The British government is set to give 1.5 million 16 and 17-year-olds the vote, unlocking a new voter base for competing political parties. Social media could be key to their success.
The government on Thursday said that it plans to bring forward an elections bill which will grant 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all U.K. elections.
It marks the biggest change to Britain’s electorate since the voting age was reduced from 21 in 1969.
If approved by parliament, it would be a major overhaul of the country’s democratic system. The proposal, which was included in last year’s Labour manifesto, will bring national elections in line with Scotland and Wales, the government said.
The latest changes mean British political parties now face the challenge of engaging younger voters in the social media age.
More teenagers are shunning traditional media outlets and getting their news from social media, according to a 2024 report from Ofcom.
Online sources continue to be most popular among the younger age groups, with 88% of 16-24-year-olds using online sources for such updates. Social media is the main driver of this, with 82% of young adults using this platform, and only half of 16-24 year-olds using TV for news.
In the 12-15-year-old category, 12% of teens cited TikTok as their main source of news.
“TikTok certainly is one of, if not the most popular digital content platform for young people. Whilst no platform’s success lasts forever, it is hard to see any changes to the wider trend of more and more of the public getting the news content from these apps in general,” said Steven Buckley, lecturer in digital media sociology at City University of London.
Buckley stressed that the content politicians post is paramount, however, and that desperate attempt to be “down with the kids” won’t work.
“One of the core currencies in today’s society is authenticity. Trying to win over 16 and 17 year olds by simply posting a bunch of TikToks and saying that the leader of the opposition is “Skibiddi Ohio Rizz” is not going to win them over. They will simply be labelled ‘cringe’ and be dismissed,” he told CNBC.
“The perception that young people are disinterested in politics or their communities is simply not true. They care deeply about inequality, the environment and social justice. Politicians wanting to win over these new voters can do so by actually addressing their material concerns.”
Social media has become pivotal to winning elections. Former U.S. President Barack Obama’s use of Facebook broke new ground in 2008, while current White House leader Trump’s tweets helped rally his voter base during both his 2016 presidential campaign and re-election in 2024.
Although political information has become more readily available across multiple platforms, it hasn’t necessarily translated into higher turnout in polls. Turnout was 59.7% during the 2024 U.K. general election, the lowest since 2001, according to a parliamentary report.
The jury is still out on whether giving younger people the right to vote will make a sizeable impact. A poll of 16 and 17-year-olds by political consultancy Merlin Strategy showed that out of the 500 surveyed, only 18% said they would definitely vote if an election took place tomorrow
Scarlett Maguire, founder of Merlin Strategy, said political parties will have to develop a lot more technology and media strategies.
“Politicians need to do more than just give the vote to appeal and engage young people. At the moment, this age group is not very engaged with politics or politicians, so politicians will need to do quite a lot to appeal to them,” she said.
The Labour Party is widely seen to have the most to gain from lowering the voting age. However, Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK party could also get significant backing from this age group, according to Maguire. Farage has six times as many followers on TikTok than Labour does.
“Reform probably had the best digital media and social media campaign strategies the last election. Reform is doing well with this age group, particularly male teenagers. Now we will see whether the other parties, especially the Conservatives who are polling very low with this age group, can catch up,” Maguire added.
Among the other plans set out by the government is to accept bank cards as voter ID at polling stations by the time of the next general election, which is currently slated for 2029.
