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Voting age

Current rules

The voting age for an election in the UK depends on whether responsibility for making the rules is reserved to the UK Parliament or has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament).

In reserved elections, the voting age is 18. These are:

• elections for the UK Parliament
• all local elections in England
• police and crime commissioner elections (PCC) in England and Wales
• all elections in Northern Ireland

In devolved elections, the voting age is 16:

• local council elections in Scotland and Wales
• elections to the Scottish Parliament and Senedd

Votes at 16

The UK Government was elected with a manifesto commitment to lower the voting age for reserved elections to 16. In July 2025, the government confirmed its intention to legislate to reduce the voting age to 16 in time for the next general election.

Most other parties in the House of Commons support lowering the voting age. The Conservative Party and the Democratic Unionist Party are opposed. In response to the policy paper Nigel Farage said he was not in favour.

The Representation of the People Bill 2024-26 was introduced in the House of Commons on 12 February 2026. Part 1 of the bill makes the necessary changes to lower the voting age for reserved elections to 16.

There are approximately 1.3 million 16- and 17-year-olds in England and 48,000 in Northern Ireland (based on 2022-23 estimates). Not all would be eligible to register to vote as not all would meet the nationality requirements to register.

The Electoral Commission has said any change needs “to be implemented in a way which carefully manages the pressures on election teams.”

The debate

Supporters of reducing the voting age say that it would help increase political engagement of younger people and that 16- and 17-year-olds already have significant rights, so it is important that they have a say in who governs them. Opponents question young people’s maturity and life experience. Some worry about the impact on elections and there are suggestions that it is a partisan move as younger people tend to vote for left of centre parties compared to older people.

In the few countries where voting age has been lowered to 16 research has shown that there has been no impact on the results of elections and that young people enfranchised at 16 are more likely to vote than those enfranchised at 18.

Education

The House of Commons Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee has recommended that political education in the UK, particularly in England, be overhauled. It said lowering the voting age is a good opportunity for the development of a new school curriculum for political education in England and to engage new young voters in democracy (the school curriculum is devolved in the rest of the UK).

The committee heard the importance of better political education in relation to tackling the negative perceptions of politicians and the growing levels of abuse, harassment and intimidation. In November 2025, the UK Government announced proposals for reforming the school curriculum in England. It said that there should be a new statutory requirement to teach citizenship in key stages 1 and 2 to improve progression through to GCSE.

The Electoral Commission told the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee it was aware of some hesitation by some teachers to teach about politics and democracy for fear of being seen to be getting into party political territory that parents may be unhappy about. The commission is developing impartial material to give to schools to help with democratic education and has said its priority “will be to ensure that all newly enfranchised voters know how to register and exercise their right to vote.”

The Electoral Commission has said its priority if Parliament approves the change to lower the voting age “will be to ensure that all newly enfranchised voters know how to register and exercise their right to vote.”