Representation of the People (Young People’s Enfranchisement) Bill

Debate between Karen Lee and Peter Kyle

2nd reading: House of Commons
Friday 11th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

Of course I agree, and I welcome them on behalf of the Chamber to the House today. I know that they also enjoyed a good hour and a half of the previous debate and I hope that they learned a lot from that, too.

Returning to the point made by the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Alex Chalk), some people point to things that 16-year-olds are not allowed to do, such as drinking and smoking, but I urge Members not to link voting with public health issues. I think that would be perverse, not least because I look forward to banning smoking entirely. If public health and voting ages were linked, where would that leave voter turnout? We must look at this issue on its own merits, based on the formidable capabilities of today’s young people; we must think about what kind of democracy we should be.

[Karen Lee (Lincoln) (Lab)]

In the recent elections, the turnout was pretty abysmal—

[Karen Lee]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker; I am a new Member.

As is often the case, the turnout in the recent local elections was abysmally low. Does my hon. Friend agree that if younger people could vote, turnout might improve and the result might be more representative of what the general population thinks about issues?

[Peter Kyle]

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and if we had longer for this debate we would air such issues in more detail.

The Scottish experience in its referendum was that the proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds who voted was 20% greater than the turnout among 18, 19 and 20-year-olds. That shows that young people of 16 and 17 are enthusiastic, and when they get into the habit of voting and have the opportunity to do so, they grasp it with both hands.