Growing concerns about an uncertain future have led to increasing interest in and arguments for lowering the voting age in the UK. The current high profile of young political and environmental activists (such as Greta Thunberg), walk-outs from schools and protests at the climate crisis and socio-political anxieties (such as Brexit, the rise of far right politics and the housing crisis) are all factors which will have a significant impact in the future of the present young generation.
Dr Richard Huggins, Academic Manager and Lecturer, explores the topic.
Changes to the voting age do not happen very often.
The 1969 Representation of the People’s Act, which came into force in 1970, resulted in lowering the age at which people could vote from 21 to 18. This brought the voting age into line with the reduction of the ‘age of majority’ (the age at which individuals are seen as full adults). In the half-century since, arguments both for and against lowering the age further have been discussed. But so far, with one notable exception which we will explore later in this piece, the age has remained unchanged.
What arguments can be made to support lowering the age of voting further?
One of the most powerful arguments is that young people already have a number of responsibilities and rights at 16 which seems at odds with not being allowed to vote. For example, they can leave school (although in England they must remain in some form of education or training until 18), they can work, pay taxes, engage in consenting sexual relationships, join the army and drive a moped. All of which suggests that young people are seen to have significant social and personal competence (an implicit criteria of having the vote).
However, individuals under 18 are classified as children by both the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child and the 1989 Children Act in the UK.
Many see individuals in this age group as unreliable, easily influenced and too immature to understand the importance of the vote and critical political issues. Others suggest that certain vested interests are worried that young people are more likely to support radical and progressive political interventions and programmes.
I mentioned an exception to the lack of changes to the age at which people can vote that is often overlooked.
In 2013, the Scottish Independence Referendum Act paved the way for the Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014. Accompanying this act was the 2013 Scottish Independence Referendum (Franchise) Act 2013 which permitted young people to vote in the referendum at the age of 16. Over 100,000 young people aged 16 and 17 voted in the referendum with the vast majority voting in favour of independence. This development represented a recognition that potential significant political change should involve at least some of those most likely to be affected in the future – something that might have been relevant to Brexit, for example. This reforming pattern continues. In 2015, 16 year olds in Scotland were given the vote in Scottish Assembly and local council elections, and 16 year olds in Wales were allowed to vote in the Welsh Assembly elections in 2021. So far, voters in the age group 16-18 turn out to vote at higher rates than 18-24 year olds and turn out at higher rates than national averages (around 75% according to the Electoral Reform Society).
So the question is not should the voting age be lowered to 16, but rather why is England not permitting 16 year olds to vote when other parts of the UK already do?
Given what has recently happened in Wales and Scotland – and the heightened interest in future challenges to the environment, democracy and long-term social and economic well-being – surely it can only be a matter of time before England aligns its voting age with its immediate neighbours.
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