First time voters, more popularly known as virgin voters, are a highlight of the 2015 UK elections. More than 30% of the young voters from the age group of 18-24 years who never visited a polling booth ever, will be deciding through their vote which party should come in power.
College students and fresh university graduates participated in the debate to discuss the issues that touched their daily lives as citizens.
According to the survey conducted by The Guardian newspaper in their 'Virgin voters' series, young people this time showed more enthusiasm to exercise their rights.
Many young voters vociferously opined on issues like education, housing rent, immigration and job opportunities, among others topics, in order to bring about the change they want to see in their society.
According to political observers, the new breed of voters who are making a new beginning of their life will be the main decision makers in May 2015. More than 3 million young voters are likely to participate in the polls this time and they have been politically engaged around several issues.
In countries like New Zealand and India, young voters played a vital role in changing the course of poll results. In India, during 2014 elections last year more than 150 million young voters belonging to the age group of 18-25 years emerged as game-changers.
The Youth in Britain too have acquired the vision to participate in the election in order to bring about changes in their surroundings.
The average first time voters are pro-European, socially liberal, and regard unemployment and poverty as more important issues than race relations or immigration. Social media is seen an important tool that has motivated the youth to use their voting power this time.
Labour leader Ed Miliband strategically chalked out methods to reach out to the young voters. Miliband's interview with Russell Brand and interactive sessions on social media were looked at as an important tool to woo the young into cast their votes, irrespective of party preference.
