Labour's manifesto pledge to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16 for UK general elections was not included in the King's Speech. However, Commons leader
Lucy Powell assured the BBC that the commitment to votes for 16 and 17-year-olds remains, and she hopes they will be able to vote in the next general election.
During the recent election campaign, the Conservatives accused Labour of attempting to "distort the political system" to secure their power. James Cleverly, the then-Home Secretary, argued that extending the vote to younger teens was a tactic by Labour to "lock in their power permanently," doubting Labour's ability to present a credible case to the British people.
When pressed on why lowering the voting age was omitted from the King's Speech, Ms. Powell explained on Radio 5 Live that there were "plenty of big bills that didn’t make it into this." She promised an elections bill later in the parliamentary cycle, reaffirming that it is "absolutely a manifesto commitment." She expressed hope that 16 and 17-year-olds would be able to vote in the next general election, stating, "I hope so. That's the intention."
Parliamentary sessions typically last around a year, with several sessions within a full five-year term. Currently, people aged 16 and over can vote in parliamentary and local elections in Scotland and Wales.
The speech did include some House of Lords reforms, such as a bill to remove the right of remaining hereditary peers to sit and vote. However, it did not address the retirement age for Lords. An official briefing paper on the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill emphasized that, in the 21st century, nearly 100 places should not be reserved for individuals born into certain families, particularly since these seats are effectively reserved for men.
Reforms under Tony Blair reduced the number of hereditary peers to 92, intended as a short-term compromise, yet the arrangement has persisted for 25 years. The King indicated that further constitutional changes are likely later in the parliamentary cycle.
The government aims to "strengthen the integrity of elections and encourage wide participation in the democratic process," according to the King. A "modernisation committee" of the House of Commons will work on "driving up standards, improving work practices, and reforming procedures."
The UK voting age was last lowered in 1969 from 21 to 18 by Harold Wilson's Labour government. The age was reduced to 16 for elections in Scotland in 2015 and in Wales in 2020. Photo by secretlondon123, Wikimedia commons.