Labour in favour of lowering voting age
Teenagers could be able to take seats in the House of Commons under new Government plans.
In a written statement yesterday, Junior Constitutional Affairs Minister, Christopher Leslie, 32, said the Government would seek to lower the age at which an individual can stand for Parliament from 21 to 18.
The proposals concur with the advice issued by elections watchdog, the Electoral Commission, in its report “The Age of Electoral Majority” last year.
“The Government intends to legislate, when parliamentary time allows, to lower the age,” said Mr Leslie.
“At 18, if you are old enough to vote, you are old enough to be voted for. Giving younger people the right to participate fully in elections from the age of 18 can only encourage them to learn more about the democratic process and use their right to vote.
“It is for the electorate to decide whether a candidate can adequately represent them and it was the Electoral Commission’s view that there may well be people younger than 21 who are capable of acting as affective elected representatives.”
Mr Leslie, the Labour MP for Shipley, majority 1,428 in 2001, was elected in 1997 at the age of 24.
But the plan is unlikely to come before MPs before the next general election, widely predicted for May.
