Votes at 16 is a campaign in the United Kingdom which argues in favour of the reduction of the voting age to 16 for all public elections. The campaign espouses several principles in favour of lowering the voting age. Votes at 16 Coalition The Votes at 16 Coalition is a national group of major UK youth organisations, political parties and other supporters that campaign for 16 and 17 year olds to be able to vote in all UK public elections. The coalition is led by a steering group of active members who include the British Youth Council, the Children's Rights Alliance for England, The Co-operative Group, the National Union of Students and the Scottish Youth Parliament. This group of organisations have been campaigning on Votes at 16 for a number of years and meet regularly to plan and develop the campaign. Other member organisations of the coalition consist of the Electoral Reform Society, YMCA, the National Youth Agency and the European Youth Forum among many more. Current members organisations Parliamentary activity Aside from youth organisations, The Votes at 16 coalition has a vast supportive network of politicians who have backed the call to lower the voting age to 16 in the UK. These politicians range from local UK councils, Members of Parliament, Lords, and Members of European Parliament to Members of Scottish Parliament, Members of Legislative Assembly and Welsh Assembly Members. In 2008 members of the coalition met a few MPs ahead of the second reading of the Voting Age (Reduction) Bill in the UK Parliament, but the bill was talked down by Stewart Jackson, Conservative MP for Peterborough. The Labour Party's Conference in 2008 voted to accept the recommendation of Labour's National Policy Forum to support Votes at 16. A number of attempts were made to bring forward Bills to reduce the voting age including Jim McMahon's Private Members Bill Representation of the People (Young People's Enfranchisement and Education) Bill 2017-19, which again was talked out when it received its Second Reading in 2017. UK Youth Parliament debate (2009–present) Since 2009, the UK Youth Parliament (UKYP) has held an annual debate at the Houses of Parliament led by the Speaker of the House of Commons. Members of Youth Parliament debate five issues chosen by ‘Make Your Mark’, a ballot of young people from across the UK, and vote to decide which two issues should become the UKYP priority campaigns