Have YOU registered to vote?

by Leila Parker-Heath

The election is looming, just 3 weeks away, and it is important that everyone makes an informed decision, so here’s some help…

Our local constituency is High Peak (depending on where you live, it may be Derbyshire Dales, for example) and here are the candidates for each party:

· Labour: Ruth George

· Conservative: Robert Largan

· Liberal Democrat: David Lomax

· Green Party: Robert Hodgetts

· Brexit Party: Alan Graves

All the parties have their manifestos out, and you can read them by going to their respective websites. Remember that you are voting for policies, not people; it’s not I’m A Celeb and you aren’t voting for someone to do a bushtucker trial.

The High Peak Borough Council website has everything you need to know, including polling stations, addresses of candidates, and times for voting, so if you are unsure about anything, I would recommend taking a look: https://www.highpeak.gov.uk/article/4598/General-election-2019

As Mr Gort said in our recent assembly, “nothing strengthens authority so much as silence”. Voting is our way of voicing our concerns and worries about issues that will affect all of us in everyday life; education, the NHS, Brexit, housing, taxes etc. and being able to make real change if we really want to.

In 2017, the number of non-voters outweighed the number of votes for the winning party (Conservatives) by around a million. A million votes. So much could change if those votes are used on the 12th.

When you are considering not voting, please consider the struggles of the past; the suffragettes, who were beaten, tortured and jailed so that they could win suffrage, the civil rights movement in the US in which millions of Americans fought tirelessly for equal rights. Please use your vote and use it wisely.