Labour could allow settled migrants and 16 and 17-year-olds to vote | UK News

A senior Labour politician says expanding voting to allow settled migrants and 16 and 17-year-olds is ‘something we will look at’.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the party is ‘always looking at ways to strengthen our democracy’, but stressed the idea isn’t currently part of Labour’s manifesto.

He told Sky News: ‘I think there are arguments for expanding the franchise, it’s not an area I directly deal with in the shadow cabinet.

‘I’m not going to give a definitive answer on that, but I think we should always be seeking to involve as many people as possible in our democracy.

‘Some of the speculation that’s been in the press about Labour policy actually relates to our policy-making process, it’s not our manifesto, it’s not a statement of party policy, but it’s how we go about doing that.

‘We’ve got a process where people put in their submissions, they’re deliberated on, they’re voted upon, so this is not a statement of policy yet, but of course we’re always looking at ways to strengthen our democracy, to involve as many people (as) possible in that, and there’ll be an element of that, reform of how this country operates, how power is shared, in the Labour manifesto, that’s for sure.’

Mr Reynolds also said he did not think any changes made to how the British state works should be considered through a ‘party political lens’, as he reflected on the major challenge facing Labour at the next general election.

He told the BBC: ‘If you look at the scale of the challenge an incoming Labour government would have, it is, I would argue, bigger than any other point in British history.

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