Sir Keir Starmer thinks it's time to reduce the voting age to 16.
It was more than 50 years ago since Harold Wilson's Labour government reduced the UK voting age from 21 to 18.
However, some countries found it was time for change in recent years.
Scotland made voting at 16 possible for all elections in 2015, and Wales followed suit in 2019.
How old do you have to be to vote in the general election in England and could we see it drop to 16?
How old do you have to be to vote in the general election?
Anyone on the electoral register aged 18 or over on polling day can vote in the general election.
Before the Second World War, which lasted from 1939 to 1945, nearly every nation had a voting age of 21 or older.
The first country to decrease the voting age to 18 was Czechoslovakia, in 1946.
By 1968, 17 nations had done the same; 8 of these were in Latin America and 8 of them were communist nations.
It wasn’t until the 1970s the UK reduced its voting age to 18 years, under the Representation of the People Act 1969.
Will the voting age drop?
Several debates have been put forward to lower the voting age.
Sir Keir stated that everyone mature enough to work should be able to cast a vote. If Labour wins, he is hoping to extend the ability to 16 and 17-year-olds.
When asked if Labour will decrease the voting age while on the Staffordshire campaign route, Sir Keir responded: “Yes, I want to see both 16 and 17-year-olds. If you can work, if you can pay tax, if you can serve in your armed forces, then you ought to be able to vote.”
It follows news from The Times that, should Labour win on July 4, a change to the voting age will probably be included in the King's Speech. However, there is no concrete word on when the legislation would take effect.
The plans have drawn criticism from Tory party members.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the Conservative party said: “This is a gimmick done by those who think their party is more likely to get the vote.”
Bob Seely, previous MP for the Isle of Wight, said: ”Perhaps Labour think younger voters will be easier to pull the wool over than older folks with a bit of life experience.”
This wouldn’t be the nation’s first attempt at lowering the age to vote. The Parliament has previously rejected the idea twice, once in 1999 and once more in 2005.
In 2017, the Green party agreed that 16-year-olds should have the right to vote.
Following a similar argument to Sir Keir, the party’s candidate for Bristol West, Molly Scott Cato, argued in 2017 that if 16-year-olds are eligible to pay taxes, leave home, get married and join the armed forces, they should be entitled to vote.
The overwhelming majority of 16 and 17-year-olds, she claimed, wanted to stay in the EU but were unable to vote.
Do other countries have similar ages for voting?
As of October 2020, the majority of nations and territories have set an 18-year-old minimum voting age.
12 nations and territories in total have a lower minimum voting age below 18.
Around the world, including Argentina, Austria, and Brazil, the minimum voting age for national elections is 16. The United Arab Emirates has the highest threshold, as its residents must be 25 years old to vote.There is a split voting age in Italy: citizens must be 25 years old to vote in Senate elections, but only 18 years old to vote in the lower house of Parliament.
