Votes at 16 – A Vote Winner or a Big Risk?

The Government has put votes at 16 at the heart of a new electoral reform package which also includes plans to expand the list of approved ID documents for voting; updates to electoral regulations, and automatic voter registration.

While it has long been thought youngsters would lean towards voting Labour, analysis by Sky News shows that the Green Party would in fact have been the biggest beneficiary of a lower voting age at the 2024 general election. Almost 30% of under 18 year olds polled in June 2024 picked the Greens, with Labour just ahead on 31.8%.

In the actual election the Greens reached just 6.7% so a large turnout of newly-enfranchised 16 and 17 year olds could have made a significant difference on the left.

What’s less clear is the impact on the right. Reform UK claim that young people have them in second place, but a recent YouGov poll has the party fifth among 18-24s, with Labour and the Greens well in the lead.

Political education – expected to feature in the upcoming curriculum review – is the other part of the picture.

The challenge for the traditional parties, of course, is that the internet and its influencers won’t be waiting for a PHSE lesson to persuade young people to consider other political avenues.

Smaller parties are well aware of this and already using social media more than ever before to pick up those all-important younger voters. Nigel Farage famously has a bigger TikTok following than other leaders put together.

The battle for influence over the next generation starts now.