The British government has decided to give more teenagers a say in who runs the country. The Labour Party announced plans Thursday to lower the voting age to 16 ahead of the next general election, which is due in 2029, the BBC reports. The change would extend the right to vote to more than 1.6 million 16- and 17-year-olds, marking the largest expansion of the franchise in the UK in over fifty years, reports the New York Times. The last reduction in voting age—from 21 to 18—came in 1969. The voting age is already 16 in local and regional elections in Scotland and Wales.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner cited declining trust in democratic institutions as a driving force behind the initiative, arguing that younger voices are needed to revitalize public engagement. The plan also includes measures to tighten restrictions on foreign donations to political parties and simplify the voter registration process, potentially making it easier for more people to participate in elections. The Labour Party campaigned on the issue and now holds a sizable majority in Parliament, making passage likely.
The AP notes that a few other countries allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in national elections, including Austria, Brazil, and Ecuador. The UK's move follows a drop in turnout in last year's election to 59.7%, the lowest level in more than two decades. Polls in the UK have long shown younger voters leaning left, meaning the change could give Labour and the Green Party a modest boost in the next election, the Times notes. Nigel Farage, leader of the far-right Reform Party, said the change is an effort to "rig the political system, but we intend to give them a nasty surprise," the Telegraph reports.
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