Oral Answers to Questions

Lisa Smart Excerpts

Monday 14th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Rushanara Ali]

Why does the hon. Gentleman not apologise for his party’s record of 14 years of failure? We are taking action to tackle the root causes of rough sleeping and homelessness. He should apologise for the failures of his Government.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

6. What steps she plans to take to help to increase participation in UK elections.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Rushanara Ali)]

This Government are committed to increasing participation in our democracy. We will give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections, giving them a say in shaping their future. Where we find barriers to participation, we will work with the electoral sector and other stakeholders to tackle them.

[Lisa Smart]

I recently had the pleasure of getting a robust grilling from some 16 and 17-year-olds from Aquinas sixth-form college in my constituency, which left me filled with optimism and a real sense that our democracy is in good hands. My worry, though, is that these sixth-formers and young people like them might lose their enthusiasm for our democracy and for voting because they feel that our first-past-the-post voting system leads to politicians taking a majority of power on a minority of votes. With more than 40% of MPs elected with under 40% of the votes cast in their constituency, does the Minister agree with her own Government’s statement on why they are scrapping first past the post for mayoral and police and crime commissioner elections, and should we expect a different voting system when the Aquinas sixth-formers vote at the next general election?