16 and 17 year olds will be able to vote at next election, but half say they don't want to

As the Government moves forward with plans to lower the voting age, ITV News' Lewis Denison hears reaction from young people themselves

Words by Senior Politics Producer Maya Bowles

Half of 16 and 17-year-olds don't think they should be allowed to vote despite Labour's plans to lower the voting age, a poll for ITV News has found.

The poll of 500 sixteen and seventeen-year-olds by Merlin Strategy found that 49% didn't think the voting age should be lowered to 16, while 51% said it should.

Only 18% of the young people surveyed said they would definitely vote if there was an election tomorrow.

Despite speculation the manifesto pledge could be dropped, on Thursday the government recommitted to lowering the voting age to 16 by the next general election.

The major change will be brought forward as part of an Elections Bill, the government has announced in its Election Strategy Paper.

The changes also include a simplifcation of the voter registration system and the extension of voter ID to include bank cards.

ITV News went to Cockshut Hill School in the Birmingham Yardley constituency, one of the areas with the highest percentage of 16 and 17-year-olds, which also has a very slim majority.

We asked the group of five whether they thought 16-year-olds should have the vote, and only one of them did.

"16 is an age of immaturity": secondary school students in Birmingham on votes at 16

Maryam Panjsheri told us she doesn't think the voting age should be lowered, "because we haven't got the right life experiences - we wouldn't know who to vote for."

"Because we're 16, we're not fully developed yet, and we're easily influenced", she said.

Rehan Shafi said: "I don't think 16-year-olds are mature, because the frontal lobe develops around 25, 24.

"Even with the age of consent, I don't think it should be 16, I think it should be 18 or older."

Aaireen Fatima said: "When you're 16 you have other things like our GCSEs, I feel like my choice would be very influenced by my surroundings like my friends and family.

"Politics isn't something I'm very interested in right now, so I feel like I could make a biased decision rather than a fair one."

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told ITV News there were important reasons for 16 year olds to have the vote.

“I think it’s really important that 16 and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they’re old enough to go out to work, they’re old enough to pay taxes… I think if you pay in you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on," he said.

“I’m really pleased that we’re able to bring more young people into our democracy, and give them the chance to have a say over how their taxes are going to be paid and what they’re going to be used."

The voting age was last changed over 50 years ago when it was lowered from 21 to 18 in 1969.

In Scotland and Wales, 16 and 17-year-olds can already vote in local and devolved elections but there are only 11 countries in the world that allow 16-year-olds to vote in national elections.

When asked which party they would vote for, ITV News' poll showed 33% said they would vote Labour, followed by 20% who said they’d choose Reform, while 18% would vote Green, 12% Liberal Democrats and only 10% said they’d vote Conservative.

16 and 17-year-olds make up such a small percentage of the population, that giving them the vote is unlikely to make a substantial difference to the national election result.

Despite that, right-wing parties like Reform have accused Labour of trying to shore up votes for themselves by lowering the voting age.

Despite Reform UK polling second behind Labour, the party is against lowering the voting age to 16.

Asked if he supported 16 and 17 year olds getting the vote, Nigel Farage told ITV News: “No I don’t, even though we'd get lots of votes.

“I don’t think you should be able to vote in an election unless you’re also eligible to be a candidate, and I don’t think 16 year olds should stand for Parliament.

“So no, I’m not in favour of it, but I’m really encouraged by the number of young people that are coming towards us,” he said.

When asked who would make the best prime minister from the leaders of the main parties, 39% said Keir Starmer, while 26% said Nigel Farage, 18% said Kemi Badenoch and 16% said Ed Davey.

Presented with a list of politicians and other influential public figures, the most popular politician was former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

12% said they ‘strongly approve’ of Corbyn, versus 9% who said the same about Starmer and Farage.

The figures with the highest approval were Greta Thunberg on 27%, YouTuber Mr Beast on 21%, and Jeremy Clarkson on 17%.

The young people surveyed said their most important issues were: the economy (30%), healthcare (28%), crime/ law and order (25%), Israel/Palestine (25%) and immigration (23%).

Issues like climate change, housing, and education were much further down the list.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...

Only half of the young people (46%) said they had a positive view of democracy, with over a fifth (22%) saying they viewed a military strongman with no government or elections positively.

The students in Birmingham all said they didn't trust politicians: "They do lie sometimes, I think the stereotype of politicians that comes to my head is that they're rich and they don't know what it's like to grow up working class," said Maryam.

While Aaireen said: "It's just all propaganda, it's not really that promising - people just don't believe in them as much as they used to."

Campaigners for votes at 16 argue the evidence shows if you get the right to vote at 16, you're more likely to vote and continue voting for the rest of your life.

They say when people get the vote at 18 their life is more unstable - they might have left home or be at university.

The students in Birmingham all told ITV News they want compulsory lessons in school on politics and democracy before being able to vote.

What do retired voters in the constituency with the highest proportion of over 65s think about giving 16-year-olds the vote?

ITV News also went to Christchurch in Dorset, the constituency with the highest percentage of over 65s.

At a birdwatching group in the constituency, members had mixed opinions about lowering the voting age.

Julia Drage said: "I remember what I was like at 16 and I don't think that was a sensible person that should be having the vote... I was going to the pub with my mates, we were not responsible adults."

But Julia also suggested capping the voting age at 80 or 85 - "I think older people shouldn't really have a say in what's going to happen to younger people... they're not going to be there, it's not going to affect them. So I think cut off old people."

Gill Hume agreed, saying 80 year-olds are "not going to be here to see how the issues pan out."

Pollster Scarlett Maguire on the results of the poll

Commenting on the findings of the poll, Scarlett Maguire, Director of Merlin Strategy said: “We would expect Labour to be out ahead with younger generations… I think maybe Labour would like to have a bigger lead amongst these people, but they still have quite a convincing lead over the challenging party Reform UK.

"I think what’s potentially more interesting is quite how badly the Conservatives are performing.

“There’s been a lot of hype about whether Reform are doing exceptionally well, especially with boys of that age group.

“On the surface of things, they’re putting in a strong performance but not an exceptionally strong one,” Maguire told ITV News.

Speaking to ITV News at an event with young people to launch the votes at 16 plans, Democracy Minister Rushanara Ali said: “We are introducing votes at 16, this was one of our manifesto commitments, and I’m delighted to be able to do that.

“What we see is the passion and enthusiasm among young people who want to shape their future by participating in our democracy,” she said.

Asked if lowering the voting age would be accompanied by extra education about politics and democracy in schools, Ali said: “We are going to make sure we take the time to work with schools, with the education system, with youth services… to ensure that young people are able to prepare and learn about our political system and then take part in the elections that are coming up.”

From Westminster to Washington DC - our political experts are across all the latest key talking points. Listen to the latest episode below...