
Voting age: 16 and 17-year-olds to be able to vote in future Stormont elections
The minimum voting age is already 16 for local council elections in Scotland and Wales, and elections to the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd (Welsh Parliament).However for other elections, including to the UK Parliament, local elections in England and all elections in Northern Ireland, it is 18.An Electoral Commission spokeswoman said: "The lowering of the voting age will apply to all elections in Northern Ireland, including Westminster, assembly and council elections."The change is expected to be in place for the 2029 Westminster elections, but it's unlikely to be implemented ahead of the 2027 assembly and local council elections in Northern Ireland."
What have Stormont parties said?
The Stormont assembly has twice supported a motion calling for changes to the voting age - first in 2012 and again last year, but without the support of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Claire Hanna welcomed the extension of voting to 16 and 17-year-olds."At this age many young people are already out working part-time or contributing to our society in other ways and it's important this has been recognised in the form of voting rights," the MP for South Belfast and Mid Down said.In a post on X, First Minister Michelle O'Neill said she welcomed the news and that it was a "step forward for democracy and will enable young people to have a say in their future".O'Neill said she would "now be contacting the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, urging him to ensure that the right to vote at 16 applies to the 2027 Assembly and Council elections in the north".
Alliance Party assembly member Sian Mulholland said the "disenfranchisement of our society's young people" has been a "major democratic deficit"."However, time is of the essence and we need urgent clarification that it will be a priority to see this implemented in time for the next NI Assembly election in 2027. We cannot afford any further delay," she added.
DUP MLA Brian Kingston said it is "not clear how the Government can justifiably set the voting age at 16 rather than the current age threshold"."The prime minister's rationale for this move is essentially a 'no taxation without representation' argument," he said."It is high time the government applied the same logic to Northern Ireland, where taxpayers here have no say on laws imposed by the European Union," Kingston said.In April, Secretary of State Hilary Benn said the government was "absolutely committed" to changing the law in Northern Ireland, but he did not give a timeframe.The change is part of a raft of measures being introduced through a new Elections Bill, including changes to forms of voter ID and tightening rules on political donations to protect against foreign interference.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Reuters
26 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trump says Israel will have to 'make a decision' on next steps in Gaza
TURNBERRY, Scotland, July 27 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday Israel would have to make a decision on next steps in Gaza, adding that he did not know what would happen after moves by Israel to pull out of ceasefire and hostage-release negotiations with the Hamas militant group. Trump underscored the importance of securing the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, saying they had suddenly "hardened" up on the issue. "They don't want to give them back, and so Israel is going to have to make a decision," Trump told reporters at the start of a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at his golf property in Turnberry, Scotland.


The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Hundreds of DfT civil servants to be moved to state-owned rail operator
Hundreds of civil servants are being transferred from the Department for Transport to the state-owned rail operator as the government looks to cut Whitehall posts and overhaul the railways. Ministers have been pushing to find savings from across the civil service, but a government spokesperson denied there would be immediate redundancies in what bosses told staff was a 'critical phase' of the creation of Great British Railways (GBR). However, industry sources believe jobs will go, as employees consider their future outside the civil service, and the government attempts to cut costs and reduce duplication in a nationalised railway. A message to staff from two rail director generals, Richard Goodman and Alex Hynes, said the DfT was 'entering an exciting and critical phase of rail reform' and had 'updated colleagues involved in the moves about what this approach' would mean for them. A formal consultation process is beginning that could lead to 300 employees being moved out over the course of this year, with many heading to offices in London Waterloo, as the state holding company DfT Operator Limited (DfTO) takes more train operators under its control. The Essex commuter service C2C was brought into public hands a week ago. This followed the first planned nationalisation, of South Western services, in May. Under government plans, the country's remaining passengerservices will be renationalised and the railway will be run by GBR that will also incorporate the functions of Network Rail to integrate track and trains. A DfT spokesperson said: 'There will be no redundancies as a result of these moves into DfTO. The 200-300 DfT staff involved will transfer to DfTO, bringing their work, skills and expertise closer to the frontline of a publicly owned railway. This will bring us a step closer to ending the fragmented railway we see today, towards a railway run as a business by industry professionals.' The DfTO chief executive, Robin Gisby, will not see through the transition to GBR, after it was announced that he would be stepping down in December. Gisby had run state-owned train operations for seven years, and had said two weeks earlier that he would continue to work through the transition. However, sources indicated that GBR would now probably not be up and running until 2028. The DfT spokesperson added: 'DfTO is about to enter a pivotal phase and will be appointing a successor to lead the publicly owned operators through this change, bringing the network together under one mission.' The chief executive of Network Rail, Sir Andrew Haines, is also retiring in the autumn. His successor was last week named as Jeremy Westlake, currently chief financial officer. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Haines and Gisby are leaving at a time of the biggest operational upheaval in Britain's railways for many years, the December 2025 timetable change. The new timetable is intended to allow for the benefits of billions of pounds spent upgrading the east coast mainline, to include faster trains to Edinburgh and more services to stations along the route. Previously expected last December, it was postponed amid fears of a repeat of the chaos that followed a switch in May 2018. Sources said the new timetable would still be 'challenging' but the industry was under pressure to demonstrate the worth of the investment. Passengers on the line faced disruptions on Sunday when overrunning engineering works and a power failure in north London meant no trains could run out of Kings Cross until the afternoon.


The Guardian
26 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Letter: Lord Lipsey obituary
Among his multiple accomplishments and achievements, the commitment of David Lipsey to classical music education stood out. Unlike too many politicians, who merely talk the talk about the arts, David walked the walk. He was chair of governors at Trinity Laban Conservatoire, 2012-17, leading its transformation into Britain's first university level college of both music and dance, and establishing Trinity Laban as the inclusive and innovative creative institution it is today. He often spoke up for the arts, and for music education in particular, in the House of Lords, where he chaired the all-party classical music group. He also put his money where his mouth was, supporting young pianists and other artists with generous endowments.