It's voting time

At the age of 18, politics just did not bother me. I didn’t care about taxes, the environment, health care or house prices. I was just about to go to University and all I was bothered about was whether I would make friends and pass my course. I missed out on University tuition fees by a couple of years so that didn’t affect me either.

It was only when I finally started working, I guess you could call it the start of my adult life, that I started to realise that everything that goes on around you is political. From a parking ticket, to the time of last orders, to how much it costs to put petrol in my car, everything is connected to how this country is run.

Too many times recently, I’ve walked down the street past a gang of teenagers and felt threatened. To me, this is where politics start to matter. So my first concern, when deciding how to vote, is what each party is claiming to do about crime. What are they going to do to stop people being afraid of nipping to the corner shop on their own at night? What are they going to do to point these kids in a direction that will actually give them a future and stop them from turning into vandals and petty criminals?

Or how about the NHS? It’s impossible to sign up with an NHS dentist so most people I know choose to suffer in silence rather than pay to go private.

At the age of 26, I’m trying to carve a life for myself. My first house, a car and a job with a future have taken precedent in the last few years but no matter how hard I work and how much I save, I’m always struggling to stay afloat. Will the government help people like myself, a first time buyer, to afford to get on the property ladder?

Immigration is another big issue – it’s time we stopped letting every man and his dog into the country and only let in refugees and immigrants who offer a trade or a service to the country. We have enough people on the dole as it is, we don’t need any more.

And how about education? Are we schooling our children properly? Are the teachers being given enough support? I don’t have children now but hopefully I’ll have some in the future so it’s an issue that could sway my decision.

Trying to decide which way to vote also makes you think about your future. Pensions have become so confusing that I have no idea what I’ll be entitled to when I retire. Will I be able to afford to live when I’m in my 60s or will I spend my senior years scrimping and saving?

The scary thing for me is making the decision. Every party is shouting from the rooftops about what they have to offer and they all sound promising and believable. But how much is truth and how much is lies? How much is thought up to entice you in but once you’ve voted is conveniently forgotten about?

I want to vote in a party I believe in but am worried I’ll end up voting for the party I dislike the least, as opposed to like the most. Simply because I don’t think there’s a party out there that I can wholeheartedly put my faith in. Ideally, I’d love to live in a country that is governed by a party that has its peoples best interests at heart, but is there such a place? I’m not sure.

But it’s time to put up or shut up. When the day comes, I shall be there, ready to place my vote and take a stand. It might not count for much but it’s something. And I urge everyone to do the same. Some countries don’t give all their people the right to vote and they have to live in a society where the freedom of choice is not an option, so let’s take advantage of it and give ourselves a voice.

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