The importance of the vote: the Chartists & Suffragettes fought for it. Register by 18th June 23.59hrs
A General Election take place on 4th July. Some have argued that it is an election as decisive as that of 1945 or February 1974. We shall see on that but it matters not if you are eligible to vote but are not registered as in that case you won’t be able to vote for anyone on 4th July
That said, and I’m far from an obsessive about Parliamentary elections of any kind, participation in democratic elections is important as a principle.
It’s important because there is a hard right populist party in the field in the shape of ReformUK (which is actually a limited company not a Party) and the Tories are not too far removed from that agenda either. Even if you just cast a vote for any of the other parties it will make a point.
It’s also important because the Chartists fought for the right to vote for men, not finally achieved until 1918, and the Suffragettes did the same for women, achieved in 1928.
In the 205th anniversary year of Peterloo it’s important to remember the sacrifices that people made to win the vote and it’s also important to remember that even today the hard right in the US is making extensive efforts to prevent working people from voting now echoed to some extent by the Tories here.
If you are not registered you can do it here:
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