The United Kingdom to reduce the voting age by 18 to 16 years before the next national elections

The United Kingdom reduces the voting age from 18 to 16 years before the next national elections – a decision that opposition figures denounce as a means of influencing the electorate for the benefit of the left.

The British government, controlled by the Labor Party, announced Thursday that young people aged 16 and 17 will have the right to vote in other “seismic changes”. Other electoral reforms include the extension of the identification of voters to bank cards, the issuance of new rules intended to “protect themselves against foreign political interference and the abuse of activists” and the tightening of laws restricting foreign gifts to British political parties.

In a political document that accompanies him included in the announcement, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said that “the decline in confidence in our institutions and democracy itself has become critical, but it is the government’s responsibility to reverse the part and renew our democracy, just as generations have done before us”.

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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks at a civil society summit in London on Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP / Frank Augstein photo, swimming pool)

“I think it is really important that young people aged 16 and 17 have the vote because they are old enough to go to work, they are old enough to pay taxes, so to pay. And I think if you pay, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money expense Tell to journalists THURSDAY. “I am really happy that we can bring more young people to our democracy.”

“Young people already contribute to society by working, paying taxes and serving in the army. It is fair that they can have their say on the questions that affect them,” Rayner wrote on X. The Deputy Prime Minister also developed in a press release, adding: “We cannot take our democracy for granted, and protecting our elections against abuse and of our society for the future. ”

The minimum age of service in the British armed forces is 16, but those who are under the age of 18 need a written consent of a parent or a tutor and cannot be deployed in combat areas.

British opposition politicians accused the Labor party of having tried to manipulate the electorate in their favor by lowering the age of voting.

“Why does this government think that a 16-year-old childhood can vote but not be authorized to buy a lottery ticket or an alcoholic drink, get married or go to war, or even stand in the elections they vote?” The deputy (deputy) Paul Holmes, a curator, told the House of Commons on Thursday. “Is the government’s position on the era of maturity not desperately confused?”

The Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for leveling, housing and communities Angela Rayner arrives at Downing Street to attend the weekly meeting of the cabinet in London, the United Kingdom on July 15, 2025. (Wiktor Szymanowicz / Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Holmes accused the Labor Party of “Govern by press release” and wondered if authorizing it with bank cards – which do not include photographs – as a form of voters’ identification will undermine safety measures in the ballot box.

Nigel Farage, leader of the British right -wing reform, said that giving young people aged 16 and 17 to vote “is an attempt to compel the political system.”

“The problem with this is, not only do Half of youngssters not want the vote, but they have to stay at school now they are 18,” Farage Said in a video shared to x. “The Educational Establishment is full of left-wing prejudice, is full of anti-Reform bias, and Frankly, Year Olds at School Are Going to be able to vote, we go to go to make sure that our education system is Teaching Kids to make their where Minds up and not Indoctrinating them. ”

The change still requires parliamentary approval but was a campaign promise by the Labor Party, which won the general elections of last year and has majority control. The next general election is in 2029.

Rayner noted that young people aged 16 and 17 can already vote in Scotland and Wales during local elections and legislative elections at the country level. The minimum voting age for local elections in England and Northern Ireland is 18 years old.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, on the left, and the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hold a press conference during a visit to the Airbus factory in Stevenage, England, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (Stefan Rousseau / Pool via AP)

In an opinion article in the British newspapers “The Times”, “ Rayner, who was a single mother at the age of 16, said the change made 1.6 million 16 and 17 eligible to vote in the United Kingdom, which has around 68 million inhabitants.

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“It is about equity and transparency and to give young people a participation in the future of our country, to bring them to our communities, and not to exclude them,” wrote Rayner. “It is a question of delivering our manifesto to the commitment to obtain votes at 16 years old. But it is also a question of strengthening our electoral system so that it is fit in the 21st century – because we cannot hold our democracy for acquired.”