Local elections
I hope all those eligible to vote in today’s local elections have done so, or will before the polling booths close. They are open until 10.00 p.m. Results are expected from the early hours of Friday onwards.
The fight for universal suffrage was long and fraught.
The Third Reform Act of 1884 gave the right to vote to two in every three men, though some men had two or more votes. Unmarried female rate payers had been allowed to vote in local elections since 1869, but were not allowed to vote in General (Parliamentary) Elections.
In 1918, when men returned from the horrors of the First World War, it was felt that there should be a change in the voting laws. The men had fought for their country, but many were disbarred from voting for representation. The Representation of the People Act, 1918, enfranchised all men over the age of 21. Women aged 30 or older, who owned property in their own right, or were married to men who had property, were given the vote.
UK women were awarded the same right to vote as men in 1928. The voting age then was 21.
The UK voting age was reduced to 18 in 1969. This made the country the first democracy worldwide to give the vote to 18-year-olds. Scotland and Wales lowered the voting age to 16 for the Scottish Parliament, in 2015 -2016, for the Senedd (Welsh Parliament) in 2021-2022, and local elections.
In February this year, The Representation of the People Bill (2026) began its tortuous, torturous journey through Parliament. Its intention is to lower the voting age to 16 for all elections in the UK. The government hopes that it will be passed into law before the next General Election.
I know
some highly thoughtful and intelligent 16-year-olds, and also many more who are
impressionable, and the things they fervently believe often change out of all
recognition by the time they have experienced more of life than school,
training, and education. They are likely to fall prey to be influenced
by some of the wilder claims of the more desperate parties.
There’s
still time to cast your vote – if you’re in the UK and eligible.
I agree - voting is a basic right but not to be taken for granted. Use it wisely!
ReplyDelete16 seems to me to be rather young to vote. They're still rebellious teenagers. Ive heard so much about these elections it will be interesting to learn the results and read everyone's opinion on them. I'll be tuning into the BBC tomorrow morning
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that 18 is still too young to vote, I would prefer 25, so that those voting will have at least had some experience of life.
ReplyDeleteLikewise, I would put a minimum age on prospective candidates, probably at least 30, again, so that they will have had some more life experience.
And I would like to see fewer "professional" politicians - I think that people representing us should have a much broader experience than just being a bag carrier for an MP or think tank pen pusher.
When I think of myself at age 16 ... no ... it's too young to really understand what you are voting for.
ReplyDeleteOhhh age 16. That is really stretching it. I have a 16 year old living next door to me. She is bright and a lovely girl but in now way is she ready to vote. To me that is kind of scary.
ReplyDeleteWe have both voted, now we wait to see who is in office, local councils are so important.
ReplyDeleteMy country is going back in time. Our voting rights are being dismantled. There's supposed to be a primary election in November, but I wonder if that will even happen as this regime tries to grab and hold on to unlimited powers.
ReplyDeleteLocal elections are the backbone of democracy.
ReplyDeleteI do think 16 is too young to vote . . . and many may say 18 is too!?
ReplyDeleteHowever, it will be interesting to see the results of the local elections and as ever some results will please where others will not!
All the best Jan
Everyone who can vote, must vote, in every country around the globe in every single election.
ReplyDeleteIn Canada, an act of parliament made women into people. Sigh. I am not a fan of 16 yr olds having the franchise. 21 suited me better. Adult brain, one hopes, by then.
ReplyDeleteThis is a fine timeline you have given us. Thanks.
When I was growing up, local town council elections were open only to property owners. The only Catholic property owners I knew were builders who'd built their own homes, there being a prejudice against selling to Catholic buyers. And yes, people knew whose religion was what then. So, until the local franchise was widened to match the national voting rights, Catholics were pretty much barred from having a say in local byelaws.
ReplyDeleteAnd that wasn't ancient history!
If you can vote, please do! People, especially women, fought hard and long for the vote.
When I look back on my own life I was certainly unprepared to vote at sixteen and doubt that I was much more prepared at eighteen. I would prefer a minimum voting age of twenty-one, and twenty-five wouldn’t cause me any grief, either.
ReplyDeleteMy mother told me to always vote, even if it was to just spoil my ballot, because people had died to get me that privilege.
ReplyDeleteI was also told, but not sure how much this is true, that if turnout falls below a certain level, the civil service would step in.
I'm proud that my son is jumping through all the hoops to make sure that he can vote, even though he's away at university.
Federal and State voting is compulsory for all adult Australian citizens. That way we know the successful candidate represents the _entire_ electorate.
ReplyDeleteVoting is a privelage . Everyone is is eligible should vote.
ReplyDeleteYour voting qualifications modernized long before ours did.
ReplyDeleteGreat history of voting rights. It is important.
ReplyDeleteYou remind me that men did not all always have the vote either.
ReplyDeleteI never miss a chance to vote even though in the area where I live my vote is almost never for the winner. It's more important than ever to make our voices heard in every way we can on every chance that we get.
ReplyDeleteThat is really quite silly, in my opinion.
ReplyDelete... a right and an obligation; not just because others fought for it for us but also because we have no cause to complain if we have not participated in the decision making about representation.
ReplyDeleteIs voting not compulsory in the UK?
ReplyDeleteMy Brother in Law is 67 years old and Never Voted. He doesn't moan about the government etc so I suppose it's his right to not vote.
ReplyDeleteI live in what used to be a Rotten Borough, a small population returning 2 MPs elected by a very small number of rich landowners, when large towns such as Manchester and Birmingham had no MPs at all. This was dealt with in the Reform Act of 1832, thankfully. Lyssa Medana is right, women weren't 'given' the vote, they fought and struggled to get their right. Just as everyday working men had to much earlier, when voting was only allowed for a comparatively few rich land owners.
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