Who should I vote for and what are the parties promising?
Everything you need to know…
On Thursday 4th July every registered voter will have the opportunity to decide who will run the country for the next five years. The country is split into 650 areas, known as constituencies or ‘seats’ which each hold an election to see who can get the highest number of votes and represent that area as its “Member of Parliament” (MP) for the next five years.
Most candidates are typically standing on behalf of a Political ‘Party’, which is a way of coordinating with others who share their beliefs and ideas. You will see this listed next to each candidate’s name on the ballot paper, often along with a party slogan. Any candidate who is not standing on behalf of a party will be listed as an ‘Independent’.
Each party publishes a manifesto detailing what it intends to do or argue for if it wins the election on 4th July. To save you reading all of them yourselves, we’ve summarised the policies which relate specifically to students as students, from the 5 parties who have candidates in almost every (>600) seat in the UK.
There may be other candidates standing where you live, see the full list here
The BBC have created a more general summary of all the areas covered by the party manifestos, which can be found here
The NUS has also developed a tool which can help identify which of the major parties policies you most agree with here
Remember to vote on 4th July.
Your voice matters.
