Everything you need to know before the next General Election
For those who are not aware, the next general election is happening on the 12th of December 2019. But how much do you know about each party? In this post, I will outline the manifestos of each major party and what they aim to do if elected. It’s easy to be influenced by others but it’s important that you understand and are well-informed so that YOU can make your own decisions. You have a vote and it counts. Use it wisely!
First and foremost, you should be registered to vote. If you’ve already voted in past elections and you haven’t changed address since, you WILL NOT need to register again. If you’ve moved address (or are a student away from home) you may need to register again. The process takes less than 5 minutes via the Gov.uk website. You have until TONIGHT (26/11/19) to register if you plan to vote in person and 5 PM if you vote by post (It’s too late now). If you are unsure whether you are registered, you can click here to check with your local electoral registration office.
Who can vote?
Individuals who are 18 or older on the 12th December 2019 AND a UK citizen (or Irish, EU or Commonwealth citizen with a permanent UK address)
A British expat (UK citizen living abroad) who has been registered within the last 15 years. You can choose to vote via post or proxy
If you have no legal obstructions to voting. Worth noting here that you CAN vote if you’ve been remanded in custody and HAVE NOT been convicted.
You can vote even if you don’t have a permanent address (eg homeless, Irish travellers)
A patient in a Mental Health Hospital
So about the election… who are the parties?
We’ve not had an election in December since 1923 and our next election SHOULD be taking place in a few years so why now? The next election was not due to take place until 2022 but with this BREXIT palaver (you’ve probably heard all about it over the last three years) and still no decision or agreement in place, a decision for an early election has been made. Although this is not all about BREXIT, it does play a significant role in all manifestos. The people have been split with their decisions, and with more knowledge this time around, hopefully, we can come to a solution, whether that’s remain, leave or some sort of compromise…
The Main Parties:
The main parties are The Labour party (led by Jeremy Corbyn), The Conservative Party (led by Boris Johnson), The Green Party (co-led by Sian Berry and Jonathan Bartley), The Liberal Democrats (led by Jo Swinson), The Scottish National Party (led by Nicola Sturgeon) * and The Brexit Party (led by Nigel Farage). Some voters will be considering their stance on Brexit when making a decision, others may look at their views on education and healthcare, etc. Some may not agree with any of the parties but this doesn’t mean you should vote. I’ll get to that later. For now, I’ll outline each manifesto and their views on Brexit below:
*You can only vote for the SNP if you live in Scotland. You cannot vote if you’re from England. You can read up about them here. If you do like what they stand for, you can aid their influence on government by voting LABOUR as it is the only party that Sturgeon can do a deal with.
LABOUR: “It’s time for real change”
This is a party popular with the younger generation, with influences from celebs, notably Stormzy, who has been vocal about his decision to back the party. What do they have to offer?
BREXIT: Labour would like to hold a second referendum meaning that they would allow the public to vote again with the new knowledge they now have. They have also said that if elected they would re-negotiate the deal within 3 months with a UK-EU customs union, and allow EU nationals living and working in the UK a right to stay (something that has become a fear for many over the last few years). Labour would like everyone to have a final say, whether that is leave or remain and promise to implement the result immediately.
HEALTH: Labour wants to increase the budget by 4.4% and stop the privatisation of the NHS.
MINIMUM WAGE: Labour wants to increase this for over 25’s from £8.21 to £10 an hr.
TRANSPORT: Labour will like to give those under 25 FREE bus travel and bring the railway back to public ownership.
HOUSING: Labour will like to build 100,000 council homes and 50,000 housing associations every year for the next 5 years. This is intense and we haven’t seen anything on this scale in decades. How likely is this going to be?
You can read the Labour manifesto in full here.
CONSERVATIVE: “Get Brexit done”
The current party in leadership. This party appeals to the older generation and the middle class as they aim to prevent the increase rising on taxes for higher-income earners.
BREXIT: Conservatives want to LEAVE THE EU by January but want to negotiate a trade deal with the EU before our exit.
HEALTH: Conservatives want to re-introduce grants for nurses (£5000-£8000) to get more nurses into the system. They aim to increase the number of nurses by 50,000 with this method AND includes getting nurses from abroad (where this grant would not have to be used), however, it is worth noting that the conservatives initially scrapped the grant in 2017, impacting many people in the health sector… oh and they are including 19,000 nurses that ALREADY exist on the NHS… yh
TAX: Conservatives don’t want to rise Income Tax, VAT or National Insurance costs. They also want pensions to rise by at least 2.5% per year.
CUTTING EMISSIONS: Conservatives want to cut emissions as close to zero as possible by 2050. This will mean cuts to a lot of things as the world is in a global warming crisis (see previous post), however, with other parties promising an earlier target date, is this good enough?
HOUSING: Conservatives want to upgrade 2.2 million disadvantaged homes, costing a proposed total of £6.3 billion. This is to help them become more energy efficient but it doesn’t make promises for those who own their own home.
You can read more of their manifesto here.
The Green Party: “Green New Deal”
A party known for its love of the environment and eco-friendly policies, there’s no surprise that their campaign focuses heavily on the environment and our future world. Here’s what the Green party have to say:
BREXIT: The Green party wants another referendum and is calling for a "positive, pro-European movement".
HEALTH: The Green party proposes to invest £6 billion a year into the NHS until 2030 and an extra 1 billion a year for nursing training. The Green party also wants a huge reduction in private care. They will also invest £4.5 billion a year in social care.
TUITION FEES: The Green party want to SCRAP tuition fees and wipe the debts of graduates who paid £9,000 per year.
GLOBAL WARMING: The Green party proposes spending £100 billion a year on cutting emissions to tackle climate change. The Green party aims to eliminate this by 2030 and it places as one of its top priorities. They will also like to plant 700 million trees by 2030, reduce meat in our diets, ban single-use plastic (about time we caught up with Africa), improve energy efficiency in 10 million homes, and remove fossil fuels.
HOUSING: The green party wishes to build 100,000 zero-carbon homes (in true green eco-friendly style) which will be available for rent every year.
You can read the full Green party manifesto here.
You can also read my post on Global Warming for more information on what’s been going on.
The Liberal Democrats:
“Stop Brexit build a brighter future”
This party has Brexit at its forefront, but will they have enough to get the votes? With popularity with the youth in the past, this is what they have to say…
BREXIT: As stated in their slogan, the Lib Dems want to stop Brexit by revoking Article 50 and cancelling Brexit. The aim is to revoke Article 50 immediately and stop it without the need for another referendum.
HEALTH/EDUCATION: The Lib Dems want to raise £7 billion a year for the NHS for 5 years. The Lib Dems will also like to give FREE childcare to all children aged 2-4 and will be entitled to 35hrs a week for 48 weeks of the year. Regarding schools, the Lib Dems aim to raise £10.6 billion a year on schools and hire 20,000 more teachers. Oh, and whilst I’m here, I might as well throw in that they would like to legalise cannabis too.
TAX FREQUENT FLYERS: The Lib Dems want to tax frequent flyers which means that those who take regular international flights will be forced to pay more whist those who only take one or two international flights a year will pay less. This also doubles up as an environmentally-friendly policy and will help reduce carbon emissions.
TRANSPORT: The Lib Dems have promised to freeze train fares if elected. There will be a freeze fair for all peak-time tickets and seasonal tickets. They also aim to complete the HS2 high-speed railway.
HOUSING: The Lib Dem’s want to build 300,000 new homes a year and re-settle 10,000 refugees a year.
You can read their full manifesto here
THE BREXIT PARTY: “contract with the people”
Led by Nigel Farage, this party doesn’t have an official “manifesto” but rather, a “contract with the people”. With its heavy focus on Brexit (obvs), This is what they have to say…
BREXIT: The Brexit party aims for a “clean-break” Brexit and does not want any further extensions. They want Boris Johnson (current PM) to stick to his promise. Will this be enough time to negotiate a deal?
HEALTH/EDUCATION: The Brexit party hasn’t given us a figure but they want to keep the NHS public and free upon entry and do not want a privatised NHS. They are also pushing for GP’s to be accessible 24/7 and to broaden the training for nurses and midwives without requiring a degree… take of that what you will. The Brexit party wishes to scrap the interest on all student finance loans. Currently, there is an additional interest charge above RPI which is making it increasingly difficult for graduates to pay off their loans.
TAX: The Brexit party wants to abolish the inheritance tax and scrap the TV license fee which is currently £154.50 a year.
TRANSPORT: The Brexit party wants to scrap the HS2 railway project and instead invest £50 billion in regional rail and road projects in under-developed regions. There has been no time frame given for this.
Housing: The Brexit party hasn’t given us a figure for housing but instead mentions that they will "accelerate the pace of development". and give builders more flexibility. Regarding immigration, the Brexit party wants to reduce the annual immigration by introducing a crackdown on illegal immigration and enforce a point-based system. There is no real elaboration on this though.
The Brexit party seems to stay away from figures and keep it open as a “contract with the people.” You can read their (short) proposal here.
To conclude…
These are by no means all the policies and many sites are explaining what each party wants. I suggest you read more into the ones that you’re interested in and most importantly DO YOUR RESEARCH. I have included every manifesto under each summary so please do use it and read over before making a decision. Remember you have one vote, and now more than ever is it important for you - particularly the younger generation - to use it! If you don’t like any of the policies, that’s fine too but by not voting at all, this may impact the results.
Remember, the older generation is voting more (because they have nothing better to do), but they’re voting for themselves, which often conflicts with what is in your best interest. If you have a grandparent who isn’t too bothered about voting, it would be great if you could get them to vote in the interest of the young as it will be us that will be impacted the most. Lastly, DON’T waste your vote. More and more young people have signed up which is a good sign. If you can’t decide, SPOIL your ballot instead as this shows that you aren’t satisfied, and if there is a significant number, this will force parties to reconsider their policies and look for alternative options.
HOW TO SPOIL YOUR BALLOT:
Write a message at the bottom stating your dissatisfaction
Tick ALL the boxes
Don’t tick any box
Include a personal detail - this, therefore, cannot count
Write your own box and tick it. eg “None of the above”
Whatever you choose to do, make sure you’re well informed!
I hope this helped!
**Remember the polling stations will be open from 7am - 10pm on Thursday 12th December**
Liz x