Student votes could tip election

Students are expected to come out in force to vote during this year’s General Elections, with BBC News reporting that student votes could “tip the balance of power” come May.

Several cities that contain a large student population will be affected by the way the students there decide to vote, particularly as many have chosen to vote at university rather than at home.

This means that several constituencies with marginal seats will be strongly influenced by the resident student population.

In cities such as Sheffield, which is estimated to have more than 10,000 student voters, as well as Cardiff and Wolverhampton, students are expected to be crucial in tipping the scales in favour of certain parties.

Closer to home, North Warwickshire is one of the marginal seats strongly predicted to be influenced by the votes of students at Warwick University.

Warwick students were recently labelled by the Guardian as the UK’s most powerful students.

In 2010, the Conservative Party won the North Warwickshire seat, but there is reason to believe that due to recent student protests on campus, the vote may swing in Labour’s favour.

Equally, the strong student population in Coventry could sway the marginal South Coventry region.

For many first years, this will be the first time that they are eligible to vote.

First-year French and History student Prianka Chotai is adamant that she will be voting. She said: “I have registered to vote, how can you not? This is our opportunity to have a say in how the country is run”.

First-year History student Georgia Smith was also very vocal about her decision to vote in the upcoming elections, stating that “women died to give us the vote!”

In addition, first-year Politics student Victor Beaume emphasised the importance of students going to the polls as it is “important for us to decide who will represent us”.

However, he also admitted that he found it “hard to identify with any of the major political parties”. This is a sentiment felt by many across campus, and some have even decided not to vote because of this.

Another first-year Politics student Edward Randall claimed not to align with party politics.

Despite studying Politics, and feeling obliged to advocate political participation amongst students, he admitted to feeling “disenfranchised and undervalued” by the national parties.

He also claimed not to be surprised by the “apathy with which many young people approach elections”.
His views were also echoed by Alex Gibbs, a first-year English Literature student, who voiced his opinion that “nowadays, people don’t have much to vote for”.