Labour’s Teen Vote Gamble: Doomed to backfire if TikTok is anything to go by.
The Labour government has made a snap decision to lower the voting age to 16. I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry at this scandalously transparent gerrymandering. I don’t think it’s going to work out the way they hope.
Sixteen-year-olds can’t legally buy fireworks, but now they can help decide who controls the nuclear button. They can’t rent a flat, buy a bottle of wine or sit on a jury, but they’re apparently mature enough to weigh up fiscal policy and foreign affairs. Have you met a 16-year-old lately?
I asked my sons what they thought about this move. One said: “Scammers.” He had yet to learn the term gerrymandering’.
And let’s be honest, that’s what this is. Labour thinks it’ll get more votes. But will it? We could ask YouGov to run a poll, or we could do what the kids do and check TikTok.