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Saturday 18 April 2015

Why the f*** should I vote?

With the UK general election fast approaching, we're constantly getting told to "vote me!" "vote me!" "VOTE ME" by different political parties and the honest truth is... many of us don't why we should even bother to vote at all.




I wasn't interested in politics until around a year ago which is when I realised that it is important. It affects everything to do with our daily lives. For example: you're a student, do you want to have a government that raises or lowers tuition fees? If you're in full time work and think you're being taxed unfairly, or that the tax you pay is being spent on inappropriate things let your voice be heard. Do something about it. 


I think the reason a lot of us young people don't vote is because it's a daunting subject to approach, especially for those of us who don't know where our opinions or values lie when assigning ourselves to a political party, but there are easy ways to figure it out.


A friend of mine linked me to the website www.voteforpolicies.org which is a brilliant site to determine your political standpoint. All you have to do is select the issues you are passionate about and pick the policies you agree with the most. At the end you have a fancy little pie chart showing which party you agreed with the most. Although this takes a little bit of time, it's so worth it. Whether you do it on the journey to work, while you're waiting for a friend or whether you just have some time to kill anywhere, it is worth it. 


I also follow parties I am interested in voting for on Twitter, so that I can have a little taster every day of what they find important and see if I agree. Watching things on TV such as the leaders debates or the news, even if it's just on in the background, will also help to gage who you would like to vote for. We are privileged enough to live in a country that allows us to have a say in our government and I believe we should take that opportunity and never look back. Those suffragettes didn't protest for nothing, you know. 


Remember! : register to vote! 

Registration to vote closes on the 20th April 2015 and if you don't get your name down, you won't be able to vote. All you need to do is visit www.gov.uk/register-to-vote and have your National Insurance number handy and it'll all be done in less than 5 minutes. 

Happy voting!


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