Jeremy Clarkson has waded in on Sir Keir Starmer after his latest decision to lower the national voting age. The former Top Gear host has described that the “nightmare” Labour government is “here to stay” following the change. The latest move from Starmer will see 16 and 17-year-olds vote in general elections for the first time in England and Northern Ireland, following in line with Scotland and Wales, where younger voters can already vote in devolved elections. The decision marks the first reduction in voting age since 1969.

Writing in his column for The Sun, Clarkson wasn’t wholly encouraged by the news. He recalled the Labour government of 1976 and its comparisons with today’s government under Starmer.

He wrote: “Back in 1976, there was such a long spell of hot, dry weather that hosepipe bans became necessary. And there was a Labour government in power who were busy making a complete mess of everything. The economy was tanking. Strikes were rife.”

Jeremy also added that in 2025, we are seeing plenty of similar parallels. The only difference is that back in the 1970s, “we had decent music” and cited Bohemian Rhapsody as an example.

The Clarkson’s Farm star concluded: “Today, we have Pink Pony Club and a promise that in the next election, a bunch of people who aren’t old enough to drink in a pub and get all their information from TikTok will be allowed to vote in the General Election.”

Clarkson then gave a savage prediction of what lies ahead, adding: “Which virtually guarantees the nightmare is here to stay.”

Starmer defended his decision over the change, telling ITV News: “I think it’s really important that 16 and 17-year-olds have the vote because they’re old enough to go out to work, they’re old enough to pay taxes, and I think if you pay in you should have the opportunity to say what you want your money spent on.”

The Electoral Commission found that approximately 750,000 individuals did not vote in the last election because their ID was not acceptable under current rules.