As if there was any doubt, the government has ruled out extending voting rights to EU citizens and 16-year olds. In an excoriating letter published by the Mail this morning, Michael Gove slammed Sir Keir’s talk of “rigging” future elections by opening the franchise to those with settled or pre-settled status, and accused the Labour leader of trying to “downgrade the ultimate privilege of British citizenship“. While also pointing out that Starmer also believes only those above 18 should be legally allowed to change gender…

Levelling Up Minister Dehenna Davison has also made it clear this won’t be happening any time soon. In a written statement to Stella Creasy, who asked whether the Department plans “(a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace the Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001”, Davison said:

“Further to the Elections Act 2022, which amended the franchise for elections reserved to the UK Government to reflect changes to EU citizen’s voting and candidacy rights as a result of our new relationship with the EU, the Government has no plans to extend voting rights in General Elections to those with settled or pre-settled status.

The Representation of the People (England and Wales) Regulations 2001 will be retained.”

Still, while Gove is accusing Starmer of attempting to “rig” elections, Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed the National Conservative conference yesterday that the Tories themselves had attempted to “gerrymander” the local elections with Voter ID laws…