Since Theresa May called a snap general election last week, there have been over 100,000 under 25’s that have registered to vote.
OVER 100,000 people under the age of 25 have registered to vote since Theresa May announced 8th June’s general election, which includes a rise in Manchester voters.
The general election, however, may be overpowering the mayoral elections for Greater Manchester’s first ever mayor, which are taking place on 4th May – next Thursday.
As the political party broadcasts have begun, the younger voting population may be focusing too much on the general election, and the policies that the party leaders are putting forward.
For example, Jeremy Corbyn has said that he will end rough sleeping in Manchester by 2020, which is something that the Labour party’s mayor candidate for Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has also promised if he is to be elected.
Theresa May has announced that Greater Manchester will receive £130m for a ‘modern industrial strategy’ to support new businesses however, the Conservative mayor candidate, Sean Anstee, has included new homes for local people, and a ‘year of service’ volunteering scheme to help get young adults into work, in his manifesto.
Since the deadline for registering to vote for the Greater Manchester mayoral elections closed on 13th April, and it is only since the snap general election was called that masses of people began to register, turnout may be an issue on 4th May.
Research suggests that in the 2015 general election, people aged under 25 were much more likely to vote Labour, but listen below to find out what students at The University of Salford think about both elections coming up in the next couple of months.
There were a lot of people registering to vote before the closing date for registration of the mayoral election, with 84,600 people across the country registering to vote on 7th April, but these are nowhere near the numbers that people have been registering for the general election.
Certainly if younger people are not registered to vote in the mayoral elections, they may not have an adequate chance to vote for policies benefitting them, such as changes to transport, education, and employment.
The Greater Manchester mayor candidates are:
Sean Anstee, Conservative;
Mohammed Aslam, Independent;
Jane Brophy, Liberal Democrats;
Andy Burnham, Labour;
Marcus Farmer, Independent;
Stephen Morris, English Democrats;
Shneur Odze, UKIP
Will Patterson, Green Party.
You can find out more about each of the candidates here.
Anyone who has registered to vote on time for both elections should vote in both elections, as not all policies are the same regarding Manchester, and if a mayor can promise things that a party leader cannot – and vice versa – then that could count to how Manchester progresses.
To find out the differences between a general election and a mayoral election, click to read about the different kinds of election.
The upcoming key dates for both the mayoral and the general elections are as below:
4th May – Greater Manchester Mayoral Election
22nd May – Deadline to register to vote for the general election
8th June – General Election
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