On Thursday December 12th of this year the UK will have a general election and it is vital that as many of you as possible get out and vote. I was speaking with my good friend Stacey Tokunaga about this just last week and it prompted us to look at how much of the electorate around the world actually comes out for an election, and the stats are actually quite alarming. Stacey and I believe that what stops many people from voting is that they just don’t know which way to vote, so they abstain. If you fall into this boat and you live in the UK, here are some tips on helping you decide where to vote.
Remember What You Are Voting For
It is important to remember that you are voting for your own local MP, not the prime minister. Of course the party which gets the most constituencies will then get put into power and their leader will be the prime minister, but ultimately your vote is for your own local MP. Bear in mind what the local candidates are promising you, before you think about things on a global scale.
What Matters
You have to think about what really matters to you individually, what changes or improvements or guarantees would you like to have in your own life? That may be better education for your children, an improvement to social care for a disabled family member, lower taxes on the money you make, more job opportunities, a better and more protected NHS. Whatever issues matter to you these are where you need to focus yourself, and then seek out the party and candidate which is promising to address these issues.
Brexit
Whether we like it or not this election is almost completely about Brexit, it shouldn’t be as there should be much more on the table beyond it, but we just cannot get away from it. As it stands Labour wish to negotiate a new deal and let the country vote on it, the Conservatives will look to get us out ASAP with any deal and the Brexit party plan to rip us out with no deal. The Lib Dems on the other hand will either revoke article 50 without a second referendum, or they will send it back to the people for another vote. Whichever way you sit with this is likely going to massively indicate which way you vote.
Facts
If you do a little digging online you can find many sites which give you actual facts about each party, their policies and their members, as much as we know anyway. It is important that you work on finding out these facts because when it comes to following the mainstream media or social media chatter, everyone has a dog in the fight and the majority are seeking to influence people one way or another.
Arm yourself with knowledge and the issues which matter to you, and most importantly get out there to the ballot boxes on Thursday 12th December.
