Dear John,

It’s no secret that young people feel sidelined in Britain today. The country’s long-term future seems uncertain, the post-Brexit economic situation leaves a lot to be desired, and the political system is often deaf to young people’s frustrations about housing, wages, university fees, climate, and more.

That’s why the government’s decision on Thursday to expand the franchise to 16 and 17 year olds is a solid step in the right direction. But one key question remains: does adding more participants to a broken system make it any less broken?

Let’s be clear: sixteen-year-olds should absolutely have the vote. They’re eligible to pay taxes, hold a job, enlist in the armed forces - they can even become the director of a company. They are also among the most impacted by today’s policy choices, which will determine the course of the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, these young voters will now get to experience the disappointing reality of First-Past-The-Post elections. They’ll know what its like to choose between wasting their vote or abandoning their principles to vote tactically. Welcome, children, to Britain’s broken political duopoly!

While there are other promising measures in the Government’s new elections strategy (for example, some great campaign finance reforms to combat dark money), they risk missing the forest for the trees.

People of all ages - not just the young - increasingly do not trust this democratic system to adequately represent them. There’s no hope in ever addressing that if we can’t talk about the elephant in the room: our outdated and deeply unfair First-Past-The-Post electoral system.

Open Britain and our allies have a plan to truly revitalise our elections, one that, if implemented, would actually give 16 and 17 year olds a democracy that delivers…for them and everyone else.

If the Government truly wants its democracy strategy to restore public trust in politics, as they claim, it must include a National Commission on Electoral Reform.

We all know that FPTP is broken - let’s get to work building something better.

All the best,

Rose Battey

Open Britain Team

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