The UK gives 16 -year -old children the right to vote. Political pillar star-news.press/wp

The British government is scheduled to grant 1.5 million in 16 and 17 years, and to open a new voter base for competing political parties. Social media can be the key to their success.

The government said on Thursday that it is planning to submit an election bill that gives children 16 and 17 years the right to vote in all UK elections.

It is the biggest change in voters in Britain since the voting age decreased from 21 in 1969.

If Parliament approves it, this will be a major reform of the country’s democratic system. The government said that the proposal, which was included in the work statement last year, would bring the national elections in line with Scotland and Wales.

The latest changes mean that the British political parties are now facing the challenge of involving young voters in the era of social media.

More teenagers avoid traditional media and get their news from social media, According to the 2024 report from Offcom.

Online sources are still the most popular among younger age groups, with 88 % of children between the ages of 16 and 24 users use online sources for such updates. Social media is the main driver of this, as 82 % of young adults use this platform, and only half from the age of 16 to 24 years using TV for news.

In the 12 to 15 -year -old category, 12 % of teenagers Tiktok were martyred as a main source of news.

“It is certain that Tiktok is one of the most popular digital content platform for young people. While there is no success forever, it is difficult to see any changes in the broader direction of more and more audiences who get the content of news from these applications in general,” said Stephen Bacqueli, a lecturer in digital sociology at City University.

Bakli stressed that politicians in the content are very important, however, and that a desperate attempt to be “with children” will not work.

“One of the main currencies in today’s community is originality. In an attempt to win more than 16 and 17 years by publishing a group of Tiktoks and saying that the opposition leader is” Skibeddi OHio RIZZ “he will not win them.

“The perception that young people do not care about politics or their societies are not simply true. They are deeply concerned with varying, environment and social justice. Politicians who want to beat these new voters can do this by addressing their physical concerns already.”

Social media has become pivotal in winning the elections. The use of former US President Barack Obama for Facebook broke a new ground in 2008, while the tweets of the current White House leader Trump helped to collect the voter base during his 2016 presidential campaign and re -elected in 2024.

Although political information has become more easily available through multiple platforms, it has not necessarily translated into a higher demand for opinion polls. The participation rate was 59.7 % during the general elections in the United Kingdom 2024, which is the lowest since 2001, according to a parliamentary report.

The jury is still out of whether giving youth the right to vote will have a major impact. A poll, 16 and 17, by political consulting Merlin strategy It was shown that among 500 survey, only 18 % said they would definitely vote if there are elections tomorrow

Scarlett Maguire, the founder of Merlin’s strategy, said that political parties will have to have more technological and media strategies.

“Politicians need to do more than just give vote to attract young people and involve young people. At the present time, this age group does not participate in politics or politicians, so politicians will need a lot to attract them.”

The Labor Party is widely seen as the largest gains from reducing the vote. However, the right -wing Reform Party in the UK can receive great support from this age group, according to Maguire. Farage has six times the number of followers on Tiktok from work.

“Reform is likely to have the best digital media and social media campaign strategies in the last elections. Reform is in good condition with this age group, especially male teenagers. Now we will see whether the other parties, especially conservatives who are associated with this age group, can catch up with.”

Among the other plans set by the government is the acceptance of bank cards as the identification of voters at the polling stations by the time of the upcoming general elections, which is currently scheduled for 2029.