In the run up to the general election in May, the CARAS coffee morning team ran a voting workshop for beneficiaries.
Although the lives of these women and their families will be hugely affected by the outcome of the coming election, most of them will not be able to vote on May 7th, despite being permanent residents. The event encouraged the women who attended to talk about which policies they would vote for and to discuss the importance of women’s suffrage.
After a discussion of key policies, everyone took part in a mock election to allow the women a chance to vote for the party which they felt would best address their concerns.
The Results
As the results came in, we discovered that nobody had voted for the Liberal Democrats or UKIP, while the Conservatives only secured 10% of the vote. The Labour Party came in second, winning 35% of votes, and the Green Party won a majority in our coffee morning election with 55% of the vote!
Current voting laws disenfranchise large numbers of UK residents who are foreign nationals.
Nevertheless the session aimed to strengthen political engagement and increase awareness of the ideological differences between the major parties amongst women who are excluded from the political process.