In June 2008 the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill - a Private Members' Bill - was brought before the House of Commons and was debated by MPs.
The Bill did not become law and the question of whether 16-17 year olds should be granted the right to vote continues to be discussed.
Entitled to vote at 16?
It is argued that those aged 16 can leave school, get married, join the armed forces and pay tax, so why are they not entitled to vote?
However, the counter-argument made is that many 16 and 17 year olds may not be politically engaged enough express a considered political judgement.
Least likely to vote?
It is also argued that lowering the voting age would make election turnouts lower than their present levels as young people are statistically among those least likely to vote.