On the 7th of May, the mission of the UK voters, should they choose to accept it, will be to decide which party, or parties, will make up their government for the next 5 years.
For a long time in the UK, the government was made up of a single party, the biggest of which were the Conservatives, and the Labour party. Since 2010 however, two parties have shared the power, because they didn’t get enough votes to go it alone – that’s called a coalition.
Those two parties were the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats, nicknamed the Lib Dems.
Their time is now up, and voters now get to vote again.
Anyone aged over the age of 18 in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who is a British citizen, can vote.
One person will be elected to the Parliament from each of the 650 constituencies – a constituency is basically an area of the country that shares a member of parliament, or MP. The party with the most MPs will try and form a government, either by themselves, or with another party.
Many voters look at the leaders of parties, and if they like them, they’ll vote for that party! For your eyes only, and top secret, let’s have a look at the files of some of those leaders.
First up: David Cameron, the current Prime Minister, and leader of the Conservatives. On the plus side, under his watch 1.9 million new jobs have been created, but the National Health Service is in dire need of money. Top secret fact: he’s related to King William IV!
Next up in our file is Cameron’s arch nemesis Ed Miliband. He’s the leader of the Labour Party, which lost their power in parliament the last time around. He’s well-known because of the size of his party, but he has problems connecting to voters, especially the younger generation. Top secret fact: he only learned what YOLO means the last fortnight.
Third: it’s Nick Clegg -he’s the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who are currently sharing power with the Conservatives. Strengths: he’s a well-known face, but that also means that voters partly blame him for the country’s problems. Top secret fact: he has a really cool first name (Nick thinks!)
Fourth, it’s Nicola Sturgeon. She’s Scotland’s first minister, and the leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party. On the plus side, as Scotland’s First Minister, she already has experience of running a country, but unfortunately for her she’s less well-known outside of her native Scotland. Top secret fact: she can’t cook!
Also running for election are parties such as the Green Party, Plaid Cymru, a Welsh party, and UKIP, who want the UK to leave the European Union!
In a week’s time, it will be zero hour, and the voters will have to make their decision.
