Why You Should Vote in the 2015 General Election

With less than a month to go until the 2015 General Election, Victoria Williams explains what you need to do to get registered and why you should get yourself down to the polling station on May 7^th...

With general elections rolling around only every five years and politicians persistently appearing unconcerned with what students have to say about anything, it can be hard to muster up any enthusiasm for voting. Perhaps you were under 18 at the time of the last election in 2010 and haven’t signed up to the electoral roll yet, or maybe you’ve moved away from home for uni and don’t know much about who’s standing in your constituency – there could be many reasons why you haven’t thought much about participating in this year’s general election. But while historically politicians haven’t chased student votes in favour of turning out tired tropes about hard-working families and protecting pensions, this year the tide is turning and many of the election’s hot button issues affect students and young people. With all the major parties slowly waking up to the need to court the youth vote, students now wield more power than ever before to make a difference in British politics.

Hot topics

You might have noticed that young people have had a hard time of things recently – from the tripling of tuition fees to £9,000 a year, to rising long-term unemployment among 18 – 24-year-olds and the persistent menace of unpaid internships, it seems like young people are being hit from more directions than ever before. The general election presents an opportunity for students to speak out about the matters that affect them. Tuition fees, for example, are likely to be a big issue come May. The Conservatives are sticking by their hike to £9,000 a year, but Labour have deemed the cost of university “unsustainable” and pledged to lower fees to £6,000, while the Green Party want to make higher education completely free.

Then there’s the issue of what happens after you graduate, which can seem a daunting prospect when youth unemployment is so high. The Tories have recently introduced a raft of new bursaries and loans to help young people into postgraduate education, which have been well received and which they will be hoping will secure them a few more votes in May, while the Labour party have put a focus on creating more apprenticeships and other paid work experience for young people, pledging to find all 18 – 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for more than a year a job for at least six months. The Coalition have also been cracking down on unpaid internships, checking up on companies to make sure they’re paying at least minimum wage to all their employees, including interns.

Students and recent graduates are also among the most likely to be on a zero hours contract or have a job that pays minimum wage – sometimes both. That makes both these topics important issues for students in the upcoming election, so it pays to know where each of the parties stands. The Conservative party haven’t had much to say about zero hours contracts, but they have promised to exempt minimum wage workers from paying income tax, as have the Liberal Democrats. Labour wants to ban zero hours contracts and raise the minimum wage above inflation, while the Greens appear to be offering the best deal, pledging to ban zero hours contracts and bring the minimum wage in line with the living wage, raising it to £10 per hour by 2020.

Finally there’s the worrying rise of political extremism in the UK, with far-right parties like UKIP gaining considerable ground in recent local and council elections and by-elections. Polls have repeatedly shown that support for parties such as UKIP is at its lowest among students and young people, so keeping them out at the next election ought to be a priority for 18 – 24-year-olds.

How to register to vote

Registering to vote in the UK is easy and it only takes five minutes. As long as you’re 18 or over and usually resident in the UK, all you have to do is click onto the gov.uk website to add your name and address to the electoral roll (you’ll need your National Insurance number to hand, if you have one). If you’re going to be out of the country on the 7^th of May, can’t get to your local polling office or can’t/don’t want to vote in person for any other reason, then you can register to vote by post here.

Know your deadlines

To be eligible to vote in the next election, you’ll need to register to vote by the 20^th April. If you want to vote by post, make sure your application is received by the Electoral Registration Office by 5pm on the 22nd April (11 working days before the date of the election).

Why you should vote

There’s one very good reason why you should at least register to vote if you’re eligible: although it’s a rule that’s rarely enforced, it’s actually illegal not to be registered to vote in the UK. Beyond that it’s not mandatory to vote, but it’s something you should definitely consider doing. Here’s why: students are stuck in a somewhat vicious circle at the moment. Students and young people are typically the least likely to vote in general elections, so the main parties don’t make any effort to win their votes, which means many don’t bother to turn out to vote, and so on and so forth. The only way to break the cycle is to get out and vote! Students may be playing on politicians’ minds at the moment, but there’s no guarantee it’ll stay that way, so it’s vital to make your voice heard.

Ciaran, a final year physics student in Sussex, agrees that voting is the best way for students to make politicians pay attention to issues affecting young people. He said: “It doesn’t really matter who you vote for, just vote! Do it so that young people are seen as a larger voting demographic, which means parties from across the spectrum will aim more policies at you.” Nick, who’s studying film and media in London expressed a similar sentiment, saying students should vote “because young people's views and needs are not represented, and voting is the way to get them out there.” Melissa, who’s studying early childhood studies in London had a different take: “I think students should vote in the general election because degree programmes change as society changes. Therefore current students have the potential to be more informed and up-to-date on certain issues, especially those concerning their particular areas of study.”

It’s not just students who have been speaking out, though; in the run up to the election representatives of the UK’s biggest parties have been keen to emphasise why young people should get out to vote. We spoke to Benali Hamdache, London Young Greens Co-Chair and Equalities Spokesperson, to ask his opinion on why students and young people like him should make their way to the polling stations on 7^th May.

He said: "If young people don't vote in May then our voices will go unheard by whoever wins the forthcoming election. We already see politicians cynically ringfencing benefits for the elderly whilst slashing basic tenements of the welfare state for young people. 

"This is only possible in a climate where politicians feel like they don't have to win the youth vote. If we as young people can mobilise and turn up at the ballot box you will see more pressure for free university education, affordable housing and more jobs for young people. As a Green I'd hope you'd vote for the party that believes in and has the policies to provide for our generation, but more importantly just go out and vote!”

The Conservative Party have a similar message. John Baron, the current Conservative MP for Basildon and Billericay in Essex took time out of his busy schedule to tell us why he thinks students should make sure they register to vote in May:

“Students should register to vote because, if they do not, they will miss the opportunity to have their say on the important issues that affect them. I encourage everyone to ensure they are registered in good time before the election.”

Meanwhile, Josh Fenton-Glynn, Labour’s young candidate for Calder Valley, says students should think to the future when it comes to polling day. He told us: “Young people should vote because the next five years will determine what kind of country we are for the next 30 years.” He also promised that his party will “invest in education, creating more apprenticeships and raising the minimum wage above inflation”.

In conclusion…

Once you cut through all the policy, it’s clear that pretty much everyone has the same message for students: vote, or your voices won’t be heard. The 2015 election more than any other in recent history presents young people with a unique opportunity to speak out on the issues that directly affect them and have the people in charge actually pay attention, and continue to pay attention in the future. What happens in the polling stations in May could be make or break for young people in the UK – is that an opportunity you really want to miss?

Next

- How Will The New Postgraduate Loans Actually Work?

- Are The New Postgraduate Loans Really a Good Thing?