What Is There To Vote For?

An account of being a young voter just days before the General Election.

I am sitting on a bus, my usual morning commute. My iPhone is fixed to my hand as always, my thumb in a permanent scrolling loop.

I am sorting through my emails. There are over two thousand unread, a bad habit of mine. Twenty of those are new. And five of those emails are from the labour party.

'Ruby', they exclaim. 'What a week!'

Curiously I click on Iain McNicol's email; how else would I get my usual dose of intensely biased political news?

'We owe you a *huge* thank you' Iain gushes, failing to understand how the bold tool works to create emphasis.

'I should think so,' I mumble, although I'm not really sure why I've received this particular email considering I have donated no money to labour and prefer the Green party's policies. I scroll halfway through the message, rapidly glazing over as they begin asking me for money. I click back to my inbox. Another header catches my eye; 'S*U*N*S*H*I*N*E' it proclaims proudly. I open it, assuming it's a hilarious spam email telling me I've inherited a large sum of money and to provide my bank details within twelve hours. It is not.

'We're sorry you're stuck looking at a screen on this beautiful sunny day', another labour MP tells me. I nod wearily; it always seems to be sunny on the days when I'm stuck at work. 'Thank you in advance for being the 19,777th Labour supporter to donate' Jon Ashworth tells me.

Wait, what? I miss the phrase 'in advance' and frantically think back to a time when I may have accidentally donated money to the Labour party. I reread the email and relax. Back to my inbox.

As I scroll further, I see emails from Harriet Harman, Patrick Henegan; even Justine Milliband. Ed himself has taken the time to send me an email informing me of his readiness to crush the Tory government. Every possible angle of attack is explored, but each message leads to the same question; will I donate to the cause?

For me this round the clock bombardment of emails is hilarious. I enjoy analysing Ed on TV, seeing how he reacts to the other party leaders as if he doesn't rub shoulders with them behind closed doors. It's almost as funny as Nick Clegg's attempts to play a victim of the big bad bully David Cameron, who clearly twisted his arm with the whole university fees issue.

But it makes me wonder. If I were to sign up to emails from all the major English parties; Conservative, Liberal Democrats, and (god forbid) UKIP alike, would there be much difference in their propaganda? The policies change, but the desperation to win over young floating voters with their constant barrage of communication is a tactic I'm sure all the parties employ. It reminds me of how little choice there truly is. For voters such as me, who disagree with UKIPs thinly veiled racist agenda, are thoroughly sick of David Cameron's attempt to sell poverty inducing austerity as a form of leadership, and cannot trust Nick Clegg after all the broken promises, Labour seems like the only option. The Green Party are making a definite impression as the most left wing of all the parties, but every time I bring this up I am told that it would be 'a waste of a vote' to support them in the election.

One thing I am clear about is that I'd give serious thought to any party that promised to stop the march of the political spambots.