The 1960s were a period of growing political and cultural demands by young people in Britain, as in other Western democracies.

[6] The provision (restated in 1983) was exploited by spoiler candidates using descriptions confusingly close to those of major parties; notoriously, the Liberal Democrat candidate lost a 1994 Euro election when Richard Huggett took votes running as a "Literal Democrat".

[8] In local government elections, the act abolished plural voting, except in the City of London.

[9][10] The first election affected by this change of law was the Bridgwater by-election held on 13 March 1970 after the death of the sitting MP.

The age of candidacy for elections in the United Kingdom was lowered from 21 to 18 in 2006, with the passing of the Electoral Administration Act 2006.