We’ve all heard the reasons why we should vote, exercising our hard won rights and having a say on important issues, but today, in honour of Mother’s Day, I want to talk about why Mums should vote.
As mums we’re not only at the center of our families but often also at the center of our communities so we are particularly affected by so many of the issues that fall under the remit of central or local government.
We’re the ones sat for hours in A&E with poorly toddlers in the middle of the night.
We’re the ones choosing between overstretched local schools and then wondering if we’ll be able to afford to send our kids to university.
We’re the ones trying to fit in visits to elderly relatives and neighbours between the school runs.
We’re the ones struggling to get a pushchair and four bags of shopping onto an overcrowded bus.
We’re the ones most affected by changes to things like child benefit, carers allowance and tax credits.
We’re the ones looking for those illusive ‘flexible’ working patterns and then loosing most of our wages to expensive childcare.
Yet because we’re so busy doing all of those things (and for lots of other reasons) you won’t see many of us sitting in parliament or on local councils. Until that changes, and it is slowly changing, the only way to remind politicians what mums really want on all these important area of policy making is to vote.
Over 9 million women didn’t vote in the last election and changes to the registration system this time round mean that thousands of previous voters have now dropped of the register, probably with out even knowing it so if you care about these things too I hope you’ll:
- Make sure you are registered to vote www.gov.uk/register-to-vote
- Vote on May 7th
If you don’t think you’ll make it to a polling station on Election Day, and lets be honest our best intentions can go out the window when there’s a family emergency, you can always register for a postal vote so you can complete it and send it back at a time that suits you.
Bravo. Fantastic post.
I am also heavily influencing my 18 year old son to vote (not who to vote for may I add).
That’s great, it’s another area where mums can lead by example and hope our kids follow in our footsteps when they’re 18.
I agree with the reasons why a mum should vote, but as a mum who has never voted, I’ll tell you why I’m never likely to vote…
I was never taught anything about politics in school. I’ve tried self learning but I either never understand it or I fall asleep after reading a paragraph because its all insanely boring. The only thing I was ever taught about politics is that all politicians are liars and it makes no difference who you vote for because none of them follow through with the policies they promise.
I think it’s more important that people who understand politics should be the ones to vote. Me doing eeny meeny miny mo on a voting ballet isn’t going to help anyone.
I can see where you’re coming from Emma. It would certainly help if politics becomes a bit more accessible. I can see that if you genuinely don’t have a preference there is little point in voting but even if you don’t have a party you particularly support I bet there is at least one you DON’T like and if that’s the case there’s an argument for voting for any of the others to sort of ‘cancel out’ a vote for them.
Oh, sorry but I disagree with that, Emma. Even if you have no interest in politics and feel it would be a case of voting for the sake of it, it shouldn’t be that way.
Read up on the different policies of the parties. You MUST have some dealings in either education (in the form of schooling, teaching,) or be bothered about your local area (crime prevention) for example.
It’s a cop out to say that it’s an eeny meeny miny mo decision. Read about what each party say they will do.
Who told you they always renege on promises? True or not that’s something you’ve been taught over the years and took to heart. You say school never taught you politics. I presume parents must have taught that view instead then giving you a ‘don’t care, nowt to do with me’ view.
We should all vote. That way we all get a say in what happens to the things we care about.
So right but, as a fairly educated woman, I still need an idiots guide to the political parties!
Ha ha, yes all the parties are constantly trying to boil down their message to snappy, easy to grasp quotes but they don’t always manage it!
I’ve always voted.I take my time to read and review all policies of my chosen party. I can’t stand by and not vote after the women who gave their lives so I can.
Glad to hear it Aly, it’s hard to believe it wasn’t that long ago that we wouldn’t have had the option to vote.
Thanks for sharing this — it’s easy to take the right to vote for granted, not having had to fight for it.
~Lee
Thanks Lee, we also often forget that even now there are many women who don’t have the rights we enjoy here.
Having named one of my daughters for a suffragette of course I will be voting – my big issue is that I don’t feel represented by any of the politicians I can see and I am struggling to work out which is the least bad option to vote for
Can I suggest trying to meet your local candidates? If none of the parties particularly strike a chord with you then maybe think about which individual will best represent your area in parliament.
So right – only know I have to decide who to vote for! I’ve always voted but this time I’m finding it really hard to get behind any of the options.
I’m sure we’ll see a lot more coverage in the coming weeks as the parties share more details of their manifestos. It could be another close thing this time.
Thanks for the reminder! It is very important. I will make sure that I pop down to vote in May. I normally always do, but for some reason I missed the last one
Thanks for a great post and a timely reminder that I need to be looking at what each party has to offer. I do find it hard to sit down and find the time to find out what each party stands for, perhaps I should make a start now x
I totally agree – to me it’s hugely important to vote whenever I have the opportunity, even if I don’t think my vote will make a difference or I feel like I’m choosing the lesser of many evils (and I definitely understand why people are put off given the choices sometimes!). I really want my daughter to grow up believing it’s important to have her say as well, whoever she chooses to vote for or even if she simply goes and spoils her paper, she’s playing her part in a democracy.
As Aly said, it wasn’t so long ago that women were imprisoned and killed to get the right to vote, so I intend to use mine whether that’s wisely or not.
Totally agree, and so eloquently put! I’ve only just written a post myself encouraging us women to vote, posted last night. Bit last minute but didn’t have the time up till now. Its SO important we vote, and if not, to come up with an alternative – like Sandi Toksvig and the others setting up the Women’s Equality party. Great post! S