Votes at 16- Wales

Welcome to the third episode of the Better Peace Podcast, presented by Chloe and Clodagh. Today’s episode comes to you from the Welsh Senedd, where we are once again talking about Votes at 16 and its impact in Wales since it was introduced four years ago.  

We first spoke to Jess Blair from the Electoral Reform Society (ERS), an organisation who campaign for better democracy across the UK. ERS was involved in the early implementation of Votes at 16 and continue to work to engage voters, especially young voters. We spoke to Jess about the drive to implement votes at 16 in Wales and the challenges that arose from it. Jess offered great advice for our campaign and informed us of other initiatives in Wales for better democracy, such as the push for automatic voter registration.  

Next, we spoke to a few members of the Welsh Youth Parliament to gauge their opinion on how votes at 16 had changed the political landscape for young people. We first spoke to Lleucu Haf Wiliam, who served as a Member of the first Welsh Youth Parliament from 2018 to 2021. Lleucu spoke to us about her experience voting for the first time at age sixteen; as a matter of fact, Lleucu remains one of the youngest people in Wales to ever cast their vote, as her birthday fell on the same day as the election! 

We next spoke to Ruben Kelman, Member of the Welsh Youth Parliament for Cardiff North.  Ruben spoke to us about the importance of political education; he explained the inconsistencies in political education across Wales and how this serves as a major barrier to youth participation.   

Next we spoke to Ella Kenny, Member of the Welsh Youth Parliament for Swansea East. Ella spoke to us about her involvement in politics from an early age, and how her upbringing played a huge role in influencing her political interests.  

Finally, we spoke to Fatmanur Aksoy, Member of the Welsh Youth Parliament for Newport East. Fatma explained how her interests in immigration and law prompted her involvement with the Welsh Youth Parliament. Fatma hopes to pursue a career in politics, specifically as the UK Home Secretary in order to influence immigration law! 

Next, we spoke to Yvonne Murphy founder of the Democracy Box, a tool to help UK citizens understand the basics of democracy. She hoped to create a one stop shop where people could learn about democracy on a UK-wide basis. She now works with young people across Wales to develop the model across different mediums, such as through art, literature, movies and podcasts.  

Finally, we spoke to Katie and Angharad, who work for the Welsh Senedd. They spoke to us about political engagement in Wales and their work to develop policy to better engage Welsh citizens with democracy.  One of the main policies being pursued in Wales is the push for automatic voter registration, which Katie and Angharad have been working on for years! 

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).