It’s the most common response I get when I tell people that I am a Politics student and a political activist. “My vote doesn’t really mean count”. And to be fair, its a reasonable one. We have had a constant switch from Labour to Tories, red to blue, blue to red, for the last 87 years. And now, on the surface, they both appear to be exactly the same.
However, one issue for students rises far above the rest, and that is student tuition fees. Currently standing at about £3,000 (although the Welsh Assembly will give most of us a grant to pay about half of that), the Tories are rumoured to be considering raising them to £7,000 if they win the election. And Labour introduced them in the first place. This major issue affects the vast majority of students, yet only a third of the 16-24 age bracket vote in elections. As you can see, our “don’t care” attitude to Politics literally costs us dearly!
The Liberal Democrats however, are the only party to have consistently fought against tuition fees, so that aspiring students from even the most underprivileged backgrounds can go to University, afford to live when they get there, and not have to worry about paying back large amounts of debt when they graduate. And the more MPs we elect to Westminster, the more likely a free University education becomes.
However, to vote for the Liberal Democrats, you need to be on the electoral register. As a student, your everyday life is directly affected by the decisions of politicians in Westminster. Make sure you have your say in who they are.
To get your name on the electoral register, visit http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk and fill in the online form. The site will then generate a form to send to your local authority and give you the address to send it to.
Matt Smith is the incoming Chair of Liberal Youth Wales/Ieuenctid Rhyddfrydol Cymru, and as a student at the University of Glamorgan, is the Spokesperson for the Glamorgan Student Liberal Democrats. This is an article submitted to TAG, Glamorgan’s new student newspaper on the importance of voting.
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