But Beccy Earnshaw, outreach manager at The Electoral Commission, is quick to point out that we should not expect hordes of teenagers to appear on the backbenches of the House of Commons just yet.
That is not the point of the change, she says, but given that there are plenty of 21-year-old local councillors, a few teenagers could be elected to some sort of office under the new guidelines.
"If you have the right to vote, you should have the chance to vote for someone your own age," Earnshaw explains. "But the real point is it takes a long time to go through the process of becoming a candidate, so this change will allow the process to start earlier and happen faster - and hopefully it will make Parliament more representative."
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