At the moment, in the U.K., over 1.5 million 16- and 17-year-olds are too young to vote in elections. The latest general election in Britain saw the highest number of 18-to-24-year-old voters in decades, which has sparked the question: if this generation is so politically informed why should we deny 16 and 17 year olds a say in their countries leadership?
Labour MP Jim McMahon has been at the forefront of this campaign, proposing not only for the voting age to be lowered, but also for political education to be taught in schools.
He told BBC Newsbeat in an interview, “The young people that I come into contact with understand issues and they get behind campaigns.” Being 16 myself, I agree with McMahon that the younger generation are so much more politically informed that the older generations would like to think.
It’s time young people had a voice in our democracy and a say in their futures. Sign & share this for #votesat16 ↓https://t.co/wuGi3GmGR4 pic.twitter.com/M57IpvmAWl
— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) November 1, 2017
The campaign is also strongly backed up by Labour’s leader Jeremy Corybn, who has tweeted numerous times in the campaign’s favor.
On Friday, MPs will be able to support a Bill to bring the voting age down to 16. RT this video & sign our petition: https://t.co/163nPbp1M8 pic.twitter.com/Up0w3LGNOP
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) November 1, 2017
“We cannot allow this conservative government to deny one-and-a-half-million young people their full rights as citizens.”
Corbyn is not alone in supporting the voting age being lowered. The Scottish National Party, the Lib Dems and Green party are alongside Labour in this matter, but the Conservatives are noticeably absent from this list. Theresa May has previously stated before this year’s general election, ‘You have to pick a point at which you think it is right for the voting age to be. I continue to think it is right for it to be 18.’
The campaign is set to be presented to MPs in parliament tomorrow, Friday, Nov. 3.
This Friday my Bill to lower voting age to 16 will be debated. Cross-party support – the time has come #VotesAt16 https://t.co/FR7ipTqpH3 pic.twitter.com/KGACFrh9ZM
— Jim McMahon MP (@JimfromOldham) October 30, 2017
