Practice English Speaking&Listening with: WHY VOTE IN THE GENERAL ELECTION? #GE2019

in the 2017 General Election the Conservatives received 13.6

million votes, Labor 12.9 million, and the other parties 4.9

million between them. However an enormous 14.5 million people didn't vote

and those people could have changed everything. So here's why you should vote

in the General Election. Voting gives you the power to decide how the UK is run,

the MPs you helped elect will be making decisions on important issues that you

care about including; the NHS, Housing, Education, and the Environment. By voting

in the election you can support a candidate who will represent your views

in Parliament, and can influence the policy issues that matter to you. But MPs

aren't just responsible for national policy, it's also their job to raise

local issues, and support you as much as they can. You can go to them and ask for

advice on certain issues, or even ask them to raise an issue in Parliament.

They can help with everything from immigration status, and support for local

infrastructure, to complaints about utility companies, and their help can

really make a difference. Your vote can therefore keep a helpful MP in their job

or kick out one who isn't doing enough for your community. It's obvious that

politicians need votes to win but if young adults aren't voting politicians

may be less likely to make policies that appeal to them. For instance, more than 71%

of over 65s voted in the 2017 election, compared to only 54% of 18 to 24 year olds

It's unfortunate, but politicians do sometimes pay attention

to this when making key policy decisions. If a certain demographics turnout is

high then politicians will generally want to please them by making policies

they benefit from in order to subsequently win or retain their votes.

So, if more young people vote, politicians will start making more policies that

appeal to young people

Even if you live in a safe seat, or think there's very little chance your

candidate will win. You should still vote for them.

The other parties will notice that they're losing votes and they'll want your vote back.

So it puts pressure on them to address the issues you care about.

For example, if Candidate A is really passionate about environmental issues

and although she didn't win, received a significant number of votes,

the candidate who did win will undoubtedly take note of this, it's likely they'll pay

a lot more attention to environmental issues in his future policies in order

to try and attract those voters next time.

And on a broader scale, change won't

happen if you don't persist.

an increased voter for smaller or minor parties may

also create a mandate for electoral reform

But what if you don't like any of the candidates?

Maybe you disagree with all of their policies, but still want to

participate to ensure your voice is heard and turnout is high.

This is a perfectly valid viewpoint and in this event you can spoil your ballot.

you can simply scribble it all out, or even draw a picture, it means your vote will be

counted but as someone who didn't approve of any candidate enough to vote for them

and that won't go unnoticed.

Now hopefully this is all left you convinced that you should vote,

but you can find out more information about elections and

why your vote is so important, visit votingcounts.org.uk