Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats are targeting student voters in the closely fought Sheffield Central constituency. Art: Natasha Maisey
With a hotly contested General Election on the horizon, Forge Press asks why young people have become disillusioned with mainstream politics.
Henrik Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People has been showing at the re-opened Crucible theatre this month and if you’ve seen Jaws, you’ll know the story.
Ibsen’s theatrical creation provided the plotline for the shark-infested film, with both tales following the struggle of a maverick trying to bring safety to a town in the face of poisoned water or sharks respectively. The play ends with the protagonist Dr Stockmann descending into a manic denunciation of democracy with unbridled horror at the irrational mob mentality in the face of his attempted reasoning.
While it may be unlikely that the constituency of Sheffield Central will be attacked by sharks anytime soon, the political issues that Ibsen addresses in the play are a potent reminder that politically, there are no easy answers.
Right now, if I was filling in a survey question about my political intentions I would probably be hoping for a box at the end labelled ‘multi-curious-confused’. I consider neo-liberalism to be, frankly, rubbish and am not a fan of Capitalism in general. Whether either of these considerations matter in the land of mainstream politics and the General Election is not totally clear. In fact, nothing is very clear at all.
A recent survey claimed that almost half of Sheffield students do not plan to vote. The main reason cited for this disengagement is a lack of real difference between the main political parties, a worrying idea to be prevalent if you’re a politician trying to garner votes.
Paul Blomfield, the Labour candidate for Sheffield Central, blames complacency about democracy for political apathy. He said: “Democracy is actually something we ought to be actively engaging with and something we ought to be cherishing. We take democracy for granted.”
This idea that we should exercise our democratic rights with pride and a belief in their power was also echoed by Council Leader and Liberal Democrat candidate Paul Scriven whose main emphasis through our conversation was his insistence that young people must use their “weapon” of a pencil and put a cross in a box.
Lizzie Walsh is a second year student and member of People and Planet and Sheffield Activist Network. She studies Politics and History and is planning to vote in her home constituency of Orpington in London. She sees her vote as less an exciting expression of her views than a means of stopping the Conservatives from gaining power.
When I asked about why she plans to vote for the Lib Dems she said: “I don’t like tactical voting and I don’t like the fact that the system makes you vote tactically but Labour’s never going to win where I live. So I’ll probably vote for them [the Liberal Democrats].”
The Sheffield Central constituency is a more complicated affair though, with the race between the Liberal Democrats and Labour looking evenly matched.
However, many young people don’t seem to share the enthusiasm in the glossy election propaganda that piles through our letterboxes.
Paul Blomfield points out that democratic politics is inevitably about compromise.
He said: “It’s about recognising that across the board, a lot of people have very different views on how we should address issues.
“We shouldn’t always see compromise as a bad thing.”
Jillian Creasy, Green Party candidate for Sheffield Central doesn’t think it is so simple though.
“How can people vote Labour when Labour have been in power since 1997 and just haven’t delivered?” she said.
“They’re supposed to be a socialist party and actually the gap between rich and poor has got worse.”
As the party of government Labour is bound to be under that sort of scrutiny and on other issues, too. While Paul Blomfield was opposed to both the Iraq war and top-up fees, his party was not.
As Ibsen’s character Dr Stockmann delicately puts it, the concern that “A party is like a sausage machine; it mashes up all sorts of heads together into the same mincemeat-fatheads and blockheads, all in one mash” is a valid one given the Westminster bubble’s power to suck away at an MP’s personal convictions.
That’s something that each of the candidates claim they will strive to avoid if they win the seat and if we are to get excited about the democratic process strength of conviction is surely an essential criterion for those we vote in to represent us.
In Sheffield Central in 2005, more than 10 per cent of the votes went to smaller parties such as the Green Party, Respect and UKIP.
If the electoral reform that all three of the candidates that I spoke to support goes ahead, the proportional representation that will replace the current system will mean that a vote for a smaller party will count for much more.
In the current system these votes act as a medium of expression. Jillian Creasy from the Green Party says: “If we get a good percentage of the opposition votes it does stimulate the other parties to take on board the green issues.”
The poster from Sheffield City Council designed to inspire younger voters shows a girl with a sticker covering her mouth printed with the slogan ‘no vote, no voice’.
This suggests that voting is our sole means of political expression, a suggestion that Paul Scriven denies, citing demonstrations and petitions as equally important.
He said: “Ultimately in a democracy the only way you’re going to affect political change is by engaging in the political process and voting”.
Lizzie Walsh sees this sort of response to activism as reflective of a lot of society, that if you engage in mild forms of protest you get “patronisingly congratulated”.
The Greens believe direct action and civil disobedience are a necessary part of political expression, so maybe they are the most progressive and free-thinking?
But will they win a seat? Not according to Paul Scriven, who believes the Liberal Democrats are the ones to vote for if progressive but realistic is what you’re after.
All sides agree that young people need to use their right to vote, but with young people seemingly so disillusioned with what’s on offer, its unlikely this General Election will provide the answers to all of our questions