My dad went canvassing today.
He is very passionate about politics, you only have to look at his Facebook to know that.
This morning over breakfast, he and I chatted about polls, what the various parties represent, how our voting system works, and we speculated about the voting turnout for the general election on Thursday.
While many of us may complain about politicians’ inadequacies, or wish for a better led country, how many people act upon their opinions? How many of us will show up to exercise our democratic right in the hope of a future better aligned with what we want?
It has often been said that young people are apathetic. That we are disengaged with the political world because it bores us, or because we have a lack of faith in political leaders, or simply because we think it will not affect our day to day lives.
I beg to differ. I believe the current late teens and young adults of the United Kingdom are politically aware and see it as important. But in reality, I know this belief is a reflection of the sheltered bubble I am surrounded by.
There are plenty of people of all ages who will have dismissed the upcoming election, not registered to vote, not read or listened to any of the news about the Conservative betting scandal or Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey cycling on the water in Oxfordshire, or Nigel Farage being a bigoted twat, and everything in between.
The general election is this Thursday. My dad is going canvassing because after so many years of writing ranting posts on Facebook about politics, he felt that he ought to act as well as talk.
We need political change. Badly. We need better leaders in power than we have had for the past 14 years.
The only way to achieve this change is through voting.
“I’ll write a blog post about it!” I told my dad confidently this morning.
“Well you’d better get a wriggle on,” he replied.
So here I am. This is my speediest blog writing to date.
I am going to give you five reasons why you must vote this Thursday.
Let’s go.
Democracy is power. By voting, you exercise your right to get a say in who is in charge of our country. Our political leaders for the next five years will have a considerable impact on our lives. If you keep your head down, perhaps you won’t be too aware of these things. But if you engage with others and the wider world, you will see how politics is everywhere and in everything. Which is why it matters that we vote to decide who gets to make these decisions about our country and our lives.
It is feminist to vote. If you are a woman, we did not always have this right. Women were first allowed to vote in 1918, and this was only if they were over 30, and if they met a particular property qualification. Suffragettes sacrificed their lives so that future generations of women could exercise this democratic right. Therefore, voting is feminist because it is a liberty and a power that historically women were deprived of, and so many women across the world still are.
We need better leaders. I don’t want to impose my biases on you, although I am sure I already have. If you have read any of my other posts, followed my Instagram or listened to my podcast, you might have guessed which parties I am likely to be leaning toward. We have had too many selfish, money-hungry, bigoted, misogynistic, transphobic politicians in power in the last 14 years. We deserve better. And the only way we are going to get anything better is if we vote for it. Change won’t happen from wishful thinking. You need to put pen to paper and make that cross on your ballot.
If you don’t vote, you can’t complain. If you do not vote on Thursday, for the next five years you’re not allowed to make a peep about badly behaved politicians, or the cost of living, or housing prices, or education inequalities, or the NHS. If you don’t do your bit to change the state of politics, you are not in a position to complain about it.
It’s so quick and so easy. It takes less than five minutes. Walk in, flash your ID, make your cross, get on with your day. And get on with the next five years knowing that you made the effort to change things. If it was a laborious task with multiple stages that could seriously impinge on your day, I could understand people being hesitant. But it is so straightforward. You barely enter the polling station before you’re leaving again! It is not an inconvenience. What is an inconvenience is having a shit government because the people who had the power to change things couldn’t be bothered to vote.
Once you’re in the booth the decision is yours. I can't dictate who you vote for any more than the next person.
You, independently, can make your mark, and express your view in the hope of a future that aligns with your values.
Whether the result is entirely opposed to what you chose, or if you vote for the party that wins, you can be assured that you did what you could.
See you at the booths on Thursday.
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