Could 4 July be the last election to exclude 16- and 17-year-old voters?

Could the upcoming July general election be the last one that excludes the vote of sixteen and seventeen year olds?

Transcript

00:00Could England soon join the likes of Wales and Scotland, and lower the voting age to

00:07include 16 and 17-year-olds? That's what Labour leader Sikir Starmer has confirmed his party

00:12would make a top priority if they come to power after July's general election.

00:17It's not the first time Labour was behind a voting age policy. In 1969, Britain became

00:21the first major nation to change the voting age from 21 down to 18 for parliamentary elections.

00:28Patrick English, Director of Political Analytics at YouGov, told The Times,

00:32We would generally expect the lowering of the voting age would be electorally advantageous

00:36to Labour, as younger people are significantly more likely to back them over the Conservatives

00:41or indeed any other party.

00:43The Conservative Party chairman Greg Hands opposed the suggestion last year, saying everyone

00:47knows adulthood starts at 18. That's when you can get married, start drinking and smoke.

00:53But organisations like the Electoral Reform Society believe dropping the age would help

00:57people become and stay more politically involved earlier in life. Would you support the voting

01:02age being lowered?