It goes without saying that the Government’s move to hand the vote to 16-year-olds is intellectually and morally bankrupt. You can determine the legal speed limit. But you aren’t actually deemed mature enough to get behind the wheel yourself. You can endorse sending British troops off to fight in a foreign war. But you’re not perceived to have sufficient discipline or self-control to join them. You can’t be trusted to buy alcohol, get married or own a credit card. But you can help determine the political direction of Britain for half a decade.
To be fair, nobody ever seriously pretended there was some great civic imperative behind the change. Angela Rayner made a half-decent fist of it when she claimed: ‘For too long public trust in our democracy has been damaged and faith in our institutions has been allowed to decline. We are taking action to break down barriers to participation that will ensure more people have the opportunity to engage in UK democracy.’
But as everyone knows, the decision to lower the age of the franchise has nothing to do with ‘future-proofing our democracy’ – as the Government’s consultation paper ostentatiously asserts – and is instead just a naked attempt to gerrymander it. And again to be fair to Starmer, Rayner and their colleagues, all parties chance their arm.
With the Tories it was the introduction of voter ID. When the Lib Dems enjoyed their brief whiff of power, they tried to cement themselves into government by dismantling the electoral system and replacing it with the Alternative Vote.
So this naked attempt to subvert supposed democratic norms isn’t actually the issue. The real problem is that votes for 16-year-olds will end up the same way as just about everything else subject to the Prime Minister’s uniquely destructive Medusa touch – in complete, almost tragi-comic failure. And in the process, it will further underline how little Keir Starmer understands about the country he claims to be governing.
There is a touching naivety to the basic logic underpinning Labour’s manifesto pledge to give children their say over Trident renewal, fiscal policy or welfare reform.
‘Young people vote Labour. The more young people in the electorate, the better it will be for us, right?’
‘How about a commitment to votes for ten-year-olds?’ ‘A little much. One step at a time.’
The Britain that reluctantly ushered Sir Keir Starmer into office is not the same country it was in 2019, writes Dan Hodges. And by 2028 or 2029 it will be almost politically unrecognisable
Chants of ‘Oh, Jeremy Corbyn’ could regularly be heard echoing across the nation’s pop arenas
Though when the policy was first drafted, it was at least underpinned by some rudimentary psephological analysis. In the preceding General Election, a staggering 62 per cent of 18 to 24-year-olds supported Labour. Only 19 per cent backed the Tories, with a further 19 per cent lending their support to the Lib Dems and other parties. And it was no anomaly. The same number of young voters backed Labour in 2017, with only 11 per cent voting Lib Dem, or for ‘others’.
But that was during the high-water mark of Corbynism. Chants of ‘Oh, Jeremy Corbyn’ could regularly be heard echoing across the nation’s pop arenas. The 75 per cent of young people who voted Remain were still mounting a backlash against the decision to leave. The Brexit Party was widely seen as a single-issue relevance. And memories of Red Ed Miliband’s turbo-environmentalism still had youthful resonance.
The Britain that reluctantly ushered Keir Starmer into office is not the same country it was in 2019. And by 2028 or 2029 it will be almost politically unrecognisable.
Even last year, Labour’s grip on the youth vote was starting to fracture. Despite his landslide, Starmer’s support among 18 to 24-year-olds plunged by 21 points. The Greens surged to 19 per cent, the Lib Dems to 16 per cent, and with Corbyn mania usurped by Farage mania, a majority of young voters turned their back on the Westminster duopoly. And that was before the Government plunged new depths of incompetence and unpopularity. Antipathy which does not appear destined to be reversed by votes at 16.
JUST before the General Election, YouGov polled people over their views of the party’s significant manifesto pledges. Bottom of Labour’s promises was lowering the franchise to 16. Only 31 per cent of those questioned supported it, while 60 per cent opposed.
Even a vast number of those 16-year-olds who could potentially benefit from the change recognise its flaws. A separate poll conducted last week by Merlin Strategy found 49 per cent of those questioned opposed having the vote. And only 18 per cent said they would definitely bother to use it if given the chance.
If Keir Starmer honestly thinks Britain’s 16-year-olds are set to come riding to the rescue of his party, he is even more delusional than many people feared. Because what self-respecting teenager is going to go out and cast a ballot for this Labour government?
‘The Young’ are not the monolithic block they are widely perceived to be. But there are still discernible trends over what drives first-time voters.
At the last election, younger voters were asked what issues concerned them most. There were three which placed them apart from every other age group. The environment. Housing. Gaza.
Keir Starmer is not opening the door to a surge in support for Labour. He is instead putting youthful rocket boosters under Jeremy Corbyn’s new party, and the Greens. And with his ludicrously simplistic and patronising ‘young people are Labour voters’ assumption, under Nigel Farage and Reform.
Look at the global rise of Right-wing populism. In Germany, France, Austria and Spain, a counter-cultural, anti-establishment message, coupled with slick social media marketing, is attracting significant swathes of the youth vote.
As it is destined to here. On Thursday a poll for Newsnight showed Corbyn’s new party, the Greens, Lib Dems and Reform capturing 63 per cent of potential Gen Z electors. Entirely predictably.
Any ‘young person’ who wants to provoke real change. Who really wants to disrupt the status quo. Who genuinely fancies indulging in a little bit of teenage rebellion. Who are they going to turn to? Keir Starmer? The man who encapsulates all the radicalism and latent insurgency of a bored double-glazing salesman from Milton Keynes. ‘What do we want?’ ‘A New Border Security Command!!!’ ‘When do we want it?’ ‘As soon as we have stabilised the economy and resources allow!!!’
Keir Starmer told us a vote for Labour would ensure the grown-ups were put back in charge. Now after just a year in office he’s appealing to the children to come and save him and his government.
Ed Miliband’s doomed electoral strategy was once caricatured as ‘Vote Labour, win a toaster.’ Sir Keir’s strategy of ‘Vote Labour, win a PlayStation’ is set to suffer the same fate.
