The UK voting age is 18 for general elections, English local elections and those in Northern Ireland. It is already 16 for devolved elections in Scotland and Wales. The Representation of the People Bill introduced in February 2026 aims to lower it to 16 UK-wide in time for the next general election by 2029, enfranchising around 1.5 million 16 and 17 year olds who already pay taxes, work and can join the armed forces.
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23 Opinions
Pure gerrymandering by left. I would raise it to 21. When people start earning & paying taxes they realise how Politicians lie to them. So 16 year olds are banned from social media, cannot fight in the Army, can’t drink, can’t marry without a Parents / Guardians consent, can’t smoke etc etc. Why do we let the Labour Party get away with their corrupt attempts to skew the voting & elections just because they have NO…., ZERO policies and are not fit to govern, & never will be.
No. What we should be doing is changing the voting age back to 21!
This is a desperate attempt for more votes by Labour. 16 year olds have no experience of the world or politics. If a party chooses a good song, dresses up and messes about, they will attract children. You can't drink or smoke until your 18. You can't drive until your 17. Why? You're not mature enough. To vote you need to be able to see past the glitz & hilarity to understand policies. With age comes maturity in most cases.
Hell no. Children have little to no life experience at 16 and need to be insulated from bad decisions (such as voting Green). No voting until you are subject to all the rules of society. We have youth offending rules for a reason. We don't let children fight for their country for a reason. We restrict the sale of certain goods, prevent access to services, for a reason.
Voting is for adults. So while 16 is legally childhood, No. However, I'm open to debating whether 16 should be the point of legal adulthood. That would mean smoking and drinking, marriage, driving, tattoos, OnlyFans, serving in the army and being sent to adult prison, amongst other things. If we accept that 16 is adulthood, then all these apply, and so does voting I'm not against 16yo voters per se, I'm just against treating them as adults for this but not everything else
lowering the voting age is a cynical proposal from politicians who mistakenly assume that 16 year olds are more malleable and predictable than older voters.
No. A job and a tax code are not a completed political education. Sixteen already votes in two devolved systems. Westminster is not a classroom. If their feed is approved content and opposition is a Prevent referral, you are not giving them a say. You are counting a managed audience. Keep the general election at 18.
Functionally mature at 16, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) performs the kind of logic, integration, and rational thinking required to evaluate candidates and cast a vote. However, it is the last part of the brain to finish developing, somewhere in the mid-20s.
Definitely, as part of a wider campaign to improve democratic engagement among younger people. Voting rates are worryingly low in the younger age groups and promoting the duty to vote should be done whilst they are still in education.
16 years old is too young, 21 year old are not much better. Let it be privilege of being a technical adult. Unless we drop legal responsibility of being an adult to 16 and treat them like adults in courts of law,, driving, going to war etc. Or just let 16 year old be children still learning the basics.