Votes at 16- Scotland

Welcome back to the second episode of the Better Peace Podcast, presented by Chloe and Clodagh. For today’s episode, we’ve been on a bit of a journey… We are in Edinburgh, Scotland talking about Votes at 16, which was introduced in Scotland over a decade ago!  

For our first interview, Aaron and Olivia interviewed two young people from YouthLink Scotland, Michael and Anna. When it came to Michael and Anna’s first time voting, they explained how it was ‘just normal’ that they get out and vote at 16. Since younger people had the vote, they felt their voices were heard and valued by the Scottish Parliament. 

“Politicians make a big deal of youth issues since it was your vote they’re after, not your parents.”  

When discussing the influence of young people in Scottish politics, Michael and Anna described the Scottish Youth Parliament as ‘unparalleled’ in the UK in terms of its influence. The SYP regularly meets with the Scottish Cabinet Ministers to discuss youth issues. When discussing votes at 16 in Scotland, the topic of political education inevitably arose. Michael and Anna explained that they received an accessible civic education on the basics of democracy throughout high school. Some schools explored these themes even earlier, getting young people prepared and excited about voting through tools such as a pupil council.  

Our second guest, Dr Jan Eichhorn, was interviewed by Aoife and Clodagh. Dr Eichhorn teaches at the University of Edinburgh and is a world expert on votes at 16. Jan discussed the amazing opportunity to study the effects of votes at 16 as it unfolded in Scotland. He explained that votes in 16 in Scotland evolved using a top-down way, with the Scottish Government lowering the voting age for the Independence Referendum. He talked about the many positive aspects of voting at 16 – for example the opportunity to discuss voting at school and with your family. 

“This means your first voting isn’t something totally isolated or individual.” 

When offering advice for our campaign in Northern Ireland, we discussed the importance of political education. Jan also highlighted the importance of youth-led movements for change.  

“It is absolutely essential that votes at 16 campaigns are led by young people, if they are meant to have a deeper impact.” 

Read some of Dr Eichhorn’s research on votes at 16 here. 

The group wrapped up with a chat about their views on votes at 16 - what did they think before the interviews?  Have their minds changed?  What have we learned for our campaign at home?  Follow along for the next episode, where we head to Cardiff to hear about their journey to votes at 16 just four years ago! 

A huge thank you to Jude Hill (Mitchell) and Alan Meban for the production and editing of the Podcast. Another massive thanks to Aoibha Mallon for the amazing podcast soundtrack and finally to our funders. Project supported by the International Fund for Ireland (Our Peace, Our Future fund) and the National Lottery Community Fund NI (Empowering Young People programme).