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19
Jul
Does your MP support votes for 16-year-olds?
Labour announced this week it intended to lower the age at which people can vote to 16.
The party pledged to make the change in its election manifesto last year and now intends to implement it before the next general election.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said if people were old enough to pay taxes and work they should be able to vote.
So does your local MP agree?
The Stray Ferret asked the three MPs whose constituencies include parts of the former Harrogate district their views.
Here’s what they said.
‘Not the right age to vote’
Sir Julian Smith, Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, said:
I do not believe 16 is the right age to vote. At a time when children are already facing immense pressures—from social media, body image pressures, and early sexualisation, to rigid academic expectations and limited recognition of individual needs—it is concerning to see political campaigning entering classrooms. Rather than accelerating adult responsibilities, we should focus on protecting childhood and equipping young people with the knowledge and confidence to engage fully when they reach 18, the age our society recognises as adulthood.
ballot box
'They should be enfranchised'
Tom Gordon, the Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, said:
I don’t think the idea that 16 and 17-year-olds should not be allowed to vote just because they are young is convincing when we have all these other things that happen at different ages too. For me, I’m supportive of it. There is often a criticism that young people are not involved and don’t vote. Well, that’s fine, but they should at least be enfranchised and have that option. If they choose not to exercise it, then like everyone else that is their own prerogative.
'It will backfire on Labour'
Sir Alec Shelbrooke, Conservative MP for Wetherby and Easingwold, said:
I support the idea of having one age at which we – the state – acknowledge someone becomes an adult. That is recognised as 18. Labour ministers are now saying someone at 16 can’t decide for themselves whether they should smoke, get a tattoo, get married, etc, but believe they should be able to vote to elect a government. If 16, why not 15? Why not 14? This is straightforward gerrymandering from Labour. And looking at current polls, it will backfire on them.”
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