Health secretary Wes Streeting could lose seat to pro-Gaza rival under Labour plans to reduce the voting age to 16
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Controversial plans to allow votes at 16 could see four ministers lose their seats to pro-Gaza independents, analysis has shown.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood are among a string of senior Labour figures at risk from a potential surge in support for independent candidates running on a pro-Palestine platform.
Labour has been accused of trying to ‘rig the political system’ by giving the vote to 16 and 17-year-olds, who have traditionally been seen as being more Left-wing.
But analysis by the polling organisation More In Common suggests the big winners could be hard-Left figures such as the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and pro-Gaza independents, who stunned the party by winning four seats at last year’s election.
The research found there are seven Labour seats where the number of 16 and 17-year-olds is bigger than the sitting MP’s majority over a pro-Palestine independent at last year’s election.
They include Ilford North, where Mr Streeting clung on by just 528 votes, and Birmingham Ladywood, where Ms Mahmood saw her majority slashed to less than 3,500 following a 40 per cent collapse in Labour’s vote share.
Mr Streeting, who is tipped as a potential future Labour leader, has been urged by allies to seek a safer seat before the next election – known at Westminster as ‘doing a chicken run’.
Wes Streeting (pictured), who is tipped as a potential future Labour leader, has been urged by allies to seek a safer seat before the next election having clung on by just 528 votes at the last election
Health Secretary Wes Streeting and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood (pictured) are among a string of senior Labour figures at risk
Analysis suggests the big winners could be hard-Left figures such as the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and pro-Gaza independents
Sir Keir Starmer told ITV News: ‘I think it’s really important that 16- and 17-year-olds have the vote, because they are old enough to go out to work, they are old enough to pay taxes, so pay in’
But he appeared to rule out the move earlier this year, insisting he does not believe in ‘cutting and running’.
Ms Mahmood said her local campaign had been ‘sullied by harassment and intimidation’, with some opponents trying to ‘deny’ her Muslim faith.
Also possibly at risk is the seat of outspoken Home Office minister Jess Phillips, whose majority last year was cut to just 693 following a vigorous campaign by a local pro-Gaza candidate.
Ironically, elections minister Rushanara Ali, who is responsible for introducing the change in the law, could also be ousted. Ms Ali held on in Bethnal Green and Stepney by just 1,689 votes last year.
Mr Corbyn has already formed a loose ‘Independent Alliance’ at Westminster with the four pro-Gaza MPs. They are now in talks with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana about creating a new party to fight the next election.
The More In Common analysis found that a party led by Mr Corbyn would top the poll with Gen Z voters.
The study found that the overall impact of extending the franchise to 16-year-olds was likely to be limited. But it added: ‘It is likely that independent candidates running on pro-Gaza tickets could do very well out of this change.’
The findings will fuel concerns among some Labour strategists that the rule change could backfire.
Election experts have suggested the Greens, Lib Dems and Reforms could do well among the new electorate.
Nigel Farage, who has a large youth following on TikTok, accused Labour of an ‘attempt to rig the political system’, but said: ‘We intend to give them a nasty surprise’.
