Giving 16-year-olds the vote is a policy Labour cannot U-turn on

Labour is set to lower the voting age for all British elections to 16, and, although I am now double the age of being personally affected, can only think it is a good move.

Sir Keir Starmer last week announced that the age would be reduced from 18 as part of an act that is on its way through the Parliamentary process.

While it is true that Labour would stand to benefit more than the Conservatives from a reduction in age (not every teen is like Harry Enfield’s austerity-loving Tory Boy, or that pre-beard Reform council leader), this might be more than electioneering. Or, at the very least, this is electioneering that has served an overall good.

Giving 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in general elections and all English local elections does democratically better serve the UK as it evens up the whole country with what is currently practised in Scotland.

Naturally, there has been some Conservative opposition to the plan, and it has been the task of the shadow local government secretary of the day, Sir James Cleverly, to dust off the old arguments about why the age bracket should be deprived.

"The Conservatives are clear that people become adults at 18,” he read from the playbook. “And that is when citizenship rights – such as voting – should be gained."

Yet, 16-year-olds are allowed to work (and have sex) while 17-year-olds are allowed to drive. As the prime minister has said, “they are old enough to pay taxes” and therefore should have a say in how their money is spent.

And as for the time-old, condescending argument that they are too young to understand politics, it is simply not true. Sixth formers know better than anyone about the issues of leaving home, finding a job, the tribulations of the education system, and how uneven society is. They are living so many of the issues that those older than them are complaining about and voting on.

I might not have known more at 16 and 17 than I do now. But when was it that I was spending the most time in political debate with my contemporaries? It was when I was a sixth former. This was even the period when I would watch the unholy trinity of the News at 10, Newsnight, and Question Time without feeling I was in some personal hell.

So, let’s have this, Sir Keir, and I just hope it’s not another Labour U-Turn. A voter of any age would be able to feel frustrated between what’s promised and what’s delivered.

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William Mata is a writer and SEO editor for LBC.

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