North Shields teens split on Labour plan to lower voting age
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Teenagers divided over voting age reform

BBC A group of six teenagers are sitting in a row. One is holding up a phone and taking a selfie of the whole group.BBC
The students were divided on whether 16 to 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote

A group of Year 12 students are split on the issue of whether young people should get the vote.

In its election manifesto, the Labour government promised to offer the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds, a policy also championed by the Greens and Liberal Democrats.

The reform was not included in this week's King's Speech, meaning it will not be a government priority in the next year, but government ministers have reiterated their commitment to the change.

One student at St Thomas More school in North Shields said she felt "frustrated" that she was not allowed to vote, while another was worried young voters could get all their voting opinions through TikTok.

There are about 1.6 million teenagers aged 16 and 17 in the UK.

Izzy, 17, thinks they should be able to vote.

"At this point we can get a job, we can start a family, we can live on our own. So why can't we vote for things that are going to directly affect us?"

Izzy, who has brown hair with red highlight, is smiling at the camera
Izzy, 17, said she wanted to vote on issues that directly affected her generation

Semira also feels powerless, and said: "It is really frustrating when you're a bystander.

"You're seeing your future being discussed and you just have to sit there and watch it happen."

Grace agreed, and points at older generations not having a strong track record engaging with politics.

"There'll always be people our age who don't really care but you're going to get that with adults, you're going to get that with any age," she said.

Maddy has dark red hair and is smiling at the camera
Maddy worried about the role social media would play if 16 to 17-year-olds were given the vote

Not everyone at St Thomas More agreed, though.

Will said his school friends did not engage in politics.

He said: "I feel like a lot of people are still very uneducated."

Social media plays a large role in today's politics, and Maddy was worried how that might affect younger voters, saying: "I'm personally undecided.

"If someone who wasn't really educated was scrolling through TikTok and saw a one-off meme of one party slating the other, they might go 'there you go that's who I'm gonna vote for'."

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