Latest news with #voting age
France 24
2 days ago
- Politics
- France 24
Tomorrowland festival begins days after fire destroyed main stage
01:41 18/07/2025 UK lowers voting age to 16 in historic electoral reform 17/07/2025 Taipei holds air raid drill to prepare for Chinese attack Asia / Pacific 17/07/2025 Church attack will hit Gaza's Catholic community 'terribly' Middle East 17/07/2025 Death toll from south Syria violence rises to 594: monitor Middle East 17/07/2025 Syrian Bedouin fighters mount new offensive in Sweida against Druze fighters despite truce Middle East 17/07/2025 Trump lashes out at MAGA base as Epstein row escalates Americas 17/07/2025 Israeli strike hits Gaza church, killing 3 and wounding priest who was close to Pope Francis Middle East 17/07/2025 Who are the Middle East's Druze minority? Middle East 17/07/2025 Starmer and Merz sign UK-Germany treaty
Sky News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News
Will extending the vote to 16-year-olds benefit Labour at the next general election?
Breaking down barriers to democratic participation, or electioneering that tilts the scales in the government's favour? Labour have announced plans to extend the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds in time for the next general election. The Greens, the Lib Dems and the SNP are in favour, but the Conservatives and Reform UK are not. If you look at the latest polling, and indeed historical polling, you might be able to work out why. A ballot of more than 22,000 under-18s, carried out prior to the 2024 general election, had the Greens in second place with the Conservatives in fifth. In the real election, the Conservatives ended up in second place, recording a vote share 15 points higher among the general population than they received among those not old enough to vote. The Greens, in contrast, ended up in fifth, with a vote share more than 20 points lower than that recorded in the youth poll. A year is a long time in politics, and Labour have slipped in popularity since that vote, while Reform have surged to a lead in recent polling. But not so among the youngest age group of currently eligible voters. Labour still lead with 18-24-year-olds, while Reform sit in fifth, according to the latest YouGov poll carried out for Sky News. Sky News election analyst Professor Will Jennings says there is no reason to expect that voting behaviour among 16 and 17-year-olds will be significantly different to those closest to them in age. "Young people tend to vote for parties of the left, but this change will not lead to a dramatic rebalancing of electoral power" Prof Will Jennings, Sky News election analyst Giving the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds has significant electoral implications, though the consequences may be overstated. As a group, young people tend to vote heavily for parties of the left - not just Labour, but also the Greens and the Liberal Democrats, and the SNP in Scotland. In the 2024 general election, according to the British Election Study online panel, Labour secured 41% of the vote among 18-25s, with the Liberal Democrats on 17% and the Greens on 16%. The latest YouGov polling for Sky News puts Labour much more narrowly ahead of the Greens (by 28% to 26%) - a shift that highlights that the government cannot take the support of young people for granted. For both Reform UK and the Conservatives, young people are the group of voters where they have lowest support - compared to other age groups. One of the defining characteristics of young people is that they tend to turn out to vote at lower rates than older age groups. In recent elections the percentage of over-65s who have turned out to vote has been approximately 15-20% greater than the share of those aged between 18 and 25. Also, in terms of the UK's population 'pyramid' - generational differences in birth rates mean there are considerably fewer 16-year-olds than 50-year-olds (750,000 vs 900,000). Combined, this means that while the electorate at the next general election will now include a slightly more left-leaning demographic, this will not lead to a dramatic rebalancing of electoral power. Older voters continue to be a dominant part of the electorate and this change will only shift the dial a fraction in a leftward direction. How significant will their votes be at the general election? This is another question entirely. Adding 16 and 17-year-olds to the electorate only adds an extra 2.9% of potential votes. There are fewer 16 and 17-year-olds in the UK than there are people aged 60 or 61, or people aged 86+. That might still be enough to make an impact in some constituencies, but it's not enough to bring about any huge nationwide swings. The fact that it's only an extra 2.9% of "potential" votes is significant as well. Young people already turn out to vote at lower rates than older people. In 2024, people aged 65 or older were twice as likely to vote as someone aged between 18 and 24. And it doesn't look like 16 and 17-year-olds are about to buck that trend. A poll of 500 16 and 17-year-olds, carried out by Merlin Strategy this week on behalf of ITV News, found that only 18% said they would definitely vote if there was an election tomorrow, while 49% said they didn't think that they or their peers should be given the chance to vote at all. What's happened in other countries? We don't need to look too far for evidence on this. In fact, we can stay within the UK - Scotland gave the vote to 16-year-olds at the 2014 independence referendum and extended that for the 2016 and 2021 Scottish parliament elections. Analysis suggests that it has been successful at boosting electoral engagement in both the immediate and longer-term. At the 2014 referendum, voters aged 16 and 17 turned out in higher numbers than other young voters, albeit still at lower rates than the population at-large. And voters who were first eligible to vote at 16 also continued to vote in higher numbers than their slightly older peers in subsequent elections - according to joint research from the Universities of Sheffield and Edinburgh, and political participation think tank d-part. The Welsh government also extended the vote to 16-year-olds for the 2021 Senedd elections, while the crown dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man have allowed 16-year-olds to vote in their assembly elections since before 2010. Globally, however, there are only seven sovereign nations that currently allow 16-year-olds to vote in national elections. Two are in Europe (Austria and Malta), while the remainder (Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua) are all in Latin America. The United Arab Emirates has the oldest voting age in the world, at 25, a full four years older than the next set of countries. The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
What happened the last time a Labour government opted to lower the voting age?
Grappling with economic difficulties including rising prices at a time of accelerated social change and growing concerns about immigration, Harold Wilson's Labour government introduced legislation to lower the voting age. The Representation of the People Act 1969 was a major milestone in the development of modern democracy, as the UK became the first country to lower the voting age from 21 to 18. The Act triggered change elsewhere as other democracies soon followed suit. The economic and social conditions in the late 60s have clear parallels with those facing the current Labour Government, while the announcement of its intention to lower the voting age to 16 has been described as the biggest reform to our electoral system since 1969. Sir Keir Starmer said it was 'important' to lower the voting age, as 16-year-olds were old enough to work and 'pay in' through tax, so should 'have the opportunity' to say how they wanted their money spent. Polling suggests Labour stand to gain the most from reform, with 33% of 16 and 17-year-olds polled by ITV news saying they would back the party, while 20% said they would choose Reform UK and 18% the Greens. Therefore, while ministers will not accept that electoral advantage is a motivating factor for the changes, some opponents may argue that this is the case. Some historians suggest an expectation of a boost in vote share was not a factor in decision making within Harold Wilson's administration at the time. This, it is claimed, was because the voting intentions of younger people were far from clear. But in his history of the Labour Party, Andrew Thorpe claimed the lowering of the voting age was 'less a principled commitment to young people than a piece of gerrymandering based on the assumption that young people were more likely to vote Labour than Conservative'. While today some argue that lowering the voting age will counter political apathy or disenchantment among the young, research by the University of Huddersfield found no evidence that this fuelled demands for reform in the 1960s. It highlighted that there was no significant difference in turnout between young and older voters prior to the 1969 Act, with large numbers of young people joining youth organisations linked with the main political parties. However, amid contemporary concerns about radicalisation, the push for voting at 18 in the 1960s has been linked in part to growing concern that social alienation among the young could lead to 'widespread antidemocratic embrace of either far-left or nationalist causes'. The path to reform was set when the government in 1965 announced that a committee chaired by Justice John Latey would examine at what age individuals are considered an adult. Published in 1967, the committee concluded that young people aged 18 should have adult rights, including owning property and being able to marry without the consent of their parents. The report said: 'This Committee is convinced that we must ensure that the young go out into the world as fully prepared for their adult responsibilities as possible, and that in giving them adult status at 18 we are doing no more than recognising the simple facts.' Some in Harold Wilson's cabinet were against reform, but the matter was resolved in favour of change and the government published a white paper. Some of the subsequent arguments against reform at the time were said to focus on what can be considered the appropriate age of 'maturity' and contained 'assertions over the extent to which young people were competent, sentient humans, capable of voting', according to the University of Huddersfield research. However, advocates at the time echoed arguments regularly heard today under the principle of 'no taxation without representation'. Conservatives repeatedly requested a free vote on the issue, but the Labour government – with an overall majority of 67 – whipped its MPs, suggesting a nervousness over the depth of commitment to reform. The Representation of the People Bill passed into law in July 1969, but by the following year the Labour Party had lost a total of 16 seats in by-elections. The economy was showing signs of improvement, boosting Labour's standing in the polls and prompting Mr Wilson to call a general election. But, in what many observers considered a surprise result, Labour was defeated by the Conservatives led by Edward Heath. In the context of arguments then and now about political engagement and lowering the voting age, it is notable that the 72% turnout at the election was the lowest since 1955. Census data suggested that although about 800,000 newly-enfranchised 18 to 20-year-olds were due to be added to the electoral register for the general election, only 464,000 were actually registered. Lowering the voting age was also considered under the last Labour government led by Tony Blair and later Gordon Brown. Neither leader formally declared a commitment to enfranchising 16-year-olds, but the issue was debated in Parliament and supported by some Labour MPs. However, there was not widespread cross-party backing for reform at the time, with many Conservatives either opposed or unenthusiastic about reform, raising the prospect of legislation facing a difficult passage through Parliament. Competing policy priorities have also been cited as a factor in electoral reform being sidelined, with issues such as constitutional reform, health and the economy taking up political bandwidth. Historians have also referenced concerns over potential controversy due to doubts over public support, while the lack of a prominent campaign for change is said to have prevented votes at 16 gaining momentum.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Join the army, work full-time … and now vote: what 16-year-olds can do in the UK
Turning 16 opens up a whole suite of exciting new freedoms. Now, those celebrating their baby steps into adulthood in the UK have another thrilling task for their to-do lists: heading to the voting booth. Thursday marked one of the largest changes to the country's democratic system in recent times after Labour announced the voting age would be lowered to 16 before the next general election. Scotland and Wales have already made the change for Holyrood and Senedd elections, as well as local council elections, but the move means 16-year-olds will have a say over who becomes prime minister for the first time. For some, the change has been a long time coming, especially considering what 16-year-olds can already legally do: Those aged 16 and 17 can join the British army as a junior soldier, where they will learn survival skills including handling and firing weapons. They earn above minimum wage for their age group, with monthly pay starting between £1,500 and £1,800. Accommodation and other bills are paid for. For some people, ringing in the 16th year is accompanied with bottles of suspiciously cheap booze and a raging house party. However, for those who want to stay out of trouble but still fancy a tipple, a pub under the watchful eye of an adult may be the best setup. It is against the law to buy alcohol or drink it in licensed premises alone but, if you are 16 or 17 and accompanied by an adult, you can drink beer, wine or cider with a meal. The drink must be bought by someone over 18. Although unable to buy it, 16- and 17-year-olds can legally serve alcohol in a restaurant. The late teens are often a time when youngsters make impulsive decisions they later regret. Ill-fated tattoos, questionable fashion choices and horrible music tastes all fit the bill, but some changes are harder to reverse. Sixteen-year-olds in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can legally change their names. All it takes is a dare gone wrong or a deluded belief that a nickname will still sound cool at 50 to take the plunge. Youngsters in Scotland have to wait until they turn 18 for the privilege. The days of stretching out lunch money or hoarding birthday cash to buy a pair of new trainers are gone. At 16 you can work most full-time jobs. You can also open a bank account on your own, meaning you can keep your parents' noses out of your financial affairs. Don't disregard their advice altogether, however. They're right sometimes.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Sixteen and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in next general election
Sixteen and 17 year olds will be able to vote in all UK elections in the biggest reform to the electoral system since 1969. The government said it will give young people the right to vote in the next general election, something Labour promised in its manifesto last summer. They can already vote in Senedd elections in Wales and Holyrood elections in Scotland, but this will mean all 16 and 17 year olds across all four UK nations can vote in local, regional and general elections. Politics latest: Up to 9.5 million more people will now be able to vote, the IPPR thinktank said. The latest figures show 48,208,507 people are registered to vote. The last time the voting age was changed was in 1969 when it was reduced from 21 to 18. The government has said the change will "boost democratic engagement in a changing world, and help to restore trust in UK democracy". Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: "For too long public trust in our democracy has been damaged and faith in our institutions has been allowed to decline. "We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy, supporting our Plan for Change, and delivering on our manifesto commitment to give 16 year olds the right to vote. "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." Read more: Bank cards allowed as voter ID As part of the strategy, voter ID will also be extended to include UK-issued bank cards. Conservative shadow local government minister Paul Holmes raised concerns using bank cards for ID will "undermine the security of the ballot box". When other IDs that are already accepted, such as the veteran card and UK driving licences, become digitised, they will also be accepted in that form. A digital Voter Authority Certificate will also be created to ensure electoral registration officers, who maintain registers of electors and absent voters, will be able to accept digital forms of ID. Close loopholes for foreign donors In an effort to boost transparency and accountability in politics, the government said it will close loopholes allowing foreign donors via "shell companies" to influence UK political parties. New requirements will be introduced so unincorporated associations will have to carry out checks on donations over £500 to tackle foreign interference. The Electoral Commission will also be given new powers to enforce heavier fines of up to £500,000 on those who breach political finance rules, and enable tougher sentences for those who abuse election campaigners.
