With just days left to go, the UK general elections of 2015 is set to be the closest one in decades. With various parties serving different populist agendas on the platter it has become very difficult to predict which party will gain a majority in the upcoming elections.
When is the election happening?
As per the tradition of the UK parliament, this year too, the general elections are set to be on Thursday of the first week of May-- 7 May, 2015.
How does the election system work?
United Kingdom has 650 constituencies, one member from each constituency is elected to represent it in the House of Commons. This election system is termed as 'First Past the Post'. The vast majority of the constituencies are in in England with 533 seats, Scotland has 59 seats, Wales 40 and Ireland 18.
What are the main issues being discussed in this election?
The country is struggling with huge financial deficit, raging debates over migration issues and the healthcare system. Administering Britain's state-run healthcare system (National Health Service), controlling immigration and boosting the economic recovery of the country are the major agendas of the main contesting parties.
What are the parties involved and who are their contesting leaders?
Conservative Party
One of the Britain's oldest and biggest parties, the Conservatives (popularly known as the Tories) won the most number of seats (306) in the 2010 election. However, in the 2010 elections, none of the parties won more than half the seats in the House of Commons resulting in a hung parliament. Therefore, the Tories had to enter in a coalition deal with the Liberal Democratic Party.
Party leader: David Cameron-- Cameron was declared the UK Prime Minister in 2010 and is the current acting PM who is again running for the fresh elections of 2015. He is aspiring to win a straight victory this time without any hassle of getting into a coalition. However, the polls predict that he will again have to enter in a coalition deal with another party. Cameron's one of the main agendas is to reduce the budget deficit.
Labour Party
The Labour Party stands at par with the Conservatives this election. The leftist Labourparty was in power from 1997 till 2010. Giving a strong competition to the Conservatives, Labours were the Opposition party after the 2010 elections, having acquired second majority with 258 seats in the parliament.
Party Leader: Ed Miliband-- Miliband, the leader of the main Opposition Party, and is strongly promoting the adequate management of UK's healt services. Conservative's Cameron and Miliband are considered the major contestants of this year's UK election.
Liberal Democratic Party
The Liberal Democrats entered a coalition with the Conservatives in the 2010-2015 Coalition Government. Popularly known as the Lib Dems, they secured 57 seats in the last election and were the party with third majority after Labours. The Lib Dems are contesting the same 631 seats as the Labour Party in the 2015's election.
Party Leader: Nick Clegg- Nick Clegg is the current Deputy Prime Minister of UK and is contesting again this year.
UK Independence Party (UKIP)
UKIP won the fourth most votes at the 2010 election, however, it failed to acquire any seats in the parliament. They have since won two seats at by-election 2014 and won the highest share of votes at the 2014 European Elections. They will be contesting 624 seats across the United Kingdom for the 2015 elections.
Party Leader: Nigel Farage-- Farage has gained popularity amongst the voters who are tired of the traditional political leaders. He has been photographed smoking a cigarette and drinking a pint of beer which suggests an anti-political message. His radical agenda is to exit the European Union and to apply strict controls on immigration.
Scottish Nationalist Party
The predictions suggest that the SNP can emerge as the third largest party after the 2015 elections overtaking the Lib Dems. The SNP can only contest seats in Scotland and will be standing in all 59 Scottish constituencies. The party acquired the second majority of votes in Scotland and won 6 seats in all in 2010. They have have received immense support since the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.
Party Leader: Nicola Sturgeon-- Sturgeon is a member of the Scottish Parliament. She is garnering huge popularity amongst the voters and could emerge as a hidden hand in case of a hung parliament which is highly likely. Her main agenda is to end economic austerty.
Why is this year's election important?
The 2015 elections is likely to decide the status of United Kingdom in the European Union. UKIP says that Britain can save almost $15 billion a year by withdrawing from the political and economic union and is banking on their agenda to remove UK from EU to garner more votes. Conservatives have also promised a referendum on Britain's European Union membership by 2017.
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