Labour will extend voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds by the next general election in the most significant overhaul of Britain’s electoral system in more than half a century, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner announced today.
The sweeping reforms, which will align England and Northern Ireland with Scotland and Wales where younger voters already participate in devolved elections, represent the first change to the voting age since it was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1969.
GB News understands that whilst 16 and 17-year-olds will be able to vote at the next general election, they will not be permitted to stand as candidates at either local or parliamentary elections.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the changes would “break down barriers to participation” and restore faith in British democracy. “For too long public trust in our democracy has been damaged and faith in our institutions has been allowed to decline,” she told reporters. “We cannot take our democracy for granted, and by protecting our elections from abuse and boosting participation we will strengthen the foundations of our society for the future.”
The reforms package includes creating a digital Voter Authority Certificate and expanding acceptable voter ID to include UK-issued bank cards, reversing Conservative requirements for photo identification at polling stations. Labour also announced plans to crack down on “foreign donors” making political contributions through shell companies.
However, the move has sparked fierce political opposition, with senior Conservative MPs dismissing it as a “political stunt. One Tory source told GB News the plan amounted to “votes for children for a child’s play Government.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage warned the electoral changes could backfire spectacularly on Sir Keir Starmer’s government. It’s an attempt to rig the political system but we intend to give them a nasty surprise,” Farage declared.
Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali defended the reforms, saying: “We are modernising our democracy, so that it is fit for the 21st century. By delivering our manifesto commitment to extend the vote to 16 and 17 year olds, we are taking a generational step forward in restoring public trust and boosting engagement in UK democracy.”
The government cited the fact that 16-year-olds can work full-time, pay taxes and serve in the armed forces as justification for extending voting rights. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told ITV News: “They’re old enough to go out to work, they’re old enough to pay taxes… I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on.”
Green Party MP Ellie Chowns welcomed the announcement but urged Labour to go further. “On this one, Labour have got it right. Giving 16 and 17 year olds the vote is a long-overdue step towards a stronger, more inclusive democracy,” she said. “But if Labour are serious about renewing our democracy, this must be just the beginning. We need to go further, that means scrapping the undemocratic House of Lords, and finally delivering proportional representation so that every vote counts.
The reforms come as new polling reveals deep divisions among young people themselves about lowering the voting age. A Merlin Strategy poll of 500 teenagers found that 49 per cent of 16 and 17-year-olds do not believe they should be allowed to vote, whilst 51 per cent supported the change.
The same poll delivered potentially uncomfortable reading for Labour strategists. Whilst 33 per cent of surveyed teenagers said they would vote Labour, Reform UK came second with 20 per cent support. The Greens attracted 18 per cent, Liberal Democrats 12 per cent, and the Conservatives trailed with just 10 per cent.
Scarlett Maguire, Director of Merlin Strategy, noted: “We would expect Labour to be out ahead with younger generations… I think maybe Labour would like to have a bigger lead amongst these people, but they still have quite a convincing lead over the challenging party Reform UK.
The Electoral Commission previously found that 4 per cent of non-voters at the 2024 general election—equating to approximately 750,000 people across Great Britain—said lack of acceptable voter ID was a key reason they didn’t vote.
Under the new proposals, bank cards will be added to the list of accepted identification. Research shows over 96 per cent of the UK population has a bank account, with the majority expected to have a bank card.
The reforms will also introduce an increasingly automated voter registration system, learning from countries like Australia and Canada which have high rates of legitimate voter registration. This aims to reduce the need for citizens to repeatedly fill out their details across different government services.
Additional measures include stronger protections for candidates by removing requirements to publish home addresses and tougher sentences for those who intimidate campaigners. The Electoral Commission will gain powers to enforce heavier fines up to £500,000 for breaching political finance rules.
Parliament will debate the proposed changes, which will be included in the Elections Bill. According to House of Commons library research, countries that have lowered the voting age to 16 have seen no impact on election outcomes, with 16-year-olds more likely to vote than those first eligible at 18.
GB News host Bev Turner suggested Labour’s calculations might prove misguided, noting: “Labour are doing this because historically young people have always voted for the Labour Party, and those days are gone. The younger people that I talk to, and I’ve got two teenagers in my life, they are all much more inclined to lean to the right.
Labour Councillor Sebastian Salek defended the reforms, arguing: “Think back to being 16, not everybody goes to university, they join the jobs market, they go out there, they earn, they pay taxes.
The last time Britain changed its voting age was in 1969 when Harold Wilson’s Labour government reduced it from 21 to 18. The 2024 general election saw turnout of just 59.7 per cent, the lowest since 2001.
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Image Credit:
Polling station, 6 May 2010 – Photo by secretlondon123, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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