Why the left cares about votes at 16 so much

In the above video, I go into why votes at 16 is a bad idea in more detail - looking at the in-depth reasons why I think we shouldn’t extend the franchise in this manner. I realise this will put me at odds with many of you reading this - there seems to be an odd crossover between thinking Brexit was a bad idea and wanting to extend the franchise as widely as possible. Anyhow, if you want to know generally why I think votes at 16 is a lousy idea, watch the video. What I am going to talk about here is why I believe that votes at 16 is such a large topic on the British left.

I have worked within and around organisations that have openly campaigned for votes at 16 - the Electoral Reform Society being the most prominent of them. I know what the arguments are and why the left - at least, what is left-wing in vibes terms, which is all that matters in 2025 - cares about this topic so deeply.

Part of it is falsely tactical. There is an idea that if votes were given to 16 and 17 year olds, we would have permanent left of centre government. The theory here is that young people vote lefty, you see, and injecting their votes is all we need. I don’t think that’s true - but it doesn’t matter, the left believe this, and so it forms part of the basis for why they think votes at 16 is important. It is strategic, a way to achieve their other goals.

Yet I think it goes beyond that, to be fair. I think the left feels like giving people who are 16 and 17 the vote will get them involved in politics at an earlier age and therefore, we will be creating a stronger democracy in the future. I think this bollocks, but again, I am detailing here why the left are behind this and that element is key. It forms a large part of their supposed moral argument for votes at 16.

Another part of why they like it comes down to group think. A lot of stuff in politics takes on the totemistic importance that they do simply by dint of being around long enough. Votes at 16 has been around as part of the left-wing furniture for so long now, it assumes a power all on its own, simply through longevity. “We’ve always believed in votes at 16, so there must be something to that,” is the basic feeling.

Finally, and what may depressingly be the biggest reason the left likes votes at 16 so much, is because the right hates it so much. The main justification genuinely comes down to partisanship. If the right liked votes at 16 more, the left would like it less. Sadly, this is what most of our politics amounts to now: we tend to care about what our political opponents care about with the same intensity, just obviously in the opposite direction. I genuinely think that if the right openly thought that votes at 16 was a good idea, the left would at the very least think twice about it.

In the video, I go into depth about why I think votes at 16 is a terrible idea - if you want to know what those reasons are, check out the video. Whether you do or not, ask yourself this: if the right liked votes at 16, would I really still think it was such a great idea? Or if you’re on the right and reading this: would I really think it was so awful if it wasn’t a left-wing buzz topic, and therefore felt a little “woke” by association? All I ask is that people think a little deeper about what they believe in and what they don’t, and stop playing team sports so often with this sort of thing.

I get that this is a request that will mostly go unmet over the next decade.