It’s no secret I love following UK Politics. So today I’m sharing my biggest political influencers. Unless you live in a cave far, far away from the United Kingdom… Chances are you’ve heard all about the General Election which took place last week. The results were not the ones I wanted, however, rather than ranting and raving about it… I have decided to focus some energy on sharing some of my biggest political influencers from the 2019 General Election…
*This is a partnered Post
My biggest political influencers from the past
I’ve always had an interest in politics for as long as I can remember. This stems from 1997, and everybody going a bit crazy about New Labour. I was massively into music back then, so seeing pop stars endorsing Tony Blair raised him on some invisible pedestal for me.
Of course, I was too young to vote back then, but I remember going to the polling station 3 times that day. Once with each parent, and once with my older sister. I remember feeing such a buzz as I walked through the doors of the polling station. Almost like everyone knew change was coming… And it did!
Tony Blair was definitely one of my biggest political influencers in the 90’s. I think he did a great job of getting the 90’s generation to care about what was happening, and to believe they could change things. I don’t agree with every decision Blair made, but he was definitely the first politician to make me see politics as anything but boring.
Labour Victory
I’ll never forget my Dad’s euphoric whoops the morning after the 1997 General Election, when he turned on the news before work, and saw the Election results. My parents were both Labour voters their entire lives. I haven’t been though. Personally, I always voted Lib Dem until they formed their coalition with the Conservatives in 2010. I’ve been a Labour voter ever since, though.
Brexit Is Everywhere
This year, we have of course been bombarded with Brexit. Everywhere we’ve looked, it’s been hounding us. In between that, the news of the NHS crumbling, our police and fire services being slashed to record lows and austerity levels hitting a new high. For me, the 2019 General Election was about far more than Brexit. All of these factors mattered just as much.
I spent a lot of time reading up on the Party manifestos, and listening to Politicians and “experts” sharing their opinions. Additionally, I did a lot of information searching and people profiling myself. American Politicians have consultants like David Urban to help them handle their policies and affairs. However, their British counterparts seem to be left to their own devices more often than not. This can lead to some pretty big mistakes on their parts.
My biggest political influencers from 2019
Personally, I read a lot of content which was shared by all of the main parties, including all of the manifestos. I also read a lot of fact checked information via Full Fact. This website was really informative, and helped me to work out which things were genuine, and what was fake news. It definitely helped me cross a lot of contenders off the list of my biggest political influencers.
Several journalists also held my interest and helped me to make an informed decision. Johnathan Pie was one such person. His videos never fail to make me stop and think. Owen Jones who writes for the Guardian also inspired me to keep searching for more genuine information.
My Thoughts
Personally, I did not vote for the party who won the General Election. Of course, I feel disappointed about this, and very worried about the future. That said, I believe in diplomacy and the people voted for the Conservatives. I just hope that the levels of poverty, austerity, UK Debt and NHS wait times don’t get worse as a result. Finally, if you enjoyed this post on my biggest Political influencers, why not check out more of my random ramblings here?
