Councillors give thumbs up to the under-18 voter
Under 18s should be be able to vote in local and national elections, a council has decided.
But not all authorities in west Kent are considering the issue.
Last week, Maidstone borough councillors overwhelmingly supported a motion to support dropping the voting age to 16.
But an online poll in the wake of last Wednesday’s meeting revealed 653 of our online readers (77%) thought the voting age should remain the same.
The remaining 23% – 198 people – said yes to the change.
Emily Fermor was elected to Coxheath and Hunton ward when she was 23-years-old.
Now 25, the Lib Dem councillor continues to campaign for young people to be engaged with politics.
She said: “There was resounding support from young members, we have a number of young councillors including myself, Cllr Georgia Harvey (Lib Dem) and Cllr Matthew Burton (Conservative).
“If you consider the amount of responsibility young people have these days, we have 17-year-olds making huge decisions about their financial future when they’re applying to university, young people can join the army, they can have children.
“Being disenfranchised and not being able to vote on the policies that make a huge impact on their lives is a real shame and it’s something I think all parties are working towards addressing.”
Of the councillors present, 38 voted in favour of the motion, seven against and five abstained.
Opposition to the proposal came from a minority of Lib Dem and Conservative councillors.
Neighbouring councils remain unmoved by the vote, with Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council and Tunbridge Wells Borough Council both stating no similar motion had been put forward.
Maidstone council leader Fran Wilson voted in favour of the move. The 75-year-old said: “There was a time I would’ve voted the other way, because of my age and the generation I grew up in.
“But 16-year-olds should have the right to vote, they’re intelligent and they’re interested in everything around them.
“If they don’t have the opportunity, by the time they do vote they’ll have lost interest.”
Matt Boughton, Conservative councillor for Fant ward, said: “It’s good councillors have recognised the importance 16 and 17-year-olds have in our community.
“By expressing this and writing to the government, we can hopefully make it clear the council supports change, provided there are other changes made to 16-year-old’s rights, such as appearing on a jury.”
Maidstone Borough Council will now send an open letter to government backing the proposal.