Image source, PA Media

Children's Commissioner Dame Rachel de Souza says "lowering the voting age to 16 sends the message that their voices and ideas do matter," in response to today's proposals.

Running an independent organisation with a duty to protect the rights of children in England, de Souza says that she is often told by young people that they feel like they aren't being heard.

"In my Big Ambition survey just 22% of children told me they think politicians listen to them – earlier this year that number had dropped to 16%," she says in a statement.

Now, she suggests, young people need to be given the "tools" to help be part of decisions about their futures.

"That means giving children brilliant lessons in citizenship and democracy, allowing them to learn through discussion and debate," she explains.

Image source, Getty Images

When 16 and 17-year-olds - as well as those a lot older - arrive at the ballot box at the next general election, they'll have a big choice to make.

Luckily, our colleagues at BBC Bitesize have come up with three top tips to help make sure you're in the right frame of mind to take the best decision.

1 - Save your brain's bandwidth

This means removing the small choices in your life so that your brain is able to focus on the bigger ones.

GP Dr Radha Modgil explains: "Scientists have learned that whether it’s a decision about what pair of socks to put on, or which house to buy, our brains will use the same amount of energy on each choice."

2 - Fuel up

It's important to keep your brain's fuel at optimum levels too.

"If you’re very hungry, neurotransmitters can’t be produced, which results in communication between the brain’s 86 billion neurons breaking down," Dr Modgil says.

This means cutting down on treats like biscuits, to make room for slow-releasing carb breakfasts like porridge, as well as plenty of water.

3 - Ask a friend

People often opt for the safest option rather than one which could have a positive impact, because they worry about what they will lose through a big life change.

So, to counter safer choices, Dr Modgil has this advice - speak to a friend who isn’t afraid to tell you what they really think.

Image source, Aqdas Chowdhury

One 17-year-old opposed to the change in voting age is Aqdas Chowdhury.

He says there are major information gaps in the age range, and teenagers aren't responsible.

Chowdhury argues that because many use social media to get news, they "form flawed beliefs... hence we cannot trust young people to vote on affairs where knowing the facts is important, if they disregard them".

He also says it's easy for young people's beliefs to be shaped by their parents, so if they vote it "weakens democracy, as young people aren't able to express their true opinions when voting".

"Instead of focusing on lowering the voting age, the government should do more to combat misinformation online, offer political education to this age range and reduce political apathy by strengthening youth parliaments and encouraging them to focus on issues involving everyone not just young people," he adds.

Image source, Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

The chair of the Local Government Association, which represents councils, is welcoming the government's changes to the voting process - including expanding forms of ID and moving towards automatic voter registration.

Councillor and chair Louise Gittins says it's "encouraging to see efforts both to improve registration rates and lower the barriers to voting that some people experience".

Going forward, Gittins says it's vital the government works with councils "to ensure that the introduction of significant changes is fair, secure and properly resourced".

She adds that councils need more support to combat the impacts of abuse and intimidation on candidates, "including more consistent policing and a review of harassment offences against candidates and elected members”.

Image source, Reuters

Alongside proposals to lower the minimum voting age and extend the forms of ID that can be used to vote, the government has also proposed to introduce an automatic voting register.

At the moment eligible adults in the UK need to register in order to vote, which can be done online or using a paper form.

But, the Electoral Commission estimates around seven million people are incorrectly registered or missing from the register - which means they cannot vote.

The government now says it will create an automated voter registration scheme to tackle this.

It's unclear exactly what shape this might take, but it says there will be safeguards so that people are aware of their registration status and can opt-out if they wish.

A 2023 Electoral Commision report suggested automated registration could involve organisations like the Passport Office providing Electoral Registration Officers with the names and addresses of people eligible to vote.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, defending the voting changes, tells the BBC that she has "felt quite passionate about this for a long time", regarding changing the voting age.

She adds: "I was a mum at 16. I mean you can go to work, you can pay your taxes, and I think that people should have a vote at 16. I think we should engage young people in the democratic process and that they should be able to do that."

Rayner says that as politicians, "we go to schools and some of the questions are harder than the questions you ask me quite frankly, and they're very switched on".

"I think actually this is about engaging young people in what's going to happen in their future.

"They're paying their taxes and what we're doing impacts on them and impacts on their future."

Asked about the potential for this to backfire, if votes don't land in their favour, Rayner says it's not "about trying to rig votes for a particular party, this is about democracy".

The Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society says today's strategy paper shows "vital steps to ensure barriers are removed to voting".

Darren Hughes says: “Bringing in votes at 16 will end the absurd and unfair situation where teenagers can already vote in Wales and Scotland but not in England and Northern Ireland purely by dint of where they live.

“Voting at 16 will also help more young people to cast that all-important, habit-forming vote at a point when they can be supported with civic education."

Hughes welcomes the government's plans to expand types of accepted ID voters can use on polling day and also says he is encouraged to see rules being tightened up on political donations.

Wales' first experience of votes at 16 has been described as a 'false start'published at 15:33 British Summer Time

15:33 BST

Cemlyn Davies
Political correspondent, BBC Wales

Image source, Getty Images

Young people aged 16 and 17 were able to take part in Senedd elections for the first time in 2021.

The move gave an extra 70,000 teenagers across Wales the right to vote.

However, less than half that number actually took the step of registering for a vote.

The overall turnout for the 2021 election was 46.6% - up from 45.4% in 2016.

But that was a smaller rise than the 4% jump between 2011 and 2016 when voters still had to be 18 or over.

It should be pointed out that the 2021 election came at a time of real disruption for teenagers' education because of the pandemic, and so many 16 and 17 year-olds weren't introduced to the democratic system at school in the way that had been hoped.

As a result, Wales' first experience of votes at 16 has been described as a "false start".

Will things be different at next year's Senedd election?

Joshua Nevett
Political reporter

Image source, EPA

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner’s team has admitted her Times article today about lowering the voting age mistakenly said 16-year-olds in England could legally get married.

The BBC has been told Rayner's article contained a drafting error that has been rectified and did not appear in print.

An earlier version of the online article said: "By law, they can get married and serve our country in the armed forces - but, unlike their peers in Scotland and Wales, 16-year-olds in England and Northern Ireland can’t vote. Why not?"

The reference to marriage was taken out in an updated version.

The law was changed to increase the legal age of marriage to 18 in England and Wales in 2023. As our earlier post explained, 16-year-olds can still get married in Northern Ireland (with parental consent) and Scotland.

Kirsty Grant
BBC News social media team journalist

The news about lowering the voting age to 16 has generated a lot of discussion on our BBC News TikTok account.

Plenty of under-18s have weighed in - of course, it's not representative of all young people, but the overwhelming sentiment is one of disapproval and scepticism.

One of our followers said: “As a 16-year-old, this is awful.” Another predicted “this is going to backfire hilariously”.

Reform UK is mentioned repeatedly, with many young people predicting a huge surge in votes for the party.

“Reform UK has just won the next general election,” one user put it simply.

• Head to @BBCNews on TikTok to hear from more young people in response to the announcement.

Image source, Jo Williamson

Jo Williamson, 28, from Newcastle-upon-Tyne has been in touch with us and recalls: "I was 17 in 2014 and able to vote in the Scottish independence referendum, and I have to say, it felt freeing to have a say in the future of my country.

"Looking back 10 years later, it’s refreshing to remember our common room being full of discussions of weekend party plans and debates about the upcoming vote.

"In fact, I think it’s the most politically engaged I’ve ever been ahead of an election. I’m fully in favour of giving 16 and 17-year-olds the vote.

"Of course, some young people might not engage or do much research, but the same is true for any age group. If anything, giving a voice to the generation who’ll live longest with the consequences of government decisions just makes sense.”

Image source, Reuters

"I'm really happy about it because I've always been kind of frustrated just watching politics and not being able to do anything," 16-year-old Mathew Caronno tells Reuters.

He says lots of his peers feel the same, and it would be "really amazing" to vote as so many policies affect younger people.

Isabelle Laine-Euden, 17, is also pleased. She says it's "really annoying watching older people vote... it's not going to affect them".

However, she worries that people will end up voting for what their parents say, because they're surrounded by these opinions.

Also worried is Matilda Behrendt, 17. She is concerned that people will fall down "pipelines into alt right... and are very easily convinced and persuaded", with social media making the risks worse.

Image source, Reuters

Damian Grammaticas
Political correspondent

Downing Street says it plans to extend the vote to 16-year-olds because voting is "critical to engaging young people" in democracy, and rejects the idea it is making the change hoping it will benefit from their votes.

"I absolutely reject those claims. This government was elected on that specific manifesto commitment to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all elections, and that's what we're doing," a Downing Street spokesperson tells reporters at the daily Downing Street press briefing.

"We are determined to restore trust in democracy, and votes at 16 is critical to engaging young people. It will empower them to participate in society and effect real change, locally and nationally," the spokesperson adds.

The spokesperson says changes to rules governing political donations were not aimed at limiting funds flowing to any particular party. "It's not about specific individuals or parties", the spokesperson says.

"The current status quo means that a new company registered today, owned by anyone and funded from anywhere, can donate and have influence in UK politics, and that's why these new measures are coming in that leaves our democracy vulnerable and undermines trust in our politics."

Image source, PA Media

"The UK is finally catching up," Scottish First Minister John Swinney says, reacting to the news of the voting age changes.

In a post on X, he writes: "Over a decade ago, I was proud to introduce the bill that gave 16 and 17-year-olds the vote in Scottish elections.

"Young people here have a stake in shaping our future, and it made Scotland’s democracy stronger."

Where could 16 and 17-year-olds make the most difference by voting?published at 14:27 British Summer Time

14:27 BST

By Aidan McNamee and Daniel Wainwright, Data journalists

Lowering the voting age to 16 means there could be over one-and-a-half million more potential voters at the next general election.

Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North is the constituency with the biggest proportion of young people eligible to vote in a 2029 general election. Over 4,200 of its residents, 3.4% of the population, would be 16 or 17 years old by the middle of 2029.

That’s based on official population estimates from 2022 and 2023.

There are over 120 out of 650 seats where the population likely to be 16 or 17 by mid-2029 is greater than the current MP’s majority.

Of course, no-one knows how young people will vote and no-one expects them to vote the same way, but many MPs will need to think about how to win their support.

In Hendon, which Labour won by 15 votes, there were over 3,500 children who may be able to vote by the next election.

In Basildon and Billericay, won by the Conservatives by 20 votes, there are over 150 times more children who’ll be aged 16 or 17 by mid-2029, while South Basildon and East Thurrock, won by Reform UK by 98 votes, has about 2,600 potential new voters.

The Lib Dems’ most slender majority is Ely and East Cambridgeshire, won by 495 votes, where there are over 2,600 potential new voters from today’s announcement.

Youth vote could be widely sharedpublished at 14:15 British Summer Time

14:15 BST

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

In Britain's traditional two-party system, this is an age group that would be very likely to vote Labour and very unlikely to vote Conservative.

But politics is fracturing and polls suggest that Labour's youth vote is at risk of being chipped away at - by the Greens, Lib Dems, Reform and perhaps a potential Jeremy Corbyn-led party too.

The prime minister's official spokesman said today that he totally rejected any claims that the timing of this announcement is about politics.

He pointed to this being a manifesto commitment in last year's election and the government says today's wider package of reforms is about strengthening a political system that's at risk from a growing lack of trust.

That's evident with ideas around heftier fines for breaking electoral law and a requirement for campaign groups posting political ads to declare any party affiliations.

All of this has come with a pretty gloomy warning too from the deputy prime minister Angela Rayner.

Writing in The Times newspaper about the changes announced today, she said "we cannot take our democracy for granted".

Image source, PA Media

Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill says the change to voting ages is a "step forward for democracy and will enable young people to have a say in their future".

“I’ll now be contacting the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, urging him to ensure that the right to vote at 16 applies to the 2027 Assembly and Council elections in the north,” she writes on X.

David Wallace Lockhart
Scotland political correspondent

In recent years there's been a bit of a disparity for young voters in Scotland - in council and Holyrood elections they can vote at 16.

This is because MSPs at the Scottish Parliament made decisions on these voting ages.

But for general elections the power was reserved to Westminster - and that stuck at 18.

So Scottish 16 and 17-year-olds could vote in elections... sometimes... not always.

But, now that looks set to change, and no matter the election, 16-year-olds will be heading to the polling station.

If you are just joining our coverage or need a quick summary of the key developments, here's a recap to bring you up-to-date:

• The government has announced it is lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 for the next general election
• It is the biggest change to the British electorate since 1969 when the voting age was reduced from 21 to 18
• As part of a raft of proposals, Labour says it is only fair to allow young people to vote given they can work, pay taxes and join the Army
• But, the Conservatives argue the plans are "hopelessly confused" and has given Parliament no time to scrutinise until September due to the imminent recess
• Among the wave of other details in the government's announcement, Labour says it will expand acceptable forms of ID at polling stations to include bank cards
• It will also look to improve postal votes and make tweaks to party donations in order to tackle any foreign interference

Image source, Getty Images

While we hear the arguments for and against lowering the voting age, let's take a look at how old you need to be to reach some of the other milestones that distinguish young people from adults.

Get a tattoo

You must be over 18 to get a tattoo in the UK. It is illegal for an artist to tattoo a person under this age, even if they have parental consent.

Buy an alcoholic drink

Across the UK, it's illegal to buy alcohol if you're under 18.

But, if you're 16 or 17 and accompanied by an adult, you can drink - but not buy - beer, wine or cider with a meal.

Join the army

You can join the British Army - which covers the whole of the UK - as a soldier at 16 years old, but those under 18 will need parental consent to join.

There are a few variations depending on the role - the British Army sets them all out, external - and young people are able to join the Army Cadet Force from as young as 12, where they can get involved in army-themed activities.

Start driving

You can start learning to drive a car when you've turned 17. This means you can theoretically begin learning, pass your test, and then drive legally while you're 17.

To do this, you'll need a provisional licence, and must be supervised by a driving instructor or someone else who meets the rules - that's someone over 21 who has had a full licence for three years.

There are a few conditions attached to this; you have to display 'L' plates, and Northern Ireland doesn't allow learner drivers on motorways.

In Northern Ireland, too, newly qualified drivers with 'R' plates must drive no faster than 45mph for a minimum of 12 months.

Image source, Getty Images

Stand for election

To stand as a Member of Parliament in a UK general election, you need to be at least 18.

The same minimum age also applies to local elections across the UK - despite the fact that 16 and 17-year-olds can vote in devolved elections in Scotland and Wales.

Use a sunbed

Using sunbeds isn't recommended due to the risk of skin cancer, and it's illegal to do so if you're under 18 across the UK.

Get married

In England and Wales, you can't get married until you're 18.

In Northern Ireland, the rule is that you may marry at 16, but those aged 16 and 17 need parental or guardian consent to do so.

In Scotland, you can get married at a minimum age of 16, and this doesn't require parental consent.

Be convicted of a crime and held in an adult prison

The minimum age of criminal responsibility in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is 10 - meaning children between 10 and 17 can be arrested and taken to court if they commit a crime.

In Scotland, the minimum age of criminal responsibility is 12.

As for which prison young people are sent to, anyone over 18 may be sent to an adult prison.

If they're aged 18-21, they might, though, instead be sent to a young offender institution.