“Some quick answers on behalf of the Lib Dems -

1] Do you believe people should be taught about politics at a younger age?

Politics is of fundamental importance to our society. Any process that leads to greater understanding and engagement with the political process is seen as a positive thing by the Liberal Democrats. It makes sense for children to have political and social (lifeskills) education, to the appropriate level, throughout their time in school.

It is long-standing Liberal Democrat policy to lower the age at which people can vote to 16. We would hope that this would go some way to engaging young people with politics. With this power, comes responsibility though. Education is an important way in which this message can be delivered.

2] Do you believe voter apathy and disillusionment is linked to a lack of understanding of the system and how it works?

Partly. Though politicians have let themselves down with things such as dodgy expenses claims. However, Liberal Democrats believe that the problem of disillusionment with politics does not stem primarily from revelations concerning moat-cleaning or servants’ quarters, but from something much more fundamental. In the 2005 election, the government was returned to power despite the fact that less than one third of the electorate actually voted for them. Currently, people do not have the constitutional power to sack their own MPs, even if they are guilty of serious misconduct. Both of these facts seem wrong and unfair. No wonder anger, apathy and disillusionment seem to be growing. While greater understanding of the current system is important and laudable, root and branch reform is necessary for people’s votes to mean more, and for people to feel more engaged – in other words, for people to become more powerful.

3] What arguments would you give to those who choose not to make use of their vote [particularly those aged 18-24]?

It is no exaggeration to say that people have died in this country for the right to vote. Democracy is something to be proud of, and the ability to select our representatives is a privilege. It is a privilege that is not available to everyone in the world. As the electorate, we have real power as well as responsibility. The way we vote profoundly effects all aspects of the country we live in – from what is taught in schools, to how the sick are cared for. Even spoiling a ballot paper is engaging with democracy and registers your vote as a protest. Many political parties exist, some covering single issues, and others with a wider portfolio of policies. Although it may not be possible to find a party that represents your views 100%, it is very likely that there will be a party you can identify with, which shares many of your values.

You may also want to use some of the quotes from Nick Clegg at http://www.takebackpower.org/100_days_to_save_democracy.html or http://www.libdems.org.uk/news/clegg-lets-take-the-dirty-money-out-of-politics-and-have-a-battle-of-ideas-271860747;show

I hope this is helpful.

Regards

George Crozier
Liberal Democrat Political Information and Communications Section”

Without further ado, please allow me too anounce that the winnning name of the KnowVote 2009 mystery ballot is!!:

WINSTON!

Mystery ballot results!

As you can see, Winston is the clear winner, with Gordon Brown Spots trailing in last place!

Total Votes cast: 128

1. Winston: 43

2. Alejandro: 25

3. Edwina: 19

3. Jiraf Obama: 19

5. Destruktor: 15

6. Gordon Brown Spots: 7

But what on earth were you guys voting FOR?

Well, now it’s all over we can let you know!

You were voting for the name of the KnowVote Giraffe. Who is now, apparently, called Winston. Alas, all our clever giraffe-based puns have gone too waste!

Well, you can’t say fairer than democracy. Which in this case means, winner takes all. I guess we could use a proportional system, and name it ‘Winstjandro Obawina Gorstruktor’ but it just doesn’t have the same ring too it!

The Liberal Democratic Party.

The Lib Dems are the third largest political party within the UK Parliament, but are yet to have been given the chance to govern the country. The Lib Dems are a ‘liberal’ party, which means they promote personal freedom and equality and less state intervention within peoples’ lives. For example, they are strongly opposed to the introduction of National Identity cards and want to change many of the current ‘anti-terror’ laws such as the ability to hold a suspect without trial for 28 days.

Nick Clegg [the Lib Dem leader] had previously attempted to repeal [try and change] many laws within the Human Rights Act, such as the banning of protests outside Westminster. In fact, the Lib Dems strongly promote equality for religious, racial, gender and sexual groups, for example, they were the leading party on the campaign for civil-partnerships.

Although opposed to state intervention, the Lib Dems are highly supportive of the NHS and the welfare state. They would also like to lower taxes on the poorer people in the UK and raise them on the wealthier people. They have also claimed that they will scrap tuition fees for Universities, but recently this policy has come under scrutiny.

In terms of foreign policy, the Lib Dems were heavily critical of the Iraq War [though some Lib Dem MP’s did support it] and are highly opposed to the use of military intervention in international affairs. They are also the most pro-European out of the main parties in the UK.

The Lib Dems are very supportive of political reform as well. They want the current system to be changed to be proportionally representative [i.e. you get the amount of seats for the amount of votes you get] and for the House of Lords to be democratically elected.

The Lib Dems are also the greenest party out of the main parties and are strongly supportive of environmental issues. They are currently trying to convince the government to increase their desired 60% emission cut to an 80% emission cut.

In terms of crime, the Lib Dems are more focussed on introducing more police onto the streets. They also want to halve Britain’s prison population, using prisons only for serious criminals. In terms of recreational drug use, the Lib Dems have promoted the use of a new system which may involve less stigma around certain drugs such as Cannabis.

Party Policy: http://www.libdems.org.uk/policies

Richard

In addition to the last post, I have set up a lovely little poll for you all to vote on to make life a little easier!

It will only take you a few seconds to vote, so go on, pick your favourite name!

Just a quick update on the video side of things whilst I’m here!

We’ve nearly finished the new advert, the rough cut is done, so it should be uploaded in it’s finished glory soon!

Re-shooting a piece of our campaign video on Monday and also getting onto shooting another short advert.

Gosh, aren’t you guys so lucky getting all of this kNOw Vote video goodness?

Keep checking back people!

Zoe.

These are the result of the ballot so far, although the election will continue for another week! A breakdown of the statistics then: 

62 ballots have been cast so far, with 

2 for Gordon Brown Spots

15 for Alejandro 

20 for Winston 

9 for Edwina

9 for Destruktor and

9 for Jiraf Obama 

Who will win!? YOU DECIDE! cast your vote by leaving a comment with the name you like best on this post. If you want your vote to be anonymous then just type “anon” after the name! You can only vote for the names shown, though.

We’re all really exited about the flashmob tomorrow! We were even mentioned in a newspaper today!

More from us soon… including a super-cool video blog! Not to mention a couple of other treats which we’ll keep under wraps for now…

And remember, the mystery ballot closes at 12 midday on Friday 22nd, so get voting people!

Firstly I’d like to say that the draft party outlines have been slightly altered to appease those of you who felt that ‘libertarian’ wasn’t an appropriate description of UKIP. It’s understandable. You have to bare in mind with this sort of thing that we are by no means experts on politics ourselves – due to the very lack of education which we are campaigning to prevent. We’re media students. But we are doing our best. 

There’s going to be a Know Vote stall in uni tomorrow outside Waterstones incase anybody wants to stop by. It should be interesting to see how much interest we can create with something so simple. In addition we’ll be reshooting a few bits and pieces for the campaign videos on Monday.  

In the mean time I’ve been taken off party outlining duty – Richard’s going to be covering all of the parties instead. In the mean time I’ll be producing all of the stuff on first-past-the-post. Fascinating. 

We’re coming up to the final stretch now. The website should be online by saturday, to accommodate the flashmob!

Thanks 

Ed

Overall, the shoot has gone really well!

Today we managed to get a short advert titled ‘Pre Vote Nerves‘ shot and some other funny little bits. 

Our actors have been absolutely brilliant, I’m so happy with the work they’ve done for us.

Even with the issues we had, we’ve got lots of usable footage, so editing can soon begin!

We’ve added another clip for you all to enjoy which has been drawn from todays shoot. You can see it on our YouTube channel which is here.

There are a couple of things left that we need to re-shoot/shoot, but that shall be done over the next couple of weeks and uploaded for your viewing pleasure.

I’ve been playing around with the blog today as well, so now you can view our videos on the right side of the page, along with some other lovely things.

I’ll keep you updated with the editing side of things once post production begins properly.

Zoe.

Yesterday brought up some issues with sound, meaning that part of our shoot needs to be re-shot. But not to panic! We know what the problem was and we’re already on the path of solution!

Today’s footage looks great, I’m really happy with it!

We had a little play in the edit suite after the shoot and we created a bunch of short clips for you to gaze at.

If you’d like to have a look, please visit our gleaming new kNOw Vote YouTube channel here.

Leave us comments, subscribe! There will be plenty more updates in the coming weeks!

Zoe.

Anyway, while I was there I was showing my friends the campaign, and we got chatting about the other campaigns from the level C media school school students. I thought it would be a good idea to show them Isle of You (which I think is awesome) and Youth Booth – a very similar campaign to kNOw Vote – when I noticed that they have also started a WordPress Blog chronicling their party research! Well, falling behind our sister project is something which I just can’t let happen, so you guys are in for a bit of a treat.

My unfinished party research! Oh yeah!

I noticed Rich has all ready posted his work so far on the Conservative party. It’s a lot more serious than my stuff, but I guess that’s just how the dude rolls. Anyway, enjoy!

Green Party

The Green Party is a relatively new party, and in this sense can be considered successful, having experienced exponential growth and support since their creation in the 1970’s. However, in Britain the Greens remain a fringe party, and while they have many parish councillors, some MEPs (Member of European Parliament), and two members on the London assembly, they have not yet successfully ‘broken through’ and had an elected MP in parliament.

The green party is often perceived as a ‘single-issue’ party, too heavily concentrated on environmental policy. However, they offer a broad spectrum of policies, focusing largely on environmental issues and social equality issues. Their full manifesto can be found on a rather difficult-to-navigate web page, here.

United Kingdom Independence Party

UKIP is Britain’s fourth most popular party. They stand for both economic and cultural withdrawal from the European Union, and the non-discriminatory deportation of immigrants, as well as abolishing human rights in Britain. Like the greens, UKIP are a fringe party.

It could potentially be stated that UKIP are too focused on the idea of independence to form a well-rounded government. They may become something more than a fringe party in the future, should they consider the idea that other factors may contribute to democratic reform than merely withdrawing from the EU. They claim, for example, that democracy is being undermined in Britain by the European Union and ECJ (European Court of Justice), however, were they to be elected they would not reform the House of Lords to be an entirely elected, democratic, second chamber. At kNOw Vote we believe the electorate deserve more consistent democratic reform than this from any government. 

Very conservative parties such as UKIP are excellent at recruiting members through a highly rhetorical approach to policy. Often they use rallying, inspirational speeches and characters to persuade voters into their ranks.

With this said, many of their policies appear beneficial to certain segments of society. To read more about some of UKIP’s policies, click here.

Their policies are also outlined in a more detailed fashion here.

Labour

The Labour Party is Britain’s leading social-democrat party. On the face of things, they promote fairness and equal opportunities, as well as a democratic method of governing, involving all of their party members in creating party policy. However, as the incumbent government they have a history of ignoring direct-action, such as protests and online campaigns, effectively making their policy-creation process more closed than they would like to admit.

They are commonly perceived as the party who most try to improve public services and benefits, by spending large amounts of taxpayer money on these services. However, this often means that a Labour government will not be afraid to heavily tax middle-income families and professionals. 

The past three terms in office have seen both huge successes (2012 Olympics) and failures (Millennium dome) for Labour, as well as the rise (and debatable fall) of ‘New Labour’, a more media-friendly, middle-class friendly, version of the party.

Labour’s Key policies, along with unashamed Tory-Bashing, can be fond on the party website here.

Scottish Nationalist Party

In Scotland things are a little bit different. Labour are, of course, the Government there, as they are across the whole of the UK. But there is a strong nationalist movement in Scotland. Not British nationalism, however, but Scottish nationalism. The second most successful party in Scotland is the SNP – a separatist movement, hoping to break away from England and make Scotland an entirely separate country.

The SNP website reads like some kind of heavenly manual for building the perfect country. They may as well cut through the red tape, rename themselves the Scottish Utopian Party and be done with it. Of course, the reality of government is far, far harsher than the cosy sofa of opposition, or second party, or whatever they want to call themselves.

If the SNP can actually accomplish everything which they are promising too, then it will result in a lot of people asking a lot of questions, including but not limited too ‘why aren’t our government that good?’ It will also mean that Scotland will probably become an incredibly influential and economically strong country, a world leader in environmental issues such as renewable energy resources and… just about everything you can think of. You can check out their policies here: http://www.snp.org/government

So, why should English, Irish or Welsh (or Cornish, for those of you who really need to hear it) people care about a Scottish separatist movement? Well, there are pretty complex economic issues with anything like this, that no one really fully understands. But in general it’s seen as a bad thing for the rest of us if Scotland were to leave the UK.

In addition, the idea of Scotland breaking away is pretty upsetting too Labour supporters, because the vast majority of Labour’s parliamentary seats are in Scotland. Scotland Leaving the UK would result in a dramatic shift of political power towards the Conservatives, as Labour would loose many, many safe constituencies. Permanently.

On the other hand, the hugely unfair policy of Scottish students having their tuition and maintenance fees paid for them by the government, regardless of where they go to university, would finally end. The Scottish Government would have to pay instead. The SNP are good news for the thousands of students who are massively pissed off by that policy, then.