or alcohol is good enough reason for them not to have vote. They are considered by society not to be mature enough to do these things.

I agree and they cannot leave training or education until they are 18. I taught 16-18 year olds in a FE college for many years and I can honesty say that very few of them had any interest in politics and I doubt if any of them would have voted.

I think the best argument for PR is that it’s fundamentally more democratic and potentially gives you a greater chance of making your vote count. Parties have to try and appeal to a wider range of voters for example to get your second preference vote or higher place on the list ( depending which PR system is used).

Too early! Shouldn't vote or go in the services or marry until minimum 18.

MayBee70

Going off at a tangent here but I’ve been pondering recently on proportional representation. I’ve always been against it because it seems to throw up coalitions. But I’ve been quite upset about how parties seem to be all about winning the next election and attacking the government for the sake of attacking them. Would the thought of coalitions make parties work together for the good of the country rather than constantly attacking whichever government is in power. Not saying that governments shouldn’t be held to account obviously but not criticism for the sake of it.

I so agree with you. When the country is in such a mess as this it seems a good idea to have the brightest and best forming a coalition to run the UK regardless of party.

In Scotland, 16-year-olds can leave school, work full-time, marry or enter civil partnerships without parental consent, and vote in Scottish Parliament and local council elections
They can also consent to sexual activity, leave home, open bank accounts, drink beer/wine with meals in restaurants, and drive a moped.

Voting is at 16 in Scotland, to my knowledge. When the referendum was being voted for, we teachers had to be very careful not to let personal bias show. There was a debate at the school with politicians on both sides attending. The young people showed an admirable interest in the subject and asked very pertinent questions.

Going off at a tangent here but I’ve been pondering recently on proportional representation. I’ve always been against it because it seems to throw up coalitions. But I’ve been quite upset about how parties seem to be all about winning the next election and attacking the government for the sake of attacking them. Would the thought of coalitions make parties work together for the good of the country rather than constantly attacking whichever government is in power. Not saying that governments shouldn’t be held to account obviously but not criticism for the sake of it.