Virgin voters: who has the X factor?

With the country already in pre-election fever, Sunil Peck talks to eight disabled first-time voters to find out what issues will influence their choice at the ballot and which party ticks their boxes

Alex Giles

Alex, from Stourbridge, is 19 and studying for a BTEC in sport and recreation at the National Star College in Cheltenham.

“I don’t think the Lib Dems or any of the smaller parties like the Greens or UKIP will pose much of a threat to the Conservatives or Labour, so it’s between those two really. But I think all the parties could talk to young disabled people more.

“I’m not sure if Gordon Brown being disabled will influence my vote. The one thing that I would say to politicians is make the job market a level playing field by promoting the benefits of employing disabled people. If employers took on more disabled people it would be a massive plus point for them too because they could say ‘look what we’re doing to combat the problem of unemployment among disabled people’.

“I’m hoping to go to university this year so it’ll probably be five years before I’m looking for a job.

“I’d also like to see taxis that can fit more than one wheelchair in. It’s a problem if you go out and you want to get a taxi back you have to travel in separate taxis. If parties put that in their manifestos it would encourage a lot of students to vote for them.”

Zoë Hallam

Zoë is 19 and from Walsall. She campaigns with the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Trailblazers and she is in the second year of a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford.

“I’m leaning towards the Liberal Democrats at the moment. That’s partly because they have done a lot of events where I’m studying. I’ve been to see Nick Clegg talk and I’ve met my local MP who’s a Liberal Democrat so I’ve had a lot more personal contact with them.

“I find that most parties have little to say on disability issues generally so if any of them do say something to do with disability during their campaigns, that’s going to attract my attention. But one issue that affects me at the moment is plans for higher education.

“I’d like to see what the Lib Dems and Conservatives say about places because I think the Government’s targets are too high.

“I’ll be learning to drive soon so I’m also interested in petrol tax and how the associated costs of driving might be affected.

“I would like to see a pledge to introduce one department for disability provision because a lot of the problems I have are with bureaucracy. The provision that I get is split over so many departments and nobody communicates with each other. So I’ve got five different case files open in five different parts of my local authority. It needs to be streamlined and made more user-friendly because I think a lot of disabled people can’t get what they want because they don’t know where to go or who to talk to. It’s ridiculous that I have to talk to people in health, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and hospitals to get what I need to be as independent as possible. It’s a big issue but no party seems to be thinking about that.”

Lavinia Scott

Lavinia is 17 and a college student from East London. She attended the Labour and Lib Dem 2009 conferences and was involved in drawing up a manifesto for the group Every Disabled Child Matters on how politicians can promote greater equality for disabled young people.

“I don’t like Labour, I’m not much of a fan of the Conservatives but I can relate to the Liberal Democrats. I didn’t understand half the things that ministers said at the Labour conference but they were more engaging at the Lib Dem conference and complimented us on the work we had done on the manifesto.

“Leisure is an important issue for me because there aren’t enough youth clubs and the ones I know don’t feel disabled friendly. The Indigo Project for disabled young people where I live, has a long waiting list, some people I know have been on it for years.

“I think the parties should have ministers for disability issues who are disabled. The Labour minister looks really chuffed with himself but he shouldn’t be because he hasn’t done enough for disabled young people.”

Mike Jones

Mike is 19 and from Coventry and is doing A-levels at New College in Worcester.

“I am excited that I can put my views across and have a say in the political process, even if what I would like doesn’t happen.

“I have no affiliation to any party because really they’re all as bad as each other. But I’ll look at all the manifestos.

“Education is important to me. The Government has been saying that they prefer to put visually impaired students into mainstream schools, which isn’t always the best thing for them.

“The health system is also important to me because I’ve had various operations because of my visual impairment. But the system needs speeding up because it can take weeks to be seen after being referred to specialists.

“I respect Gordon Brown for the fact that he’s visually impaired and he’s done an awful lot for the country. But I don’t think he’s got the charisma to run the country in the current climate. But David Cameron doesn’t seem like a good alternative. Nick Clegg, there’s substance there, but no charisma.”

Victoria Millett

Victoria is 18 and from Bournemouth. She is a student at Treloar College in Hampshire.

“I hope to be here for three years so it’s a bit too early for me to be thinking about getting a job.

“I don’t always think the Government does enough to help us. The equipment we need costs so much money that a lot of us can’t get it. I was looking into having a spa bath in my home because I’ve got bad circulation in my legs and they are ice-cold for the whole year. But because of how much it was, no charity had the money to get it. It’s not just me, there are a lot of people who need help.

“I would also like to see politicians pledging to stamp out the abuse of Blue Badge parking bays.

“Buses and trains should be more accessible too. I know there are ramps, but there are some train stations I can’t get into.

“I’m writing a letter to Gordon Brown to see whether I can go to Downing Street and speak to him. I wrote to him at my last school but I didn’t get a reply. We should be able to speak to people like him, and they should talk to people like us to ask us about how we feel about our lives, because a lot of people don’t understand. I want to bring to his attention that disabled people need to have more rights.”

Josh Muggleton

Josh from Surrey is 20 and is a second year psychology student at St Andrews University.

“I’m definitely going to vote. One of the things I’m going to be looking at is policies to do with the NHS. According to the National Autistic Society, 40 per cent of children are waiting more than three years for a diagnosis. That is an incredibly long time so I’ll be looking for more funding to go towards the NHS to help. But support services in general are important; when I was doing my A-levels I had to move to Somerset from Surrey to get the right support.

“The economy is a big issue for me. I am racking up a student debt and it’s going to be hard even to find a summer job because the economy is in a downward spiral.

“I haven’t decided which party I’m going to vote for yet, I’m quite keen to see how the debates are going to develop, particularly whether autism or disability in general becomes a key issue.

“I’d like to see politicians recognise that autism is a very important topic for a large percentage of the population. I’ll be waiting till the last minute before I make up my mind. But I think that my vote will go to one of the big three parties because they are the ones that are going to have the most influence.”

Leanna Davies

Leanna is 19 and a first year student at Beaumont College in Lancaster.

“If I’m at home I’ll ask someone to take me to vote but if no one wants to then I won’t be able to. But I’d like to vote. I don’t know who I’d vote for yet. Access is the thing that does my head in, it does for most of us at Beaumont. I can’t get into shops with my wheelchair, and I went to vote in a local election but I couldn’t get into the booth. I was able to vote but I couldn’t go inside to do it.

“I’m worried by the economy because of the banking crisis because food and things you need could cost a lot more, things like my wheelchair which my family pays for.

“I didn’t know that Gordon Brown had a disability, but knowing that makes me think about him differently, he might have some idea about what it’s like to have a disability.

“I’m also interested in whatever party talks about how important it is to be green because I try to recycle stuff like paper and wine bottles!”

Laura Merry

Laura is 21 and from Buckinghamshire. She is taking a break from university because of her condition and is one of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign’s Trailblazers.

“Health is an important issue to me, physiotherapy is very important for my condition and keeping me mobile. On the NHS you can only have it for six weeks and then there’s a break for six weeks, so I’ve ended up having to pay privately for hydrotherapy and I don’t think I should have to.

“I would also like to see politicians committing to make transport more accessible. I live in a village and I rely on my parents to take me around.

“Gordon Brown’s disability wouldn’t sway me in terms of voting because it’s about what policies his party offer rather than the individual.”