Suffrage

• Over the 19th century, fearing the possible violence that had occurred in the French revolution of 1789, British governments gradually extended the franchise
• Pressure groups important to securing women’s vote:

  • NUWSS (national union for women’s suffrage society
  • the fawcett society
  • Manchester Society for Women’s suffrage
  • WSPU (Women’s social and political union)
• Modern campaigns for suffrage:

  • 16 +17 year olds to vote
  • those under the Mental Health Act
  • prisoners
  • peers serving in the House of Lords
• For the voting age to be reduced to 16:

  • can already join the army, drive, consent, possibly pay tax and leave home
  • turnout is low
  • better informed due to spread of citizenship education
  • radicalism of youth can balance out the extreme conservatism of the elderly
• The voters at 16 coalition, formed in 2003, secured a study of the aussie by the electoral commission
• 16-17 year olds took part in the Scottish Independence referendum in 2014.
• In 2015 the Scottish parliament voted to allow 16-17 year olds to vote in its own elections
• By the time of the 2015 general election all major parties except the conservatives were in favour of lowering the franchise age
• 16 and 17 year olds are now eligible to vote in Scottish parliamentary and local elections
• Scottish gov have also announced prisoners serving a sentence of less than 12 months would get the right to vote on a temporary basis under new legislation
• A petition calling for votes for prisoners was rejected by the government in 2018