UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is in big trouble, and he has found the answer: unleashing a child army at the ballot box.
Described as a seismic change to modernise UK democracy, many see the move for what it truly represents … desperation.
This will bring UK-wide elections in line with Scotland and Wales and is a major step towards meeting a manifesto commitment, ushering in the biggest change to UK democracy in a generation.
Which is interesting, because despite voluntary voting and a low turnout for young voters, the shift resulted in what looks like a permanent lurch to the hard-Left in both examples.
The Greens and Teals in Australia have been quick to leap onto the lucrative bandwagon.
Larissa Waters, Leader of the Greens, wrote on X:
‘Millions of young people are now, more than ever, concerned about their future. The housing crisis, climate change, and the cost of living, education, and mental health mean if you’re just about to leave school, things are tougher now than they’ve been for generations before you. If you’re 16 and living out of home or planning TAFE or Uni – you know that life doesn’t wait until you’re allowed to vote. You’re paying bills, taking on debt, and you should be heard on the issues that matter. That’s why the Greens want to give you the right to vote.’
It’s a bit of a stretch to claim that life is harder for today’s children, but the end of times narrative is one the Greens are sticking to so they can label themselves as saviours by using, uh, higher taxes.
Teal Monique Ryan ‘vowed to introduce a bill to Parliament pushing for a lowering of Australia’s minimum voting age’, telling the ABC:
‘Around the world, there is a global move to lower the voting age. The fact is, in democracies we see that fewer and fewer young people feel that they are actively engaged and supported by government and they’re turning away from politics and what we want to do is bring them back.
‘Get them feeling that the decisions that we make matter and that they have a voice in what happens in politics, and the best way to do that is to enfranchise them, to give them a vote.’
An odd thing to say, given a 16-year-old will have the chance to vote within a single election cycle. The argument used by Ms Ryan could be used to give a toddler the vote, the reason we don’t is because they are not adults. That is the line in the sand.
Ms Ryan also floated the idea of ‘not fining’ those under 18 for failing to vote.
Listen, they’re either old enough to vote or they are not. If you have to start offering special provisions, they should not be voting at all.
A cynic may observe that 16 and 17-year-olds are more likely to vote for the Left and so their presence will tip the election scales unfairly. It would be no less dubious for the Liberal Party to put forward a proposal to raise the voting age to 50.
NSW MLC for the Libertarians, John Ruddick, tweeted that the voting age should be raised to 30.
Seriously, if you want better politics, we should raise the voting age to 30. https://t.co/DZFH61M7q7
— John Ruddick MLC (@JohnRuddick2) July 17, 2025
‘The Left’ is not a single entity, and there is a fair chance this might backfire on the Albanese Labor Party.
December marks the introduction to the under 16 ban on social media – a life-ruining policy for the social structure of the next generation. These kids will be waiting to exert their fury at the polling booth, but thanks to the Liberals birthing the idea and supporting it, the youth vote is unlikely to benefit conservative politics. Instead, young people will probably flock to the Greens and other micro, radical, dangerously socialist political parties.
If Labor had any survival instincts, at all, they’d vote against the proposition.
Besides, in more enlightened times, there was a general view that politicising children was an abuse of their childhood. This held true until the activist class got hold of them.
What will we see if this proposition goes through? Campaign posters inside classrooms? Politicians doing the rounds of high schools? Teachers deliberately steering votes under the guise of addressing ‘misinformation and disinformation’?
Talk about your slippery slopes!
It’s bad enough we have LGBTQ+ flags hanging on classroom walls, we don’t need posters of Anthony Albanese (like they do in China, where Xi Jinping’s image looms over children).
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson had one of the most sensible replies to the proposition. In a long post, she said that ‘caring about issues is not the same as being ready to vote on them’. Ms Hanson added:
‘At 16, you can’t legally drink, smoke, sign a lease, or enlist to defend this country. And there’s a good reason for that: we understand that maturity matters. Voting is no different. Our democracy depends on voters who understand the full weight of their decisions on defence, national security, foreign policy, tax, and more. These are not classroom topics. They’re real-world responsibilities.
‘Some young people are politically active, and that’s great, but they’re the exception, not the rule. Most teenagers are still under their parents’ roof, still focused on school, and still forming their views based on limited life experience.
‘And we need to be honest about what’s really happening. There’s growing influence from activist agendas and ideological bias in the education system. Social media echo chambers and pressure to conform make teenagers more vulnerable to political manipulation, not less. Lowering the voting age would hand over enormous democratic power to people who are still learning how the system works.
‘[…] This isn’t about shutting young people out. It’s about preparing them properly so when they do vote, they vote with independence, understanding, and real-world experience behind them. That’s how we protect our democracy. That’s how we protect the country they’ll one day lead.’
So far, I have not seen any comments from the Coalition regarding the matter. They are probably consulting a focus group.
In Australia, lowering the voting age will probably shift the balance of power from Labor to the Greens.
However, in the UK, the outcome is not nearly so predictable. Nigel Farage’s Reform Party is famously appealing to the young. He conquered TikTok at the last election and his events have an average age of the local night club. Starmer is gambling with percentages in desperation. Albanese does not need to.
How bad is it for UK Labour?
Well, they have exhausted the good faith of taxpayers. The national debt sits at £2.8 trillion, inflating rapidly under a crippling welfare state whose Crown Jewel, the £180 billion NHS, is less safe than going to the local vet. Meanwhile, Net Zero has gutted manufacturing and de-industrialised the nation that gave us the Industrial Revolution.
‘First female Chancellor of the Exchequer in 800 years’, Rachel Reeves, decided to cut costs by leaving elderly UK citizens to freeze while granting extra benefits to migrants. This wiped out the Labour vote in the over-60 demographic.
Union workers are furious. After spending more than a century securing workers’ rights and fair pay, they have been replaced by slave labour in China. They’re voting Reform.
Farmers hit with a cruel inheritance tax are not only angry, they are surrounding Westminster with protests cheered on by former BBC Top Gear star, Jeremy Clarkson. He has become a champion of the abused agricultural class blamed for ‘climate change’ with their farms destined to be re-purposed as renewable energy graveyards for foreign billionaires.
The middle-class is copping the worst of Labour’s greed, receiving none of the social benefits their taxes pay for while everything they require to survive continues to rise in cost. Even their schools are closing, including those that have been operating for three centuries, thanks to the Chancellor’s greedy decision to raise VAT on private schools. Since the tax was introduced, two schools a week have closed. No one remembers Labour promising to close hundreds of schools at the election.
Tax the Rich? Not likely. They have left for Dubai and America.
Essentially, the average UK worker can’t afford to drive their car thanks to green taxes, so they walk to work navigating crime-ridden streets overrun with foreigners, they drag childish climate protesters off the streets, dodge the local pro-Palestinian mob clutching portraits of dead terrorists while demanding Sharia Law, and then spend what’s left of their wage on an overpriced cup of coffee and donut made from bug-flour certified as ‘climate friendly’ by the European Union (which simply refuses to bugger off) all while knowing full well they’re headed to jail for that angry tweet they flicked off waiting for a graffiti-covered bus that was delayed by a machete fight.
Do they regret Keir Starmer? Do they heck…
That said, young people should be very angry.
Their vote is being weaponised by adult politicians who see their schooling as an indoctrination opportunity and their voices as the strong-arm of radical movements.
In exchange, children are losing the innocence of their childhood.
Eventually, these children will grow up and realise the toxic role politics played in their upbringing.
Until then, the adults in the room should do everything possible to shield children from politicians and their ambitions for power.
Flat White is written by Alexandra Marshall. If you would like to support her work, shout her a coffee over at donor-box.
