{"id":1547884,"date":"2025-07-19T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1547884"},"modified":"2025-07-19T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T15:00:00","slug":"uk-to-lower-voting-age-to-16-but-could-plans-to-garner-socialist-fodder-end-up-backfiring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/uk-to-lower-voting-age-to-16-but-could-plans-to-garner-socialist-fodder-end-up-backfiring\/1547884\/","title":{"rendered":"UK To Lower Voting Age To 16, But Could Plans To Garner ‘Socialist Fodder’ End Up Backfiring?"},"content":{"rendered":"

UK To Lower Voting Age To 16, But Could Plans To Garner ‘Socialist Fodder’ End Up Backfiring?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Britain\u2019s left-wing Labour government has announced plans to lower the voting age in time for the next U.K. general election, allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in what it described as sweeping electoral reforms to \u201cmodernize democracy.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Ministers say<\/a>\u00a0the move is designed to rebuild public trust, but critics have accused the government of trying to tilt the electoral playing field in its favor, with recent polling suggesting Labour would benefit from a third of the votes.<\/p>\n

The voting age reform is part of a broader Elections Bill that will also ease voter ID rules by allowing bank cards as accepted identification and introduce tougher regulations on foreign donations, campaigner abuse, and digital voter registration.<\/p>\n

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the plan would \u201cbreak down barriers to participation\u201d and deliver on Labour\u2019s manifesto promise to extend the vote to young people who already \u201cwork, pay taxes, and serve in the military.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minister for Democracy Rushanara Ali called it a \u201cgenerational step forward.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

But Nigel Farage, leader of Reform U.K., responded:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not in favor of it, but I\u2019m really encouraged by the number of young people that are coming towards us. It\u2019s an attempt to rig the political system, but we intend to give them a nasty surprise.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Polling by Merlin Strategy suggests the issue is divisive even among teenagers.<\/p>\n

Of 500 16- and 17-year-olds surveyed, 49 percent said they did not believe they should be allowed to vote,<\/strong> while 51 percent supported the move.<\/p>\n

When asked how they would vote, 33 percent backed Labour, but Reform U.K. came in second with 20 percent. Only 10 percent of respondents said they would vote Conservative.<\/p>\n

BREAKING: The UK is set to lower the voting age to 16 in landmark electoral reforms.<\/p>\n

Julia: “Just when you think things couldn’t get any worse… we’re going to let kids vote over who runs the country – completely and utterly insane!”@JuliaHB1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/xXaRoOH2px<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Talk (@TalkTV) July 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Shadow Communities Secretary Kevin Hollinrake told the Daily Mail the move risks undermining democracy:<\/p>\n

\u201cEven 16- and 17-year-olds don\u2019t think they\u2019re ready to vote. With only 18 percent saying they\u2019d definitely take part in an election, it\u2019s clear this is more about politics than principle.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Former editor of The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie, was blunter:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a desperate attempt to find anybody to vote Labour, Angela Rayner has announced 16-year-olds can vote. At 16, they know nothing of life and finance and therefore make great socialist fodder.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In a desperate attempt to find anybody to vote Labour Angela Rayner has announced 16-year-olds can vote at the next General Election.
\nAt 16 they know nothing of life and finance and therefore make great socialist fodder. Older voters sick of subsidising teenagers born with their\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kelvin MacKenzie (@kelvmackenzie) July 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

In a European context, the U.K. now joins Austria and Malta in allowing 16-year-olds to vote in all elections. Germany, Wales, and Scotland permit voting at 16 for local or regional elections, but most European countries still set the national voting age at 18.<\/p>\n

The move could backfire for the Labour government.<\/strong> Just 43 percent of young people are supportive of the two legacy parties in Britain, Labour and the Conservatives, with the data suggesting they are sympathetic to left and right-wing causes.<\/p>\n

With talk of a potential splinter party from Labour in the pipeline being set up by far-left MPs Zara Sultana and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, and the indisputable success Reform U.K. had at the last general election through its use of social media targeting young people, Keir Starmer\u2019s party could find itself being squeezed from both sides.<\/p>\n

Read more here…<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSat, 07\/19\/2025 – 07:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/political\/uk-lower-voting-age-16-could-plans-garner-socialist-fodder-end-backfiring<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UK To Lower Voting Age To 16, But Could Plans To Garner ‘Socialist Fodder’ End Up Backfiring? Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News, Britain\u2019s…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1547885,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1547884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1547884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1547884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1547885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1547884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1547884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1547884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}