Political Rant

I am facing my first general election in which I am eligible to vote, and after having done some research on who to vote for, I believe that I’ll be abstaining, as many young people tend to do.

The problem lies with the voting system which the UK has, ‘First past the post’ is the name given to the system in which seats in parliament are awarded in proportion to the number of constituencies in which party has won the majority. Therefore, your vote may not count in a community where the political beliefs are the majority. If the majority vote X party, then your vote for Y will not be noticed or have any effect on parliamentary seats. However, in ‘proportional representation’ each vote is counted and seats are awarded for overall number of votes. I am not completely naive, I am aware that this creates hung parliaments and minority or coalition governments, which have their own complications, but is it not better to try this, and try and find compromises and have the public’s votes counted, rather than stick to an old tradition which keeps the powerful in power, and ignores the thoughts of the people that they are supposed to be helping?

For this reason, I may abstain from voting, as my vote for change will not make a difference owing to the area in which I live, and the presiding thoughts of the majority of inhabitants. I feel that people who care about politics and turn up to vote should be recognised, as currently votes that are ‘spoiled’ (not ticking the box for any particular party) are not counted. Why not count them? See how many people did bother to turn up to vote, and had considered the options and decided that ‘none of the above’ was what they wanted. I fear it is because the people who have the power to make this difference and make peoples voices heard do not want to risk losing their power, and the people who are the naive voters are perhaps those that always vote the same way, without looking at particular policies or the unfairness of the system. It is these people who are ruining the free speech of those who’d like to vote, and who would like to make a change, but who are just not being listened to.

We are stuck in a political rut whereby we swing backwards and forwards between two political parties. And the regrettable truth is these powerful parties know of the situation, they know how unfair it is, but will not change it as that could cause them to lose the benefits that they reap from this ‘democracy’.

I am so disheartened with the entire UK system, that I barely consider individual party policies, as I just feel that my vote is not counted, my voice is not heard, and I fear that with little contemporary political education, and little pressure for a change in the system, that it never will be.