News / Bristol
‘Give young people the platform to have their voices heard’
A campaign calling for voting rights at 16 has met with support from Bristol City Council.
Green councillor Jude English argued that it’s time to bring an end to our “antiquated electoral system” as she urged colleagues to take positive action towards giving young people empowerment.
Her motion, calling on the council to support and work towards giving the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds, was passed with a majority vote, although some Conservative councillors were against the principle of lowering the age of suffrage.
is needed now More than ever
The chair of Bristol City Youth Council, Hannah Gardner, spoke out in City Hall on Tuesday, making a passionate plea for members to heed the will of young people to engage in politics.
“Votes at 16 will give young people the platform to have their voices heard and will allow 16 and 17 year-olds to shape the future that they aspire to,” she said.
“ This is a democratic issue that the youth council has campaigned for over many years and we believe there is now no better time to modernise our electoral system.
“This February, a record 12,534 of Bristol’s 11-18 year-olds participated in the Bristol Youth Vote elections, which shows a willingness to engage politically. We passionately urge all parties to support this motion and give young people the empowerment they have earned, pushing Bristol forward as a truly progressive and inclusive city.”
As well as asking mayor Marvin Rees to request that Bristol be able to trial votes at 16 in local elections, the motion called on him to publicly support the ‘Votes at 16’ movement and to include 16 and 17 year olds in any potential trial of e-voting.
Jude English has welcomed support for the Votes at 16 motion
English said: “It must be a terrifying time to be 16 at the moment. I would say they need all the help we can give them and one of the ways we can do that is to allow them into the voting process. These young people are part of the solution and we need them.”
Tory Mark Weston argued against the principle of votes for 16-year-olds and said any line drawn is going to be arbitrary, but there needs to be one.
“We believe that on balance, 18 is about right, it’s where that maturity of decision comes in,” he said. “We think children can get involved but wait until they are 19 to have the formal vote.”
Adding his support, Rees said: “Anything that allows us to broaden our engagement is welcome.”
After the meeting, English, said: “We were all greatly impressed by the youth council at last month’s full council – anyone can issue statements but I think it’s only right of us to demonstrate our support for them through real action.
“The Greens have long led the way on Votes at 16 and it feels fantastic to get the support for this motion from council. I look forward to Bristol City Council applying to be a pilot and starting the process of updating our antiquated electoral system.”
Read more: Young people in Bristol call for voting rights at 16
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