Voting Rights: Young People
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2014 to Question 5416 on Civil Dignitaries and Members: Age, for what reason the Government deems 16 and 17 year olds to be old enough to vote in (a) local and (b) Parliamentary elections but not stand in those elections.
Answered by Rushanara Ali
Pursuant to the Answer of 11 October 2024, to Question 5416, the introduction of Votes at 16 is about building long lasting engagement with our democracy among young people. By engaging voters early, when they are young, we will build the foundations for their long-term participation in our electoral processes.
That is why this government is rightly focused on delivering on the manifesto which it was elected on and the commitment to lower the voting age for all UK elections. As set out in the previous answer, the government has no plans to change the eligibility criteria of candidacy age for local and parliamentary elections.
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