Votes at 16 is a campaigning coalition of organisations seeking to lower the voting age. "At 16, people become adults and take control of their own futures - so why can't we have the basic right of all adult citizens of a say in how the country is run?" one of its publicity leaflets asks.

"Stopping 16- and 17-year-olds from voting and having the chance to be heard sends a signal to them and to society, especially politicians, that our views aren't valid and that we aren't real citizens."

Unfortunately this argument has been rejected by the Electoral Commission, which investigated the issue in 2004. It found "insufficient justification for a change" and its survey research found two-thirds of the public backed the status quo. Part of the problem, it suggested, was that compulsory citizenship education was not yet at a stage where young people could be trusted to be properly informed. It left the door open for a review in several years' time, however.