The General Election, and politics in general can be confusing. Especially if you don’t know where to start, don’t really understand the gist of politics, or have really bad brain fog.

This guide has been put together to steer you through the UK General Election 2015, stopping off at: Disability Policies, General Policies and How to Vote. I hope you find it helpful over the coming week!

Disability Policies

So here’s the links to the best overviews that I’ve found:

1. Leonard Cheshire Disability: General Election 2015: what do the manifestos mean for disabled people?

• This one is probably the briefest – but that might be what you’re after!
• Includes Plaid Cymru and SNP.

2. Disability Rights UK’s Election manifestos 2015

• This is perhaps the most comprehensive, divided up by party.
• Includes things such as Human Rights not found on other lists.
• Includes Plaid Cymru and SNP.

3. Mencap’s Easy-Read Manifestos

• These are specifically created for people with learning difficulties and cover all party manifestos/policies, not just those relating to disability.
• Bigger font, simpler language and clear/related pictures.
• Includes SNP.

Some parties have even created mini-manifestos specifically relating to disability that you might like to have a look at if you’re particularly liking one or two parties:

• Labour’s A better future for disabled people
• Liberal Democrats’ Disability Manifesto
• Green’s Disability Policy

General Policies

Want to go deeper into entire manifestos and what different parties think about all sorts of things but don’t know where to start?

1. Vote Match

It shows you a statement and you say if you agree, disagree or are neutral. Then it does some magic and tells you which parties are most closely aligned with your beliefs.

2. Vote for Policies

You read different parties manifesto summaries on certain issues and then decide which you like and don’t like. It then reveals which party proposed which policies.

3. YourCandidates

This is slightly different in that it’s more concerned with your local MP candidates than what’s going on nationally. It tells you who you’ll be able to vote for as your local MP and links to their websites so you can see more about their policies in your local area.

If for any reason you’re dithering between voting Labour or Green, check out VoteSwap which gives you useful information about your constituency and how ‘marginal’ it is (or how close the final result is likely to be).

How to Vote

Okay, so now you know who you plan to vote for, you gotta vote!

(If you’re not registered to vote, you won’t be able to vote in these elections but you can spend less than 60 seconds registering for next time!)

1. Postal Vote

• If you’ve already applied for a postal vote (the deadline passed in April), you need to send it back ASAP. It’s got to get there in time to be counted. Don’t hang about. Go, go now!

2. Proxy Vote

• Proxy voting means you’ve given permission to someone you trust to vote on your behalf.
• The deadline for proxy voting has passed, but you can still apply for an emergency proxy vote on the grounds of disability right up to 5pm on polling day (Thursday). So if you’re registered to vote, but don’t think you’ll be well enough on Thursday, look into voting by proxy.

3. Go to the Polling Station

• Open 7am – 10pm.
• You do not need to take your ‘poll card’ that you received in the post. Don’t worry if you’ve lost it!
• It’s a good idea to take some ID if you worry about these sorts of things.
• Cast your vote!
• If you’re unsure at any point about something, please ask staff at the polling station.