Following the example set by the Scots in their referendum, Kent County Council is to petition the Prime Minister asking for the voting age to be lowered to 16.

It comes after Loose sub-postmaster, Brian Clark, who represents Maidstone South division for the Lib Dems, submitted a motion to the full council.

The Kent Messenger asked four 17-year-olds from Cornwallis Academy whether they thought the voting age should be lowered to 16.

Surprisingly, they were hesitant about the idea.

Rebecca Hubbard, of Butcher Close, Staplehurst, is studying business. She said: “I’m not sure it’s a good idea. I don’t think 16-year-olds have an accurate idea of what the different parties have to offer.

"I don’t think they are that interested. I think they would be voting just for the sake of it, not because they had a strong opinion.”

She confessed that if she did have the vote at the General Election next May, she wouldn’t use it. She said: “I don’t think I have the experience or sufficient reason to actually justify why I would vote for any particular party.

“I don’t follow politics, though I do watch the news. You pick up an image of different parties, from the different labels they are given, and your parents can influence you, but it’s not really an opinion we have formed for ourselves.”

She said: “I don’t think what the Government does has a direct effect on us at 16; it’s more on our parents. But maybe when you are 18, start working and paying tax, it affects you more.”

Philip Hollamby, of Maynards in Marden, another business student, agreed: “When I was 16, I probably didn’t know enough to distinguish which party should be in power, or what I would actually want them to do.

"I’d be interested in what they were saying about education, but it would be difficult to discover exactly what they were saying on that. There are too many distractions in their policies; it’s difficult to understand the policies fully.”

He said: “I don’t think modern teenagers are as interested in the news as our parents, or as informed as someone older than us. But by the time you get to 18, you have more of an understanding. I think 16 is a little bit too low.

“If you asked a lot of 16-year-olds in our school who they would vote for and why, I don’t think you would get a very positive response at the moment.”

However, Philip said that he would like to be able to vote. ”I’m a bit more interested than the average student,” he said. But he added: “I don’t think there’s as much distinction between the parties as there used to be.”

Robert West, of Chestnut Drive, Coxheath, is studying travel and tourism. He said: “I understand some people’s concerns that 16-year-olds might be over-influenced by their parents or by the media, but I think under-18s probably should have the vote.

“Even though we don’t pay tax, we do have part-time jobs, and I’m recently driving, so the price of petrol is for me a very big thing. Also I’m looking to go to university next year, so things like tuition fees will be a big thing in my life. The education system is changing more to exams instead of course work, and that affects us. So yes, we should get a vote and a bit more of a say.”

Robert said for him the only real choice was between Labour and Conservative. He said: “If I had the vote, I would vote for the Conservative Party because I think they have done quite a good job of bringing about a recovery after the recession.”

Chantel Piper, who is studying business, English and the media, said: “I think at the moment, if 16-year-olds had the vote, they probably aren’t very aware of the issues. But if they were to get the vote, it would be a high priority for them to learn and to become more involved.

Chantel of Park Wood said that if she were voting in May she would have “no idea to who to vote for, because I don’t know anything about it.”

She suggested there would need to be more political education in schools if the voting age were to be lowered. She said: “I feel like we don’t know enough.

“If we were taught about politics at school, perhaps we’d have a better understanding and perhaps more people would vote, adults too, because obviously not a lot vote now.”

She said tuition fees were an issue that affected her directly. She said: “Going to university would cost me an absolute fortune which is probably why I’m not going to go.”

She added: “I do think the voting age should be 16, but there should be more education to go with it. If you are going to give that kind of responsibility to a 16-year-old, you also need to give them the education behind it."

But she was concerned that such lessons should not simply foist someone’s else’s views on the students. She said: “We need to form our own opinions.”

All four students felt it would be important to vote when they were old enough.

Robert said: “Voting is key. We don’t want to turn back to the Governments we had in the past. Democracy is the way forward.”

Rebecca said: “When people do have an opinion, when they moan about things, if they then don’t go and vote that becomes difficult.

"If you have a strong opinion about something and you don’t think something’s right, you should vote because there’s a chance that a lot of people agree with you, so you’re one vote closer to that thing being changed.

“If you are given the right to vote, you should make use of it. It is the only say we have in what should happen.”