Schedule 1 Amendments
Electoral Administration Bill
10:30 am
Diana Johnson (PPS (Mr Stephen Timms, Minister of State), Department for Work and Pensions; Kingston upon Hull North, Labour)
The amendments would bring the voting age down from 18 to 16. They give us the opportunity to consider why young people should not have the vote at the age of 16. It is argued that young people are not interested in voting, do not have the capacity to vote and are too innocent and naive about the world of politics; they are also told that others know better than they do about the issues that concern them. Those points were all made in the previous century when discussing votes for women, and it will be interesting to consider the modern parallel.
The Committee has spent many hours discussing how best to encourage the population to participate and engage in our democratic process. The turnout in the general election in May was only 61 per cent. However, turnout among 18 to 34-year-olds was a mere 37 per cent. That is cause for concern. On Second Reading I was heartened to hear the Minister say, about voting at the age of 16, that nothing was ruled out and that she was open-minded about the way forward.
I remind the Committee that article 12 of the United Nations convention on the rights of the child, which the United Kingdom ratified in 1991, sets out clear participation rights for children and young people, encouraging them to give their views and to participate fully in decision making.
In 2003, the Electoral Commission undertook research on voting at 16; it also considered the age of candidature, which is currently 21. In 2004, the commission said:
“There appears to be insufficient current justification for a change to the voting age at the present time”,
and recommended a further review in five or seven years. It would be a great disappointment if it were to take another five or seven years to give voting rights to 16 and 17-year-olds. The Bill’s provision dropping the age of candidacy from 21 to 18 has attracted cross-party support.
In the late 1960s, the voting age was dropped from 21 to 18. A number of people who now are distinguished parliamentarians would have been disfranchised if the voting age had been 21, including Gordon Brown, Simon Hughes and John Redwood— [Laughter.]