Voting age

Policy description

There have been votes in Parliament on reducing the voting age from eighteen to sixteen for local government elections, for elections to the Westminster and European Parliaments and for the referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union.

View policy details.

Analysis for Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith generally voted for (84% aligned) a lower voting age.

Comparable Labour MPs generally voted for (84% aligned).

Scoring Divisions

Scoring divisions are used to calculate the headline alignment between a person and a policy.

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Guide to columns

  • person vote: the vote cast by the person

  • party alignment: how aligned this vote was with other members of the person’s party. Higher numbers indicate less difference from the average vote of the party.

  • policy direction: if an aye vote is aligned or against the overall policy.

  • policy alignment: if this MP’s vote was aligned with the policy.

motion date person vote party alignment policy direction policy aligned
Representation of the People (Reduction of Voting Age) 2005-11-29 absent na agree na
European Union Referendum Bill — Allowing Those Aged 16 and 17 to Vote in the Referendum 2015-09-07 aye 100% agree aligned
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill — Clause 20 — Entitlement to Vote in Local Government Elections at 16 2015-11-17 aye 100% agree aligned
Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill — New Clause 10 — Entitlement to Vote at Local Government Elections 2015-12-07 aye 100% agree aligned
European Union Referendum Bill — Clause 2 — Entitlement to Vote in the Referendum — Those Aged Sixteen and Seventeen 2015-12-08 no 99% against aligned
Electoral Reform (Proportional Representation and Reduction of Voting Age) 2016-07-20 absent na agree na

Informative Divisions

Informative votes are thematically related to a policy, but do not count towards the overall score.

motion date person vote party alignment policy direction policy aligned
Young People and Democracy 2004-03-09 absent na agree na