Voting can ‘change your world’

I was in the supermarket the other day when I overheard a conversation that always makes my heart sink. Two people were discussing who they would be voting for in the General Election and one said: “I won’t be voting for anyone – they’re all the same.”

It’s a refrain I hear over and over again. “Politicians don’t listen to us”, “There’s no difference between any of the parties” and “What’s the point in voting? They don’t represent me”.

Now I see that young people may think that all the parties are writing policies to appeal to the over 50s – but guess what? They do this because the average voter is over 50. Young people are not bothering to use their vote and this means that their voices don’t get heard. Instead, the parties tailor their manifestos to maximise their appeal to those people who will turn out on May 7.

What I remind our students is that you could change this. If young people turned out in force on polling day and voted for the parties that represent them, then they could change the whole direction of this election.

In 2010 the turnout for the General Election was 65.1% of those eligible to vote. That means over a third of people who were entitled to vote didn’t bother. That’s one in three people! Those people didn’t want a say in how their country is run, how their NHS is funded, how much money is spent on their schools and colleges, how much is invested in affordable housing so they could one day manage to buy a house, how jobs are created and who bears the biggest burden of taxes. If they had turned out to vote then their cross in the box could have completely changed the outcome of the election – that’s real power.

I very clearly remember the first time I voted, when I was 18. I felt so proud that I was able to make my voice heard and take part in decisions that affected how my country was run. It’s a sign of becoming an adult that you begin to care about the running of the world around you. I was also aware that many countries do not allow their citizens to vote. Many people have no say at all about what their rulers do and they envy the democracy we have in our country.

Let’s not forget that in the UK, women have had the right to vote for less than 100 years. Before that they just weren’t allowed. Women protesters who fought for the right to vote went on hunger strike and even died for their cause. In 1913, Emily Davison was killed when she threw herself under the king’s horse at the Derby as a protest at the Government’s continued failure to grant women the right to vote. In 1918, the Representation of the People Act gave voting rights to women over 30 but women were not granted equal voting rights with men until 1928. So the right to choose a Government is a recent and precious one.

I want to make a plea that you don’t throw away your vote – it has real power and influences your future.

I was delighted when we were able to host a hustings event at West Suffolk College, where students’ questions were answered by local candidates.

It was a lively event and proved that there are young people with very clear ideas about what they want to see from their government. They brought up issues that were close to their hearts; they wanted to know about employment issues, educational funding, mental health funding, voting rights for 16-year-olds and maths and English qualifications. It was inspiring to see young people putting the candidates on the spot.

I don’t care who you vote for – that is a personal choice. All I want to see is young people being more engaged with their future and understanding that they too can have a say on what happens in their lives. As we say at West Suffolk College: Come and ‘Change Your World’.