There are over 1.5 million 16- and 17-year-olds in the UK who cannot vote. During the Scottish independence referendum, many young people engaged with political campaigns and contributed to public debate. While Ed Miliband and the Labour Party support lowering the voting age to 16, David Cameron would leave the decision up to MPs but personally supports the age of 18, and some accuse Labour of pursuing this issue to gain more votes from young people.

1. There are over 1.5 million 16 and 17 year olds in the UK who are denied the vote. At the
time of the Scottish referendum, a lot of 16 – 18 year olds were getting engaged with the
campaigns. They all continued to make highly positive contributions to the public debate
about the future of Scotland. Not only was Alex Salmond impressed by all the support but so
was Ed Miliband. In fact, he was so impressed he restated at the Manchester party
conference that a labour government would introduce votes at the age of 16 to allow us to
“hear the voice of young people in our politics”. David Cameron also got involved by saying
he would be open to leaving it up to MP’s in the Commons to decide whether the vote
should be extended to 16 – 17 year olds, but personally he thinks the is age is 18.
I have asked a few people within the ages of 16 – 40 whether or not they think the voting
age should be lowered and why?
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The final question I asked them was if they think lowering the voting age is a ploy for Labour
to receive more votes.
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