Absolutely no apologies about posting this again. TLDR: It’s Election Day in the UK. Please go and vote.
I know what I want the election result to be – but it’s not about me.
It’s about democracy, and the will of the people. I don’t care who you vote for – I just want you to exercise your democratic right to vote.
No, that’s not quite true – I do care who you vote for. I want you to think it through carefully, and then make the decision that feels right to you. I want you to try to see past all the crap (and god knows it’s difficult), and vote for the person, or the party, that you think will do the best job.
I want you to get out there and vote – and encourage everyone you know to get out there and vote.
And don’t let me hear any whingeing about wasted votes or there being no point in voting. The only wasted vote is the one you don’t use.
And I don’t care what the weather’s like. Put your wellies on if it’s raining. Wear a scarf if it’s cold. I don’t want to hear any excuses. The forecast for today is ‘cloudy skies with outbreaks of rain’ – well, that’s OK, you’ve been out in the rain before. You can do this.
And another thing – we have a duty as well as a right to vote. People have died so that we can do this. Now, in 2019, it’s only just over 100 years since all men aged over 21 got the right to vote. Do you remember the celebrations last year, all about the women’s suffrage? We should have been celebrating the men’s suffrage, because 1918 was the year all men over 21 got the right to vote. Before than, there was a ‘property qualification’ – in other words you had to own property in order to have a vote. Poor people had no vote. Most of the men who fought in the First World War had no vote.
And it’s still less than 100 years since all women over 21 got the right to vote . That didn’t happen until 1928 – and the first election in which they could actually use that vote wasn’t until May 1929. That’s really not that long ago – it was only 18 months before my mother was born!! It was only 31 years before I was born!!
Don’t take your vote for granted. We get the government we deserve – and we will only deserve good government by voting for it.
Rant over. Thank you for listening.
Polling stations open at 07:00 and close at 22:00 (although if you’re already in the queue to vote when they close, you will be allowed to vote).
Now go and vote. And may the best person win.
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