Votes for 16 year olds

BBCTV News vox popping 16 year olds would they vote - FFS they will be 20 at the next election so whats the point in asking them? Ask 13 /14/15 year old and ask them probing questions to define what knowledge they already have about politics. I guess thats too scary for the news as they might find kids are more clued up than they think.
 
I don't really have an opinion either way, but one thing I do worry about is education becoming even more of a political battleground. Governments accusing each other of changing the curriculum to affect 16 year-olds' voting.
 
Not a good or bad idea but how many of you were clued up about politics aged 16?

I reckon most 16 year olds don't give a fuck about politics and rightly so, they've got all their adult lives to decide which twat is telling the least amount of lies to them.

To be 16 again and get someone to get you some beers from the offy, meet your girlfriend, see your mates for a laugh, or discuss the level of government borrowing and the economy?

Decisions, decisions.
 
BlueAnorak said:
Labour wants to introduce legislation to allow 16 year olds to vote at the next election.
Opinions?
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They see it as a vote winner.

Tories would do similar in the same position to be fair.

The left might live to regret though as these kids will be bombarded by social media, telling them which way to vote and if you listen to them in that, it’s ground dominated by the right.
 
BlueHammer85 said:
They had it in there manifesto, if elected this was always going to be enacted. They got elected, the are enacting on one of their policies. It’s democracy.
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But didn't I read someone on here saying the manifesto was only a wish list?

No, fair enough if it was in the manifesto it is arguably what people voted for so no complaints from me, however personally I think it's too young. As someone has already mentioned, it's the 12 year olds plus they need to canvass about voting intentions because they are the people we are talking about. It is quite likely they will be heavily influenced by their parents, hence why, given Reforms national popularity, they seem to be coming out of this favourably. This does not bode well for the future IMO as people who genuinely detest Reform may feel the impact of this decision... could this be a big own goal by Labour?
 
bluethrunthru said:
More than you seem to think
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How many do you think I think there are?!
( I know how many there are and what percentage of the electorate they will be. I won’t be holding my breath for the coming revolution)
 
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KS55 said:
How many do you think I think there are?!
( I know how many there are and what percentage of the electorate they will be. I won’t be holding my breath for the coming revolution)
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Do you not think the Labour majority is extremely fragile? I know they have the seats that they do, but the voting majorities in many of those seats is very risky and of Labour continue to piss people like, for example, pensioners, their majority will evaporate overnight, especially when you add the additional cohort of younger voters... who as I repeat will be heavily influenced by their parents who in turn seem to be willing to have their heads turned by Farage.

Another social experiment?
 
BigJoe#1 said:
Do you not think the Labour majority is extremely fragile? I know they have the seats that they do, but the voting majorities in many of those seats is very risky and of Labour continue to piss people like, for example, pensioners, their majority will evaporate overnight, especially when you add the additional cohort of younger voters... who as I repeat will be heavily influenced by their parents who in turn seem to be willing to have their heads turned by Farage.

Another social experiment?
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How many votes in a typical constituency do you think there are?
These new voters will comprise just 2% of the electorate. Maybe 50% of them will vote. If they voted 50/50 left and right, do the maths. If they voted 70/30 in favour of the left, do the maths….etc etc. A big fat zero change is the answer to most scenarios.
 
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urban genie said:
Those saying bad idea translates as teeneagers generally down vote for the right wing or cranks.
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I worry it is the opposite. Reform have a number of young people running local councils and remember William Hague aged about 13 speaking at the Tory party conference ?
 
I don't have an issue with 16-17 year olds voting. They can work, have kids, drive, join the army and have to make a decision about further education potentially putting themselves thousands of pounds in debt.

I'm not sure that it can be assumed that this demographic is pro-Labour, for example I think I read that Farage has the biggest following on TikTok amongst young adults compared to any other British political party/figure, he's been very savy and apparently dials back his rhetoric quite a bit to appear less extreme. Where as the left have less influence in these spaces.

Although the above seems to apply to GenZ and I think 16-17 year olds are Gen Alpha now, so it'll be interseting to see where they stand politically.

Political engagement at young engage can only be a plus surely? I don't their Politcal IQ can be brought in to question either as we've all met people aged 21-60+ y/o that are thick as pig shit and even individually we're probably not as informed as we like to tell ourselves we are.
 
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