The Sprout

Election Explained

Posted by CLICtania from Gwynedd - Published on 15/04/2010 at 14:59
3 comments » - Tagged as Culture, Education, People, Topical

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Am fersiwn Cymraeg cliciwch yma

Gordon Brown has called a general election on 6th May 2010 but what does this actually mean?

Well the Prime Minister has to ask the Queen to dissolve parliament, which means that every seat in the House of Commons becomes empty and a general election is held to fill them again.

People across the UK vote to choose who will represent their constituency (area) as a member of parliament in the House of Commons. When the election is called everyone over the age of 18 gets to vote for these members who represent a political party, the four main ones in Wales being Plaid Cymru, Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, there are also other parties and independent candidates.

Everyone over the age of 18 gets to vote for one of the candidates standing in their constituency and the one who gets the most votes becomes the local Member of Parliament, MP. There are 646 parliamentary constituencies in the UK, 40 in Wales, which means there are 646 seats in Parliament to fill.

The Queen asks the leader of the political party with the most MP’s in the House of Commons to become Prime Minister and to form a government to manage the country. The party with the second highest MP’s becomes the opposition party and the leader, currently David Cameron for the Conservatives, becomes the Official Opposition.

The last general election was held in 2005 (they have to be held at least every 5 years) and Tony Blair was made Prime Minister, Gordon Brown replaced him when he resigned, but he was not voted into the post through an election.

A recent survey published by The Children’s Society revealed that over 90% of children thought they could not trust politicians, and that they do not listen to the views of young people. Only a quarter of the 1,006 young people asked said they thought the outcomes of the general election would make a positive difference to their lives.

With such a negative view of the Parliament and Politicians is there enough understanding of the whole process and the differences that our votes can make?

The Scout Association and Oxfam GB are encouraging young people to vote for the first time with their campaign Active Citizens: Virgin Voters. They have a blog on their website which keeps you up to date on what’s happening in the build up to the election.

A number of people say that they don’t bother voting because it won’t make a difference anyway but if you want to have a say on who makes the decisions then you need to vote.

“Some of my colleagues were elected on only a handful of votes. Now if only a handful of other people had stayed at home they wouldn’t have been elected,” says Sarah Teather Liberal Democrat MP for Brent East in North West London.

“Just a few MP’s voting another way changes the law, would change the law on whether you pay to go to university for example.”

The Active Citizens website says that a recent report shows that 56% of young people aged 18-24 are not registered to vote. To vote you need to be on the electoral register, if you are not registered then you can do this through the About My Vote website.

A voting card will come through the post for you to take with you to your local polling station on the day. You can also apply for a postal vote (for those who can’t get to their polling station). The Active Citizens website also has a handy search tool which will give you all the information about candidates in your local area which will help you in making your decision on who to vote for.

Photo credits:

graphiclunarkid - Polling Station

Theresa Thompson - Vote

Policy Network -Gordon Brown, Uk Prime Minister

Conservative Party - David Cameron at Conservative Party Conference

Alan Cleaver - Vote

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3 Comments – Post a comment

jeopreddy

Commented 74 months ago - 9th April 2010 - 16:09pm

In my opinion, Liberal Democrats have better and more policies involving young people, which for a young person, is a good thing I'm guessing! But, to be fair, Nick Clegg, he is like a puppy dog, in my opinion, he is incapable of running the country. I don't think David Cameron could do a better job either. As proven, neither can Gordon Brown, as I see it!