On May 1st voters in England and Wales will be going to the polls in what will be seen as Gordon Brown?s first electoral test as Prime Minister. As well as the heavily publicised London Mayoral elections, elections are taking place in nearly half of England and Wales?s council districts with Manchester City Council being one of them. But why bother to vote? Manchester University?s own Student Direct this week interviewed a selection of students asking whether they will be voting with many giving negative responses. Here I tried to quell this voter apathy and give all students a reason to vote this Thursday.
One reason many cite for not voting is a lack of knowledge in the political process. So here is a quick explanation: Manchester is divided geographically into 32 electoral wards (with about 10,000 people in each), with each ward represented on the council by 3 councillors. After election each councillor then has to serve a 4 year term. Therefore, there are local elections in Manchester 3 out of every 4 years ? with a different councillor up for election each time. Currently out of Manchester?s 96 councillors, 61 represent the Labour Party, 33 the Liberal Democrats with the Conservative and Green Parties holding one seat each. Therefore this year there is an election in all 32 seats with the chance to choose one of the three councillors who will represent your ward. The main wards covering student areas are Fallowfield, Levenshulme, Rusholme, Withington and the City Centre.
So What? How will the chosen candidate affect your life? In some ways local elections are more important than national elections. With 3 councillors representing about 10,000 people they are by far your most approachable elected representative. In contrast one MP is responsible for nearly 90,000 people which they must combine with their Westminster duties. Therefore it is important your councillor is someone who will represent your views as they will be your first point of contact with any local issues. For example if you are concerned about the rising number of burglaries on your street or the deterioration of your local environment, the right councillor will have the right contacts and the influence to resolve these problems. Your local councillor also represents you when Manchester wide issues are being debating by Manchester City Council. One issue which will affect the whole of Manchester is the proposed introduction of Congestion Charges with each of the major parties all taking a different view.
Not convinced? Although these are local elections fought on local issues, these elections are always seen as an indicator of the national mood. Since last years local elections two of the major parties have had change of leader and these elections will be seen by many as a referendum on their leadership. Conservative leader David Cameron, for example, has asked voters to ?punish? Gordon Brown for his decision to scrap the 10p basic rate of income tax. Therefore by voting on Thursday you can show your support or distain for the current Government.
If these reasons have not convinced you, I still urge you to vote on Thursday. Democracy is important and without it there would be no way to hold accountable the officials that are supposed to represent us. Also voter apathy can led to undesirable consequences. The BNP have 3 candidates standing in Manchester this year and votes are needed for the moderate parties to prevent them from succeeding. Do you need anymore excuses? The polls are open all days from 7am to 10pm and if you are a student in halls of residence you are automatically registered ? so turn up even if you have not received a polling card and make your voice heard.
Thank you very much for this article. As an european student, it is hard to vote in another country. I didn’t know the electoral rules of local election in Britain. Your article is very helpful.