Today is polling day for what is being described as a historic general election.
For the last month, the media has been dominated by campaign events, opinion polls, talk of a hung parliament and - for the first time ever - televised debates between the leaders.
I love all this. I genuinely find politics fascinating and interesting and I like knowing that I have paid close attention and feel that I will be using my vote wisely. The debates have been an interesting addition to the campaigns giving us the viewers a chance to see what our prospective leaders are like when put on the spot, allowing us to find out more about what they stand for and (importantly) to see how they treat the opposing parties.
As always, there have been rehearsed lines and soundbites planned by PR people behind the scenes. This is the one thing that turns me off campaign events. Nick Clegg has been particularly bad with this trying to position his party as better than the other two. That his party is new politics and they are old. If I'm being picky, the Liberal party has roots going back far further than than Labour so I don't really understand where he is coming from.
That's not to say that the other parties haven't been guilty of soundbites. The buzzword this time seems to be 'fairness'. 'Change' crops up often as well particularly from the Conservatives. I understand where parties are coming from - they need short succinct words to grab the attention of the electorate and it was fine for the first week, perhaps two. Now I'm sick of hearing them and almost want someone to say 'screw fairness and change'. I don't really believe that though. Of course our country should be fair and I want something new.
I made my decision about who would get my vote a long time ago and make no secret of it. In the 2005 election, the Liberal Democrats were my party of choice. Now I've moved to the Conservatives. Their policies on a smaller government, greater individual responsibility, giving communities more power and plans to reduce wasteful spending in the public sector all resonate.
What I'm not going to do is preach to others to do the same. The party campaign machine does enough of that, and the internet is awash with blogs, microblogs and forum posts telling readers who to vote for. Of course I hope my choice is successful and wins enough seats to form a government but if that is not the will of the majority then so be it.
What I think is important is that people vote. Whether it be Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Labour or Monster Raving Loony; this is our chance to have our say on the way the country is run. We should all grab that opportunity and place our mark wisely at the Polling Booth.
And why is this election historic? Well for the first time in years nobody is able to predict the outcome. Opinion polls have been consistently close and if they are accurate then we could have a hung parliament for the first time in over 35 years. Thanks to the televised debates, the Liberal Democrats appear to have support equaling that of Labour (depending on which poll you look at). The result truly is up in the air and it will only start to come down when the winners start being announced overnight tonight.
For the last month, the media has been dominated by campaign events, opinion polls, talk of a hung parliament and - for the first time ever - televised debates between the leaders.
I love all this. I genuinely find politics fascinating and interesting and I like knowing that I have paid close attention and feel that I will be using my vote wisely. The debates have been an interesting addition to the campaigns giving us the viewers a chance to see what our prospective leaders are like when put on the spot, allowing us to find out more about what they stand for and (importantly) to see how they treat the opposing parties.
As always, there have been rehearsed lines and soundbites planned by PR people behind the scenes. This is the one thing that turns me off campaign events. Nick Clegg has been particularly bad with this trying to position his party as better than the other two. That his party is new politics and they are old. If I'm being picky, the Liberal party has roots going back far further than than Labour so I don't really understand where he is coming from.
That's not to say that the other parties haven't been guilty of soundbites. The buzzword this time seems to be 'fairness'. 'Change' crops up often as well particularly from the Conservatives. I understand where parties are coming from - they need short succinct words to grab the attention of the electorate and it was fine for the first week, perhaps two. Now I'm sick of hearing them and almost want someone to say 'screw fairness and change'. I don't really believe that though. Of course our country should be fair and I want something new.
I made my decision about who would get my vote a long time ago and make no secret of it. In the 2005 election, the Liberal Democrats were my party of choice. Now I've moved to the Conservatives. Their policies on a smaller government, greater individual responsibility, giving communities more power and plans to reduce wasteful spending in the public sector all resonate.
What I'm not going to do is preach to others to do the same. The party campaign machine does enough of that, and the internet is awash with blogs, microblogs and forum posts telling readers who to vote for. Of course I hope my choice is successful and wins enough seats to form a government but if that is not the will of the majority then so be it.
What I think is important is that people vote. Whether it be Conservative, Liberal Democrat, Labour or Monster Raving Loony; this is our chance to have our say on the way the country is run. We should all grab that opportunity and place our mark wisely at the Polling Booth.
And why is this election historic? Well for the first time in years nobody is able to predict the outcome. Opinion polls have been consistently close and if they are accurate then we could have a hung parliament for the first time in over 35 years. Thanks to the televised debates, the Liberal Democrats appear to have support equaling that of Labour (depending on which poll you look at). The result truly is up in the air and it will only start to come down when the winners start being announced overnight tonight.