SNP demands power to cut voting age to 16

Published: Friday, June 13th 2008

The call by Bruce Crawford, the SNP minister for parliament, at a meeting of the Electoral Reform Society yesterday, was also seen as an attempt to highlight divisions between Westminster and Holyrood.At Westminster, lowering the voting age is far down the political agenda, even though Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, has given it his personal backing. Mr Crawford has now made it a priority at Holyrood.
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Electoral Reform Society Response to Scottish Parliament Committee Elections Report

Published: Tuesday, June 10th 2008

The Electoral Reform Society has welcomed the Local Government and Communities Scottish Parliamentary committee’s report on last year’s elections as having a number of sensible recommendations. The Society has not, however, endorsed every conclusion reached by the Local Government and Communities Committee which has published its report on the problems that arose in the 2007 elections.
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Councils now have real power, but do they deserve it?

Published: Sunday, June 8th 2008

Joan McAlpine, The Times
Councils now have real power, but do they deserve it?
What councils do matters these days, just as the votes we cast in municipal elections matter at last. The introduction of the single transferable vote last year has made councils truly representative. Glasgow now has a dynamic young leader in Steven Purcell, galvanised no doubt by a vigorous opposition.
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MPs debate 'votes at 16' proposal

Published: Friday, June 6th 2008

BBC News
A cross-party attempt to lower the voting age from 18 to 16 has been launched in the Commons - although it has little prospect of becoming law. Julie Morgan - the Labour MP behind the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill - said the "time was right" for it.
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Votes at 16: ‘the time is right’

Published: Wednesday, June 4th 2008

 Today Labour’s Julie Morgan will stand shoulder to shoulder with Conservative John Bercow and Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson to make the case for lowering the voting age to sixteen. The cross party group of MPs, together with young people from across Britain, are gathering in Westminster to mark the launch of the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill. 
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Julie Morgan in drive to give 16-year-olds the vote

Published: Wednesday, June 4th 2008

Tomos Livingstone, Western Mail
A Welsh MP today launches a fresh campaign to lower the voting age to 16. Cardiff North MP Julie Morgan has long campaigned for the change, and her husband, First Minister Rhodri Morgan, has also publicly backed the idea. She will be joined by MPs from all parties at Westminster today to start a new drive to change the law. On Friday she will present her Private Member’s Bill on the issue and see it debated by MPs.
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