Representation of the People Bill

Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury Excerpts

Committee stage
Monday 2nd November 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My noble friend Lord Rooker is raising the issue of scrutiny on every Bill. It is interesting that he put that process in place but has changed his mind. Scrutiny on all Bills is welcome. This is my sixth piece of legislation. I have welcomed the scrutiny that this House has brought to all those Bills. With this Bill, we knew there would be further additions during its passage. That is the point I was trying to make.

I turn first to Amendments 1 and 3 in the name of the noble Lord, Udny-Lister, and Amendment 2 in the names of the noble Baronesses, Lady Coffey and Lady Fox of Buckley. Our intended extension of the franchise will create consistency across the United Kingdom and ensure that young people have a voice at a local and a national level. But consistency is not the only or the most important reason for extending the vote to 16 and 17 year-olds. As I said at Second Reading—it has been repeated during this debate—the important question is not what else you can or cannot do at 16 but whether 16 is the right age to be able to vote. This Government are clear that the answer to that question is yes. We were elected on a commitment to make precisely this change.

We have heard many examples of things that you cannot do at 16—tongue piercing, gambling, purchasing knives, having tattoos or credit cards—and some points about criminal sentencing, which I hear with interest.

[Lord Sherbourne of Didsbury (Con)]

Can the Minister answer the question asked by my noble friend Lord Udny-Lister? Why is it right for a 16 year-old to be a voter in an election but not a parliamentary candidate or a Member of Parliament?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I am coming on to that point, if the noble Lord will bear with me. I want to pick up some other points first.

The noble Baroness, Lady Bennett, spoke about votes at 18. We were the first in the world to do that. It would be unthinkable to go back on that. The first election that I voted in, in 1975, was the vote to go into the European Union. I have not changed my mind about that. I have changed it about some other things, but certainly not about that. When we talk about purchasing knives at 18, the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, mentioned things that might intimidate. I was not intimidated by the little stubby bit of pencil that I was given to cast that vote.

We believe that 16 is the right age to be able to exercise your democratic right. Extending the right to vote to 16 and 17 year-olds will allow them to have a say in the Government who shape their future and will set them up, as the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, said, for a lifelong engagement in democracy. I absolutely agree about the points on education and will come on to those in a moment.

I want to address the important points made in the debate on how we ended up at 16. We have looked extensively at how voting works around the world. We have looked at a number of places, including Austria and Malta, which have successfully lowered the voting age to 16. The step has been taken already in Scotland and Wales for devolved elections and more widely in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey. Evidence from these places shows that those who vote at a younger age are more likely to continue voting as they get older.

By the age of 16, young people have already made important decisions about their own lives—whether to continue with their education, undertake training, pursue an apprenticeship or seek employment or volunteering opportunities. Even by the age of 14, they have decided what subjects they want to continue to study. Why is it the case that they should be considered old enough to make those decisions that affect the rest of their lives but cannot vote? We should not fear expanding the franchise to younger people. In 1969, the UK was the first country in the world to lower the voting age to 18. Extending the right to vote to 16 and 17 year-olds now is the next natural step in the evolution of our democracy. Young people are the future of our country. It is only right that they have a say over it.

I very much supported the points made about a serious programme of education. We will come to that in future groups, but I want to make some points now about education and what steps are being taken to support young people’s education. We want to break down barriers and drive participation. We know that engagement and education are a crucial part of implementing that policy. It is vital that young people understand and value the democratic process and feel that it is relevant to them. We are committed to ensuring that democracy education reinforces the importance and value of participating in our democracy and inspires greater democratic engagement. We want engagement to start at 16 and continue into adulthood by equipping and empowering pupils with the knowledge and understanding that they need. We will continue to work with the Electoral Commission, the devolved Governments and civil society on what additional measures can support schools, colleges and youth groups to roll out practical voter and civic education. It is vital that we also start that process with our youngest students. This is all aligned with the Government’s youth strategy of engagement of young people.

On the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Udny-Lister, about candidates standing in elections, there are very specific reasons why we have taken the decision not to include candidates at 16 and 17. The Government believe that the ages of 16 and 17 are a particularly important time to continue personal development and education. That is why rules in England require that those who choose to leave school at 16 must pursue an apprenticeship or work no more than 20 hours a week while in part-time education or training until the age of 18. The requirements of local government officeholders are a significant commitment. Having different age requirements for local and national office would be unnecessarily complicated. As such, the Government will not be changing the minimum candidacy age for any elected offices. I heard the points about the Labour Party NEC and constituency offices. I am sure that was a recognition of this, but there is definitely a very active engagement of young people in my party, as I am sure there is across all political parties.

The noble Lord, Lord Udny-Lister, has also tabled Amendments 4, 283 and 301, which seek to require a referendum on lowering the voting age to 16, with a majority vote in favour before the change can be implemented. However, as my noble friend Lord Murphy set out with his characteristic clarity, the Government were elected on a clear mandate that included a commitment to extend the right to vote to 16 and 17 year-olds in all UK elections. That is an important point about not having a referendum on this: we already have a mandate to introduce it.

As the noble Lord, Lord Rennard, said, I say to the noble Lord, Lord Leigh, that we do not carry out cognitive tests on any citizens before they exercise their franchise, no matter what their age. This point about cognitive ability is a difficult one for him to make. The Government have been very clear on this matter. We genuinely believe that young people are the future of our country, and it is only right that they have a say in the decisions that shape their lives.

As for partisan advantage, I have heard from the other side both that we are doing this as a gerrymandering exercise and that it will let in votes from smaller parties such as Reform and the Green Party. They cannot have it both ways. We are either gerrymandering or we are opening out the franchise to a wider group of parties. We are doing it because it is the right thing to do to introduce votes at 16 and 17, so a referendum is not necessary. It would be unusual to require a referendum before implementing a clear manifesto commitment on which the Government were elected and for which they have a mandate.

I will say to the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill, whom I think was talking about some comments that a Labour Member had made about a Brexit referendum, that if every statement in the other place by a Labour Member became government policy, we would have an awful lot more work to do than we have already.