Top Ten Reasons to Vote in the General Election

Over half of 18-24 year olds don’t vote. That means there are decisions being made without you.  With the General Election just over a week away, it’s time to take charge and change that. It’s your future and your choice, make yourselves heard.

The Southampton Itchen Question Time is happening TOMORROW (6pm – 8:30pm, Itchen Suite, Sir James Matthews building) to give you the opportunity to meet and question the six Parliamentary candidates fighting to be the next MP for the Southampton Itchen constituency. They are:

• Conservative
• Green
• Labour
• Liberal Democrats
• Trade Union Socialist Coalition
• UKIP

But what issues matter to you? How should you be represented? Why should you even vote? As a Students’ Union, student matters are at the heart of everything we do; from your welfare, to your education and in this case, your representation. But only you, the students have the power to change the face of British Politics, to be heard and be recognised as the future of our nation. The only way you can do that is to vote, and to help you, your SU has put together the top ten list of reasons to vote.

1. Employment

A report released in January suggested that the unemployment in the UK is at 5.8%, the lowest it’s been in about 6 years. On the surface, that sounds great. But the report also showed that the unemployment rate for 16 – 24 year olds has risen by about 30,000. The reality is that people are living longer and retiring later which is creating a stagnation in the job market,  and makes in tough for graduates wanting to start a career in a field where there isn’t room, which makes in highly competitive and difficult for graduates to achieve their ambitions.

2. It takes 18 years to proudly wear the ‘I voted’ sticker

There are very few things that you can do when you turn 18. As a new “adult” you can officially buy a pack of cigarettes, get into 18 and over clubs, join the military, and vote in elections! That means society has officially deemed you as worthy and responsible enough to elect the leader of the free world, no pressure! So why not exercise that right, and get excited.

3. It took over 160 years for young people to gain the right to vote

In 1802, Parliament held its first General Election as the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) which was a severely restricted practice. It wasn’t until 1918 women over 30 and men over 21 gained the right to vote, and was not until 1928 where universal suffrage, an equal basis between men and women was established, meaning women over 21 won the right to vote. In 1969, the Representation of the People Act extended suffrage allowing men and women between 18 to 20 the right to vote (otherwise known as the Sixth Reform Act).  It took a few years; 2 World Wars, Women’s Suffrage, the abolition of slave trade, the creation of the National Health Service, the start of the London Underground and a whole load of people saying ‘WE WANT VOTES!’.  That’s got to be worth a vote right? People died for you!

4. Elderly people are beating you to the polls!

In the 2010 General Election, a whopping 76% of people aged 65 or over in the UK voted, whereas only 44% of people aged 18 – 24 voted. This means the elderly people have a louder voice, with politicians choosing to prioritise them as a more reliable source of votes. Young people voting will help balance this out and ensure all parts of society are listened too. They get a free bus pass. I want a free bus pass!

5. It’s empowering!

By walking into your polling station and casting your vote, you have showed Parliament that you deserve representation. It shows that you’re not only taking control of your life, but directly impacting your local community. Making decisions is cool. Making people listen to those decisions is cooler. Giving them the boot if they’ve dunked on you during the last five years is the coolest. You could almost go mad with power! (but we trust you won’t.)

6. Your Student debt depends on it

You’ll have a student debt coming out of University, sitting somewhere around £44,000 pounds. That’s a lot of money! That’ll take years to work off! It won’t mysteriously disappear when you’re not looking, but you might be able to vote someone in who’d do something to help you with it. At the very least you can help ensure it doesn’t get any worse for anyone else.

7. You elect more than just a Prime Minister

The Prime Minister might be the big cheese of British politics, but your vote won’t go directly to him. You’ll be deciding which MO represents different parts of Southampton (unless you’ve registered in a different part of fair ol’ Britain), which’ll have a huge impact on the local community for the next five years. You might know what party you want to support on the national level, but what do you think about their local candidate? They might be cool! They might be awful! That’s for you to decide, but it’s probably something to think about before the election.

8. Its affects your everyday life

Been on a train recently? They’re getting rather expensive. Looking at Jobs after University? Think a night out is getting a little pricy? These are all things that are impacted by who gets in. No matter what you think about the coalition, you’d struggle to argue that things haven’t changed in the last five years. Do you like the current Britain more? Do you think it’s all getting a bit naff? Now’s the time to take a stand. Feel like it should be changed? Go out there and change it! Like the way life is at the moment? Go out there and stop other people changing it! Just don’t get left out.

9. Cost of living

You’re at university now, which means that you probably get a loan to help pay the rent. Still, it’s never quite enough is it? You might need to take some tough decisions on what part of your lifestyle to cut down on to be able to afford it all, or get a part time job to help cover the costs. If you vote the right people in they might be able to help keep rents down, keep food cheap and leave you with a little extra at the end of the week to go out on. If things go wrong and it all gets more expensive then you’ll probably have some tough choices to make towards the end of your degree.

10. Your vote matters

The last winner in Southampton Itchen got in with less than a 200 vote lead. 200! How many people are there at Solent? Over 11,000! It’s all to play for around here, with no one quite sure how it’s going to turn out. How many people are there on your course? They’d have a huge impact if they all voted one way! Talk to your friends, you might be able to convince a couple of them to get involved too. It really could swing it.

This’ll be our first election for a lot of us, but it won’t be the last. Now’s a good time to get your head around it. Make a choice! It might work out, they might horribly betray you, but either way you’ll know a bit more about who to vote for next time. Don’t let this one get away from you.