Votes at 16? The UK announces major changes to the franchise
In July 2025, the UK government announces plans to give the vote to 16-year-olds at the next election. The commitment had been in the Labour Party’s 2024 manifesto and will help to bring England into line with Scotland and Wales, both of whom allow 16-17-year-olds to vote in council elections.
The move is seen by some as being a positive step towards engaging younger people in voting. Where 16–17-year-olds have been able to vote they turn out in larger numbers than 18–24-year-olds so it is hoped that by voting when they are younger, they will carry on voting when they are old. As Angela Rayner said, “by engaging voters early, when they are young, and allowing them to have a say in shaping their future, we will build the foundations for their lifelong participation in our electoral processes.” This has been the case in Scotland where the 16-17-year-olds whi have been able to vote continues to vote more consistently then the age groups above them who did not have the vote at 16.
Others have seen granting votes to 16–17-year-olds as a cynical ploy by the government to win more votes. Younger voters do tend to vote for more left-wing parties but whether this will lead to more votes for the current Labour government is less certain. In fact, a recent poll by Focaldata has determined that Labour and the Greens would only gain 0.2% at the expense of the Conservatives and Reform Party.
It has also been argued that lowering the age by which you can vote is goes against the recent trend of raising the age at which you can get married, buy fireworks and cigarettes for example. Despite this, 16-17-year-olds do pay income tax on any earnings and as any American revolutionary will tell you, ‘taxation without representation if theft’ and therefore the right to vote is only fair.
Other electoral changes
The government also announced that it would allow more types of voter ID to be used and would accept UK issued bank cards as a form of ID. This comes on complaints that rules on the types of ID that could be used made voting in 2024 more difficult. According to the Electoral Commission roughly 4% of people did not vote because of voter ID rules.
It was also announced that an automated system will place people on the electoral register. Currently, you have to register to vote and it has been estimated that 7 million people are missing from the register, with young people and those renting disproportionately affected.
