In a democracy, who is allowed to vote – and why – are basic but always interesting questions. Especially in a democracy as old and bodged-about as Britain, with its centuries of alterations to the electorate and yet its tendency to see each new set of arrangements as somehow natural, eternal and wise.
Beneath the self-congratulation and claims of political neutrality, however, the shape of the electorate is always the product of power struggles, which are no less intense for often being hidden from sight. How adult, or how British, you need to be to have a say in how the country is governed: these are contested issues in an ever more fluid world.
