Paul Blomfield, a member of the Business Innovation and Skills committee, said the move would encourage 18-year-olds to develop the habit of voting.

Labour will be keen to maximise voting among young people in next year¡¯s general election, in the hope of capitalising on the Liberal Democrats¡¯ trauma over the broken pledge to oppose fee rises. The party may believe it has a chance of using the fees issues to unseat Liberal Democrat MPs, particularly in seats with a sizeable student vote.

Mr Blomfield, whose Sheffield Central constituency borders the Sheffield Hallam constituency of Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, put a question on polling stations to Cabinet office minister Greg Clark in the Commons today.

¡°Ministers will recognise the particularly challenge of engaging young people in the electoral process,¡± he said.

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¡°Will the minister [say] what consideration has been given to having polling stations in sixth-form colleges, further education colleges and universities to encourage 18-year-olds to vote?¡±

According to Mr Blomfield, Mr Clark ¡°undertook to consider the issue further¡±.

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Mr Blomfield added afterwards: ¡°There is a danger that, if younger people disengage from the political system, they will lose their voice in the decisions that affect their lives.

¡°In a week when the Prime Minister has been offering pledges to pensioners, who vote in large numbers, we might ask why young people have faced the worst of this government¡¯s policies ¨C with rising long-term youth unemployment, abolition of Education Maintenance Allowances and trebling of university fees. Maybe it would have been different if they voted in larger numbers.¡±

john.morgan@tsleducation.com