Starmer and Rayner Are Copying the Democrats’ Anti-Trump Tactics – And Farage Will Thank Them for It

Votes at 16 isn’t about democracy. Labour is rewriting the rules to block Reform UK, just as the Democrats tried to hobble Trump. It didn’t work in America. It won’t work here.

Here we go again. Labour is copying the Democrats’ worst instincts: if you can’t beat your opponent, change the rules. The Democrats did it to Trump. Angela Rayner is doing it to Reform UK. And, just like in America, it will backfire.

Votes at 16 isn’t a noble expansion of democracy — it’s a panic move. The Muslim-vote pandering didn’t work, the numbers didn’t move, and Labour is now grasping for a new bloc to manipulate.

Let’s not forget the pivot that got us here. Angela Rayner pushed Islamophobia legislation designed explicitly to secure the Muslim vote. It failed. The polls barely twitched, and the cynicism deepened. So Labour shifted strategy. If one demographic can’t be locked in, find another. Enter sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds: fresh names, no voting record, easy to target.

But this isn’t politics. It’s demographic farming. It’s running the country like a spreadsheet.

And here’s the real problem: data only shows you what people do, not why they do it. Labour doesn’t understand people — how they think, how they feel, or why. The Democrats made the same mistake with Trump, treating voters like statistics to be managed instead of human beings to be persuaded. It made Trump a symbol of defiance. Labour is now handing Farage the same gift.

“Labour doesn’t understand people – it just hunts demographics. And that’s how populists are made”

This is also part of a much wider pattern. Angela Rayner’s fingerprints are everywhere. The so-called “cancelled” local elections, the quietly announced tweaks to how we vote for mayors — all designed to tilt the system against parties like Reform UK. But voters see it for what it is: manipulation.

The Democrats found this out the hard way. Every time they tried to box Trump in with legal process and procedural tricks, his support grew stronger. He became the anti-establishment candidate fighting a corrupt system. Labour is now doing the same for Farage.

And it’s not even good maths. A Merlin Strategy/ITV poll shows only 18% of 16–17-year-olds say they’ll definitely vote, nearly half don’t want the voting age lowered, and among those who do, just 33% lean Labour, with 20% already backing Reform UK. Some strategy.

And younger voters aren’t the automatic Labour base they once were. Today’s under‑35s are hustlers, not idealists. They’re running side-jobs, dabbling in crypto, and care about opportunity, not ideology. Only 34% support higher taxes, while Farage’s Reform UK polls 20–30% among young men, boosted by his TikTok-friendly populism.

International precedent offers no comfort either. Austria’s teenage turnout crashed from 88% in its first election to 63% in the next. Scotland, Malta, Norway — the same pattern: early hype, quick apathy. This won’t deliver a youthquake; it’ll deliver a youth shrug.

And the fairness argument? Don’t make me laugh. Sixteen-year-olds are still legally children. They can’t buy alcohol, sign contracts, serve on juries, or be held fully criminally liable. Rights without responsibilities isn’t democracy – it’s theatre.

“If you can’t trust them with a mortgage, why trust them with a manifesto?

Worse, teenagers are natural contrarians. Give them a shiny new right and plenty will use it to rebel — tick the Reform box just to annoy the very politicians who gave it to them. This is Boaty McBoatface politics with ballots.

And while Labour plays the numbers game, the real issues go untouched. Where’s the housing plan, the mental health funding, the debt relief, the start-up support? Teenagers aren’t being offered a future — just a ballot paper handed to them like a free tote bag.

And that’s the bigger point: this isn’t just cynical, it’s clueless. You can’t data-crunch your way into trust. You have to understand why people feel angry, alienated or hopeful. Labour doesn’t. It’s chasing demographics, not people. And when voters feel used, they punish you.

The Democrats discovered that with Trump. Labour is now making Farage the same anti-establishment figurehead. Starmer and Rayner think they’re blocking him. What they’re really doing is building him.

“Frankenstein wasn’t the monster. It was the doctor. Labour is stitching its own creature together, one rule change at a time.”

Angela Rayner and Keir Starmer think they’re clever. But they’re abusing process, gaming democracy, and treating voters like fools. And just like in the US, the public will do what it always does to politicians who try to rig the system: vote them out.