I've just finished having a quick chat about politics with my flatmate. We were in the kitchen. I was watching him make the necessary preparations to execute the 'Sausage Challenge', whilst also listening to him explain who he wants to vote for in the General Election. The 'Sausage Challenge' is his own creation. A game of dedication, stamina, meat sweats and calories. He'll attempt to eat 24 sausages for his dinner. I'm not sure why he does it, but he loves it. I'm currently praying for his arteries. Whilst pricking each sausage with his fork he also mentioned who he wants to vote for in the General Election (and then apologised). He thinks I won't agree with his choice. He's wrong.
I'm currently involved with the @UseYourVoice campaign as an ambassador. We hope to inspire young people to vote and have their say. I was so happy to be asked to be a part of it. I've always voted. It's something my parents have always done and as soon as I turned 18 I wanted to have my say too. I'll be honest, I don't think all of my brothers and sisters vote but I'm going to try and inspire them to do so. They all contribute to this country so it's only right that they have their say. To be fair, they're constantly having their say; especially on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter but when it comes to registering to vote or making their way to the polling booth they're not interested. Like so many other young people in the UK.
In the last election just 44% of 18-24 year olds and 55% of 25-30 year olds voted. Therefore, the most popular choice amongst young people was 'nobody'... Actual 'nobody'! Hardly the best advert for British politics. It makes me wonder why parties don't try harder to engage young voters. They're ready for you! They're used to voting, they grew up with it. Simon Cowell knows it. Simon can make millions of young people vote week in week out for someone they've never met, to win a prize they won't benefit from and to top it all off he makes them pay for the pleasure! Voting in the General Election is FREE and the result could seriously impact our lives and those around us.
Whatever happens on 7 May 2015, we have to live with the consequences for the next five years, so we should definitely have our say. Rightly or wrongly, Twitter has pretty much become my daily newspaper. I usually get to hear about news on there first and reaction is instant. I see so many inspiring young people with passionate views everyday. They don't always agree but they're ready to debate and talk about it. Recent new stories range from debate about the tragic shooting of Walter Scott, Stonewall's Equality Walk, the historic Women's boat race, Kim Kardashian is in Armenia... and she's brunette again... and somebody's just asked the question: "Should raisins be in curry"? Young people chatting about what matters to them!
I hope that those same young minds take the time to register before 20 April, so that on 7 May as many of us as possible have a choice. Registering is so important. It gives us the power to have our say. We are the judging panel and they are the X Factor hopeful, staring wide eyed down the camera lens mouthing 'vote for me' whilst miming a phone with their hand... well it's not exactly like that, but you know what I mean. Collectively we are in control of the outcome. We chose the winner. Don't forget that.
Tomorrow my flatmate will leave the house at 5am in the morning and he won't be back until after 5.30pm. He does this five days a week and works most Saturdays too. He works hard, he contributes to the UK so I reckon he has every right to attempt to eat 24 sausages for his dinner and he has every right to vote for whomever he chooses in the General Election. In fact, he's also inspiring me to pop downstairs and see if there's any stragglers left over from the 'Sausage Challenge'. They smell so good.