The United Kingdom (UK) government, on Thursday, July 17, 2025, announced it would allow 16 year-olds to vote in general elections.

The landmark change gives the UK one of the lowest voting ages worldwide.

The ruling Labour Party pledged to lower the age from 18 ahead of winning power last year.

It is among several planned changes to the democratic system.

Some argue Britain’s democracy is “in crisis”, in particular due to low turnout.

The voting age change is contentious, however, with critics previously arguing it is self-serving as newly-enfranchised teenagers are seen as more likely to support centre-left Labour.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “I think it’s really important that 16 and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they are old enough to go out to work, they are old enough to pay taxes, so they pay in.

“And I think if you pay in, you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on, which way the government should go.”

The government will have to bring legislation before parliament, where it has a comfortable majority, to make the changes, AFP reported.

Only a small number of countries allow 16-year-olds to vote in national elections, according to online databases.

They include Austria – the first EU country to lower the voting age to 16 in 2007 – as well as Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and Cuba.