It’s that time again where political parties scramble to get the people of the United Kingdom on side as the General Election on the 7th May edges ever closer. We have all heard the promise made by the various parties, to “save the taxpayer’s money” to “rescuing the NHS” to scrapping the bedroom tax. You name it, the political leaders have most likely made a public promise to do just that or intend to do so within the next few weeks in the run up to the General Election.

We recently saw the 7 main party leaders go head to head in a landmark televised debate on ITV where they all had to put their money *or in the case of labor and the coalition, the country’s money* where their mouths were, answering for decisions made by those currently in power and those who had been in power and how they intended to fix current problems long term and how they as a party intended to make the country one of a bright future.

Granted as a young person, politics can seem rather boring; after all as students we have enough to deal with, having exams, trying to juggle assignments and trying to do all the things young people do, so why vote? what is all the fuss about? Aren’t they all as bad as one another, is anything really going to change?

I guess the question here is can we not motivate ourselves to make a difference. The election is meant to be about making sure the people’s voice’s are heard by asking the political leaders the tough questions about subjects that matter, examples of which could include the zero hour contracts and apprenticeships; are they really a flexible option that saves students money, or are they simply a cheap option for employers so they do not have to pay employees a fair wage whilst getting them to do the work of a “full time employee” or childcare options, where the conservatives recently announces in their manifesto that they would increase free childcare to 30 hours per week.

Either way, the leaders will bring up topics that will have some meaning to people, regardless of what walk of life they come from. Many of the education providers are having to teach people about the importance of voting; trying to get their students to take an active role this general election. But is there a point? The coalition in the last election promised reduced student fees, more course options for all and better job prospects, unfortunately we as students saw the exact opposite; with education establishment’s budgets slashed to the point their staffing levels were no longer safe leading to teachers going on strike, student’s protesting and teacher’s wages being slashed with their hours increasing. I personally suffered at college with this, with two teachers having to try teach 200 students in a day who were all on different course levels. How is this right or fair to anyone?

There are a number of things that need to be changed and improved, the question is, whoever gets in, will they change things for the better? We will be watching and waiting.

We all have the right to have our voices heard, even if we feel that none of them are worth voting for, I think it would be better to vote for someone, as either way whoever gets into power on the 7th May will have an effect, both positive and negative on those in this country, including me and you. Either way, I shall be placing my vote due to the fact that whatever the result may be, at least I know I tried to make my voice heard. However you feel about politics, the 7th of May is going to be an interesting day indeed for UK society, regardless of what background you come from.