The European Election, less than a week to go.

With less than a week to go until the European Election on the 22nd May I'm sure you like me are getting a lot of election paraphernalia being pushed through your door from a whole host of political parties with many saying very similar things. In case you don't know I am based in the West Midlands so the candidates I have leaflets from will differ from your own if you live in a different region. Thus far I have five leaflets through my door from the AIP, the BNP, the Conservatives, Labour and Let the People Decide Parties. Surprisingly there are no leaflets from the Liberal Democrats or UKIP yet but I am sure they will arrive before next Thursday along with a host of other parties.

So what are the leaflets saying? The overwhelming theme that runs throughout the leaflets is the in/out debate that is raging everywhere at the moment. The main problem with this is that MEPs cannot decide whether there is a referendum in the UK regarding membership of the EU. The only person who can decide whether there is a referendum is the Prime Minister David Cameron with his deputy Nick Clegg asked for the sake of the coalition. This is something that Cameron is promising if there is support for the Conservatives but by 2017, which seems quite fair on paper. However, when you realise there will be a general election in May 2015, it turns into an empty promise as there is no guarantee the Conservatives will be the governing party in 12 months time, meaning Cameron may be unable to act on his promise. 

But why do we need a referendum on Europe in the first place? This is a very simple question but one that is never mentioned in politics. The main reason we seldom have referendums is because we vote for our MPs at general elections and they vote along party lines in Parliament on legislation on our behalf. The problem arises over Europe through the fact membership of the EU is not an issue which divides the parties from each other but within them. This would mean if there was a vote in the Commons on EU membership, the seemingly united benches of the coalition and opposition would turn into something not far from a political blood bath which would be political suicide for parliament. Therefore, to protect the sacred halls of Westminster from carnage the political parties, a promise of a referendum takes the issue to the people making them feel involved in politics.

What about all the parties who only stand to a push for a referendum (on either side of the divide)? These are called issue parties and are quite simply that, a party that stands for a particular issue. They have been becoming increasingly popular since the turn of the millennium. Issue parties are particularly popular between elections when the governing parties is usually most unpopular and even more so if the opposition is divided or unpopular. They are being magnified in prominence because of the problem that the coalition was formed because Labour was deeply unpopular but the Conservative were not able to convert the lack of Labour support into a win of their own, this resulted in the Liberal Democrats holding the balance of power and forming a coalition with the Conservatives (but we all remember that). Since then UKIP has risen to power for being a party that is not one of the three main parties rather than everyone seems to want the UK out of Europe all of a sudden.

So should I vote for one of the main parties or a issue party? Well the simple answer is its up to you. Of course there are the options of staying away from the polls and spoiling your ballot, both of which are valid ways of voting. The main advantage of voting for a major political party is they are established and are more likely to win at least one seat with the Alternative Vote electoral system due to the multi member constituencies the country is divided into (I will do a smaller blog post next week explaining the electoral systems so you know how to cast your vote successfully as it is not a simple "X" on the paper voting method). The problem with voting for a major political party is if you cannot stand any of them it would be hypocritical to vote for one. So voting for an issue party would be an option, but it is a minefield in the fact that it is often unclear how a candidate from that party would vote in the European Parliament meaning you maybe unknowingly voting for someone who votes against everything you stand for except for the EU referendum issue. My advice is to do your research, visit websites and search for independent sites on the internet to work out whether the parties deserve your vote, this does not need to take hours but making the right choice for you is what voting is all about.

Just remember voting is from 7am to 10pm on Thursday 22 May 2014 at your local polling station. I hope I have given you some help to decide on who to vote for, please do not worry if you cannot pick because I am still unsure which way I will vote. Please leave a comment if you want any questions answering and I will try to answer them.