How do I know who to vote for?

Registering to vote is one thing but knowing who to vote for and what that means for you is entirely different. The Mix walks you through the main party manifestos to help you make up your mind.

Why not get together with a group of friends to figure out which candidate is for you.

We hope you all register to vote in time before the next election. However, in the of it all excitement, you may have understandably forgotten about the whole ‘deciding who would be the best party for your future’ thing.

But don’t worry, you’ve still got time to make up your mind and since adding a pile of dry political manifestos on to your reading list doesn’t sound that fun, we’ve tried to make things easier for you.

Yes, we’ve read through the main party manifestos so you don’t have to. I know, you’re welcome and you can thank us later but for now take a look at our summaries and use it to aid your democratic vote.

Conservatives

• Brexit: Will leave the single market, pursue free trade with European markets and secure new trade agreements with other countries.
• Education: International students will be expected to leave the country at the end of their course unless they meet new “higher” requirements.
• Housing: They want to meet their 2015 commitment to build a million homes by the end of 2020 and 500,000 more by the end of 2022.
• Military: They plan to invest £178 million in new military equipment over the next decade.
• NHS: Will increases spending for the NHS in real terms reaching £8 billion extra by 2022/23.
• Work: The conservatives plan to increase the national living wage to 60% of median earnings by 2020 and create new protections for people working in the ‘gig’ economy e.g. people working on short-term contracts or freelance.

You can read the full Conservative Party manifesto here.

Green Party

• Brexit: Like the Lib Dems, Greens also want a referendum on Brexit but also want the option to reject a deal and remain in the EU.
• Democracy: Want to lower the voting age to 16.
• Housing: Bring back housing benefit for 18-21 year olds, create secure housing options for young people and stop local authorities declaring young people “intentionally homeless”.
• NHS: Want to reverse the privatisation of the NHS so all services are free at the point of access.
• Transport: Plan to renationalise the railways and buses.
• Work: Will introduce the four-day working week and abolish zero hour contracts.

You can read the Green Party’s full manifesto here.

Labour Party

• Brexit: They plan to go ahead with Brexit but want to stay in the single market and guarantee and right to stay for all EU nationals living in Britain.
• Democracy: Like other parties Labour want to reduce the voting age to 16.
• Education: Labour plan to restore Education Maintenance Allowance for 16-18 year olds, reintroduce maintenance grants for university students and will abolish university tuition fees.
• Housing: To help young people get secure housing Labour plan to introduce controls on rent rises, devise new consumer rights for tenants and bring back housing benefit for 18-21 year olds.
• NHS: Will increase NHS funding by £30 billion over the next Parliament by increasing income tax for the highest 5% of earners and increasing tax on private medical insurance.
• Transport: Plan to renationalise the railways, freeze train fares for passengers and introduce free WiFi across the networks.

You can read the full Labour Party manifesto here.

Liberal Democrats

• Brexit: The Lib Dems have said they want to hold another referendum on Brexit.
• Democracy: Have pledged to lower the voting age to 16 years old.
• Education: Bring back maintenance grants for the poorest students.
• Housing: Bring back housing benefit for 18-21 year olds and build 300,000 homes a year by 2022, including half a million affordable and energy-efficient homes.
• NHS: Will raise £6bn for the NHS and social care services by raising income tax.
• Work: Reverse cuts to work allowances in universal credit.

You can read the Liberal Democrats’ full manifesto here.

Plaid Cymru

• Brexit: Negotiate a deal that puts Wales first and ensure Wales receives money promised by the Leave campaign.
• Economy: Introduce a living wage.
• Housing: Ensure houses are more energy efficient.
• NHS: Will train and recruit 1,000 doctors and 5,000 nurses in Wales over next decade.
• Education: Guarantee employment, training or education for all under 25s.
• Democracy: Pledge to lower the voting age to 16.

You can read Plaid Cymru’s full manifesto here.

SNP

• Brexit: Hold a second independence referendum at the end of the Brexit process and keep Scotland in the single market.
• Work: Raise the minimum wage to more than £10 an hour by 2021/2022.
• Housing: Address the poor housing asylum seekers are offered.
• NHS: Increase NHS spending across the UK by £11 billion.
• Education: Will offer 30 hours childcare for 3-4 year olds in Scotland.
• Democracy: Replace first-past-the-post electoral system with proportional representation.

You can read SNP’s full manifesto here.

UKIP

• Brexit: Complete the Brexit process by 2019 without paying a fee to the EU.
• NHS: Will give NHS England £9 billion extra per year by 2021/2022.
• Housing: Plan to provide 100,000 extra homes for young people.
• Immigration: Reduce migration levels to zero by halving immigration to the UK.
• Transport: Oppose Heathrow Airport expansion and instead expand regional airports.
• Education: Will bring back university maintenance grants.

You can read UKIP’s full manifesto here.

Final word

So, that’s it. We’ve given you all the information we can but the final decision is up to you. Read as much as you can on each party. Remember that some parts of the media can be biased so it’s important to think critically about what you’re reading. Research anything that seems a bit off and read from the direct source before believing a story.

For unbiased information on the general election visit:

• BBC Election manifesto guide
• Voting Counts
• Vote for Policies