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The UK government has announced plans for new voting laws, proposing to grant 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in national elections for the first time.
Ministers said this is because young people “are the country’s future.”
This expansion of the franchise, part of the Representation of the People Bill, follows previous eligibility for Welsh and Scottish Parliament elections, and Scotland’s 2014 independence referendum.
The Bill also includes new rules on automatic voter registration, restrictions on foreign donations, and measures to prevent intimidation of candidates and election staff.
It would further repeal the Government’s ability to designate a strategy and policy statement for the Electoral Commission.
Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed said: “The reason the Bill extends the vote to younger people aged 16, 17 years old is simple. It’s because young people are our nation’s future. The voting age has stood at 18 since it was lowered from 21 by the Representation of the People Act in 1969.”
Mr Reed added: “This change will bring consistency to the voting age for all statutory elections across the United Kingdom.”
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Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary Steve Reed (PA Wire)
He went on to lay out the evolution of voting laws in the UK under the Representation of the People Act.
Mr Reed said: “In an age of change, with new threats to our freedom arising, we must stand up and tackle foreign interference head-on. In a society transformed by new technologies, we must introduce automatic voter registration, and in this country, where politics feels distant for too many, we must bring democracy closer to people.
“Britain will always be a democracy because the people of this country will never have it any other way, and because the choices of the British people must always lead our nation. This is a Representation of the People Bill inspired by tradition and legislating for the future.”
The move is being opposed by the Conservative Party. It has tabled an amendment to the Bill, which is due to get its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
The Tories’ amendment – which would halt the Bill – said reducing the voting age from 18 to 16 is “inconsistent with and contradictory to other aspects of the Government’s position on ages of majority and citizenship”.
It also warned of a risk that automatic voter registration could lead to fraud.
Shadow housing, communities and local government secretary Sir James Cleverly said: “When Parliament legislates on elections and franchise, it is not passing an ordinary Bill, it is rewriting the rules by which MPs and by extension Governments are chosen and removed.
“Therefore changes to those rules should be done carefully, after proper consultation, and fully in the knowledge of the potential knock-on effects.”
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The Tories said automatic voter registration could lead to fraud (PA Archive)
Sir James added: “This Bill unfortunately falls woefully short. It creates deep inconsistencies around the age of maturity, it risks weakening the integrity of the electoral register, it side-steps serious questions on foreign interference in our politics, it reduces protections against electoral fraud and it has been introduced without proper consultation.”
He also argued that extending the vote to 16-year-olds means the Government “is intending to give votes to children, or the Government wants to redefine 16 and 17-year-olds as not children”.
In an intervention, Tory MP Gregory Stafford (Farnham and Bordon) asked why the Government was reducing the voting age, but 16 and 17-year-olds would not be able to stand for election.
Mr Stafford said: “Surely if you can vote for the lawmaker, you can be a lawmaker? Surely that’s the incoherence in his argument?”
Mr Reed said teenagers in that bracket deserved to be able to vote, because they are able to serve in the armed forces.
Backbench MPs called for further rigour around donations. Labour MP Dame Emily Thornberry (Islington South and Finsbury) asked whether there would be a ban on cryptocurrency donations.
Mr Reed replied: “There are huge concerns about cryptocurrency, not least because you can’t track where the funding has come from. So we have charged Sir Philip Rycroft with conducting a review into these matters. His recommendations will be incorporated into the Bill.”
Democratic Unionist Party MP Jim Shannon (Strangford) said he feared new rules about donations from companies to UK political parties, having to come from firms with links to the UK may disadvantage some parties in Northern Ireland.
He referred to some parties operating across the Irish border. Sinn Fein, which has MPs who do not attend the House of Commons, is active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Mr Shannon said: “Can the minister indicate what controls there will be to ensure that money does not transverse the border in such a way to disadvantage those of us in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?”
Mr Reed said the existing rules covering Northern Ireland will continue.
Lisa Smart, the Liberal Democrats’ Cabinet Office spokeswoman, said her party would vote in support, but argued the Bill falls “woefully short”, insisting “root and branch” reforms are needed.
“The Government claims to be modernising our democracy, but this Bill does not fix our outdated system, which continues to reward the most cynical members of the political establishment at the expense of everyone else,” she said.
“Where is the new accountability for politicians? Where are the robust measures to really stamp out corruption and interference?
“And why is there nothing that addresses a voting system that was out of date a century ago, undermines accountability and is profoundly unfair.”