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Trump opposes voting rights for 16-year-olds in the UK: a historic change sought by Starmer

The Labour government proposes to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 across the United Kingdom. Protests from the Conservative front and criticism from Trump

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has begun the process of lowering the minimum voting age from 18 to 16, keeping one of the Labour Party’s key campaign promises. The reform, which will affect around 1.5 million young people, will be included in a new electoral bill.

For the government, this is the “biggest change to UK democracy in a generation” since the 1969 reform that lowered the age from 21 to 18.

‘Those who work and pay taxes should have a say in how their money is spent,’ Starmer told ITV News. The measure, which has so far been limited to local elections in Scotland and Wales, will be extended to all national elections.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner stressed that the government is removing barriers to democratic participation: ‘Young people already contribute to society, it is only right that they have a say.’

The change, described as ‘seismic’ by Minister for Democracy Rushanara Ali, is bound to spark debate. Criticism from the Conservative front and across the Atlantic was swift: US President Donald Trump called the British decision ‘dangerous,’ arguing that ‘minors should not have a say in decisions affecting the security and stability of nations.’

The bill, expected in Parliament in the coming weeks, could radically transform the British electorate, opening a new phase of youth participation in politics.

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