The government should introduce voting for 16 year olds in time for the General Election, says Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Gloucester, Cllr. Jeremy Hilton.
Mr Hilton said: “It would be great if legislation could be passed by parliament to enable 16 and 17 year olds to vote on the 7th of May next year, but unfortunately the Tories are against, they want to keep the voting age at 18.
“I am delighted that the Liberal Democrat manifesto will give a commitment to introduce legislation to allow 16 year olds to vote.
“The evidence from the Scottish referendum clearly showed that 16 and 17 year olds engaged in the political process in a mature way, with a turnout in this age group of 75%.
“David Cameron has agreed to fast-track new powers through parliament to give 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in the 2016 elections to the Scottish Parliament. He should now do the same for all elections in the United Kingdom.”
Ends…