A new poll reveals that Keir Starmer’s proposal to lower the voting age to 16 is hugely unpopular with the general public. The Telegraph has the details.
The study also found that the public thinks Labour wants to lower the voting age because of its own electoral self-interest rather than because it will be good for the country.
Labour has said it would extend the franchise for general elections in line with Scotland and Wales, which have already given 16 and 17 year-olds the vote for local elections and those for the devolved assemblies.
Sir Keir said earlier in the campaign: “If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your Armed Forces, then you ought to be able to vote.”
However, according to a poll by More in Common of 2,049 adults between May 27th and 29th, the policy is not popular among the general public.
Asked if they support or oppose lowering the voting age to 16, 47% said they opposed the idea with 28% in support.
Changing the question wording to ask if they support or oppose “allowing 16 and 17 year-olds to vote” changed responses slightly with 45% saying they were opposed, compared to 31% who supported it.
The policy lands well with Labour’s base, with people who voted for the party in 2019 overwhelmingly supporting the idea. Of these voters, 53% backed lowering the voting age, with 23% opposed.
However, swing voters who opted for the Conservatives in 2019 but are now backing Labour are divided, with 39% in support and 38% opposed.
Another important voter group dubbed “Whitby Women” – older women who voted for Brexit, do not have a degree, and own their home – overwhelmingly opposes the policy.
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My father and I started work well before the age of 16. Do we get additional votes to make up for our deprivation.
No, thought not. The 16 year olds the Labour Party wants to harvest live in particular places and their pard TS subscribe to particular (currently minority) views.
Voting?
Age should be 25. Only those currently paying taxes can vote. Women raising a family can vote if their husband is paying taxes. If retired or unemployed prove you paid into the system for 10 years. No welfare queens, invaders, criminals or students can vote.
Mass voting is a sham and scam. It is not a ‘right’. Plundering others is not natural law.
Postal voting should be restricted – as it used to be – to members of the Armed Forces and the Diplomatic Corps serving overseas, and to people who cannot physically get to a Polling Station (doctor’s certificate needed).
Otherwise the whole thing is wide open to fraud, coercion and intimidation.
A recent case in point: In the Rochdale By-election 43% of the entire vote was by postal voting. Of those postal votes, 92% were for Galloway.
Go figure.
“In the Rochdale By-election 43% of the entire vote was by postal voting. Of those postal votes, 92% were for Galloway.”
That was the Imams sending out the troops to collect the postal votes. God knows how many of those postal votes were legitimate and how many “voters” had more than one vote.
Corrupt. Damn right.
Kind of agree, but not so sure about the voting rules for women. Why would having a husband make your opinion more correct? And what if the guy’s out of work? They can’t vote because of their employment status? Feminism has gone way too far, but we’ve got to be careful we don’t follow the same path. We have to get our noses out of the shite.
Democracy is a privilege, not a right. I’d make the voting age 30. Why should kids choose our leaders. Their experience of life is living with their parent, where the biggest choice they have to make is burgers or fish fingers for tea.
Mark Twain wrote, ‘When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant, I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned.’
The only thing that needs to change is Labours corrupt Muslim postal vote. Get rid of the postal vote and almost all Muslim women disappear off the turnout. Let’s be honest here, Muslim women: do they get to vote as they wish? Hell, half of them aren’t allowed out of the house!
Dropping the age to 16 is a blatant stab at getting stupid kids, wet behind the ears, votes. Who of you wasn’t a Communist or Socialist when you were 15/16? I was, I thought it was a great idea that everybody would be equal. By 18 I grew up and voted accordingly. Some never grow up and would vote for a dead dog with a red rosette and claim it had great ideas.
Did it occur to labour Low Command that this could massively backfire on them because of their preachy teachers telling the kids the planet is frying as they wander aimlessly around in the rain? Seems logical they’d do a Mad Greta and vote Green.
Looking at the comments, I seem to be alone on this one (and believe me I am no Starmer fan) but I can see his point; if you can become part of the adult world in other ways, you deserve a say in how it’s run, in my opinion. I’ve known plenty of 16 year olds who would vote as sensibly (by that I mean they’ve come to their decision in a sensible way, not that I agree with their vote necessarily) as any adult I know.
Having said that I’m sure Sir Keir is well aware that younger vote would benefit him and his party, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily the wrong thing to do.
It’s his motive that is the issue, he suggests it because he knows it gives him an advantage, just the same as he would never suggest tightening down on his corrupt Muslim postal vote. Now, if the Muslims turn on him, as they will eventually do, watch how fast he wants to change the postal votes.
No matter how plausible anything that man says is do not accept it. He never, ever says anything unless there is something in it for him.
I’m sure he does have an ulterior motive as I said above, but I still don’t think it’s intrinsically wrong in itself.
How many kids start work at 16 and pay tax?
How many 16-year-olds in the army have fought or confronted an enemy?
Following Starmer’s logic, kids should be considered adults at 16 so can get married without consent, buy and smoke tobacco, buy and drink alcohol, gamble, see X rated movies, buy porn, get a full driving licence, have their own credit card, get a mortgage etc.
His argument does not stand up to scrutiny, the man is an idiot.
And how many 16-year-olds have the independence of mind to cast a vote, most can’t even wipe their own backsides.
In a proper democracy a super majority in both houses and a referendum would be needed to make such a change to the participants in decision making.