Public First has today published new qualitative research exploring the political instincts of the young people who will become the first 16- and 17-year-olds eligible to vote at a UK general election – a group whose political identities are already beginning to take shape.
The research is based on four in-depth focus groups with Year 8 pupils (aged 12 and 13) in County Durham and Bristol – two places with very different political, social and demographic contexts. Together, the groups offer an early snapshot of how political identities are beginning to form among Britain’s newest electorate, years before these young people enter the polling booth.
By the time of the next expected general election in 2029, around 1.7 million 16- and 17-year-olds are projected to be eligible to vote for the first time. Yet relatively little attention has been paid to how this group is already engaging with politics, where their views come from, and how confident they feel about participating in democratic life.
What the research found
Across all four focus groups, pupils showed that political identity is forming earlier than is often assumed – and that it is shaped strongly by place, family and lived experience rather than by formal political education.
Key findings include:
- None of the pupils knew that the voting age was being lowered, despite being the first cohort directly affected by the change.
- Political knowledge was uneven, but highly media-visible figures such as Nigel Farage were widely recognised, often more so than institutional leaders, including the Prime Minister.
- Political priorities differed sharply by location: immigration dominated discussion in County Durham, while pupils in Bristol focused more on crime, public services and the NHS.
- Pupils were highly alert to misinformation, placing greater trust in parents and established broadcasters such as the BBC than in online sources.
- Confidence in civic participation varied widely, with some pupils able to articulate ways of influencing government, while others struggled to imagine how young people could make their voices heard.
The research does not seek to predict how these young people will vote in future. Rather, it captures early signals of how political identities and civic confidence begin to take shape, and how uneven access to political understanding emerges well before formal participation in democracy.
Why this matters
Lowering the voting age represents a significant expansion of the electorate. Understanding how these future voters are already interpreting politics – and where gaps in confidence and knowledge exist – will matter for political parties, policymakers, schools and organisations seeking to engage young people meaningfully over the coming years.
The findings also raise important questions about how young people encounter political information, how they learn to assess competing claims, and how early differences in civic confidence develop.
Researching young people’s perspectives
This project reflects a growing strand of Public First’s work focused on hearing directly from children and young people – an area where robust qualitative insight is often missing.
Public First has experience designing and delivering qualitative research with young people in school settings, including running focus groups with pupils, working closely with schools to ensure safeguarding and consent, and supporting clients to understand how policy and public debate are experienced by younger audiences.
As debates about education, wellbeing, democracy and youth voice continue to grow, insight from young people themselves is increasingly important.
For more information about this research, or to discuss work with young people, please get in touch.