12th December- The Student Election?
The election is looming, and the years following Brexit have caused influx of young people to finally engage with their country’s politics, to the extent that you could argue Brexit has even been a much needed eye-opener, and an incentive for the UK to start critiquing their MPs.
Whether leaving the EU is the reason or not, Jenny Foden, a third-year Politics student in Portsmouth, believes the tide of knowledge in this country has swayed more towards young people.
“When I speak to my parents or my parents friends who are older, their general response is “don’t talk to me about politics, I don’t care, I don’t know anything about it”, but if you speak to the younger generation they’ve got so much more knowledge than the older generation does, and I think social media has helped that so much.”
Upon hearing about the date of the election, she had not seen anything malicious, but after discussion with her peers, she did become sceptical about the possible intent in choosing a date when students would likely be transporting back from university. She added however, that it hadn’t stopped anyone she knew voting. Nevertheless, it adds significant substance to the theory that social media could be a real force.
Helena Schofield, the president of the Student Union, believed this date was an easy thing to bypass as an obstacle.
“I think because student can register at both at their home address and their Uni address anyway, I think that’s really important. I think a lot of students aren’t aware that they can do that.”
Especially in an era where communication is so easy and effective, ignorance should soon cease to be an advantage in politics, and that can only be a positive step that it is the younger generations developing on this.
For want of a better metaphor, the student knowledge and enthusiasm for politics in the decades to come could be quite the power to harness. Should the coming generations have a similar upbringing, then the whole concept of dishonesty in politics may fade.
The fact remains however, that the age of social media, may only have a positive effect in politics if young people vote, but how far does their obligation to vote go?
Speaking to Craig, a Politics/History student from the University of Liverpool, he stressed no obligation for young people to vote, but would only preach the benefits of doing so, insisting that individual contributions really can make a difference in your life and your country. He also understood to an extent, negligence for some people when it comes to politics in the UK.
“This year the options are bad, you can see why someone wouldn’t want to vote for either of them (leaders of the two leading parties), but ultimately, it’s a bit of a disservice to yourself not to vote”
On the topic of tactical voting, as a result of the date of the election, dividing whether students are at home or university, he urged students:
“Check the results in your constituency, especially if it’s a marginal seat, you can really affect the results of the election.”
With Conservatives being in power since the 2010s began, there is speculation that this could be a year where an upset happens. Many believe a combination of building frustrations and the surge in young voters could result in a Labour or even Liberal Democrat victory. No one knows if the date was picked to cast out or demotivate the average student voter, but the concept of tactically voting for stronger constituencies, and a strategy reserved for voters known to be mostly left-leaning, could make this election a very interesting one if nothing else.
