Politics with a pencil and paper May 5, 2010

I’m actually quite excited. Tomorrow I get to vote in the General Election and, along with millions of others, I’ll help decide who runs the country, starting from Friday. It’s quite a responsibility isn’t it?

I’ve been bombarded by leaflets from all the main parties – some more imaginative than others and, according to the Straight Choice website, some are downright lies… who would have thought it? I’m not sure the leaflets and billboards are swaying me in any particular direction – though the grafitti I’ve seen on many of them brightens my morning commute.

I was also one of the millions of viewers who sat down to watch the Leaders Debates. I wasn’t sure what to expect but found I was glued to the first debate – not only on the telly but also on Twitter  – instant reaction from others watching, including other MP’s, gave the whole event a different edge. I know it was staged and turned out to be rather predictable but still, I was riveted.

I do feel rather more involved in this election than I have in any other – I suspect this is down to several things:

• I have a family now – this is bound to change the way I vote, or at least make me think about it a bit more.
• I’m a bit older – so a bit more interested.
• The internet – never has so much information been available – in my student days you pretty much had to go and get each manifesto and read it yourself to find out what they were saying – not so now, you can get bite sized, pre-read, summarised versions of everything.
• The telly - the Leaders Debates may not have told me much about the actual policies of each party, but they told me a lot about how the leaders present.
• Twitter – I’ve not long been on Twitter but I’m a big fan… as soon as a story breaks there’s a hashtag to match it and comments coming in from anyone and everyone.

This election has had it’s fair share of scandal and controversy but what’s not to love about that? Everyone wants a good gossip, a juicy story to talk about! It’s also been billed as the ‘social media’ election – but I’m not convinced about that either. Twitter is one thing but Facebook/MySpace and the like aren’t a hotbed of politics as far as I can see. 

Whatever your take on the election campaign at least it’s got the nation talking and, hopefully, it will be voting too. Probably the best thing about this election is that no-one, not the commentators, the bloggers, the tweeters or even the politicians, know what the outcome will be.

Personally I can’t wait to cast my vote. I was always intrigued when my parents went to vote – to put their X on a piece of paper that potentially could change the way the country is run? How good is that I thought? I still love the old fashioned way we do politics, at the local church hall with a good old pencil and paper.

(Oh, and in case you were wondering, the Love Party won the marmite election!)

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