#GE2015 is a Go!

And we’re off! While feels like this General Election has already been going on for months and months yesterday with the dissolution of parliament at Westminster the 2015 General Election campaign began in earnest. In Scotland the Greens were the first part out the starting blocks with their manifesto ‘An economy for the people, a society for all’ with promises on everything one would expect from the Scottish Greens.

"This is arguably the least predictable General Election in modern history"

This includes their already very public stance on a £10 per hour minimum wage, support for low-carbon energy with investment in tidal and wave energy and the disarmament of Trident. There’s also support for an EU-wide financial transactions tax and the Women 50:50 campaign as well as plans to introduce a 2% wealth tax on the wealthiest 1% and clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance. As the party’s publish their manifesto documents the SCVO policy team will be looking over them in detail, aiming to produce an accessible comparison document so you can quickly compare the main parties’ policies on issues of interest to the third sector such as welfare, devolution and human rights. We hope it’ll prove to be a useful resource although for you undecided voters out there I can’t promise it’ll make determining who to vote for any easier. Ahead of us is arguably the least predictable General Election in modern history, who will be in power come May 8^th, or 9^th or 10^th depending on how long any coalition agreement takes, is a mystery. In Scotland there’s the extra added uncertainty as to how many seats with the SNP take (I must get the office sweepstake on that started…) and what approach any new government may have to the process of devolution. However, some things are inevitable. Given the candour of the debate thus far personalities will prevail; the words ‘hard working families’ will never be far from politicians' lips; weary looking candidates will appear on your doorstep (no doubt when you’re in your pyjamas) asking for your vote and the internet will go crazy with memes created from party political posters. If it feels like it’s been a long election already just keep saying to yourself, 37 days to go, 37 days to… However, if you’re a political geek like me, who will stay up to the wee hours with David Dimbleby watching every result come in and wishing you got to play with Jeremy Vines’ BBC green screen graphics, the next few weeks are going to be fun.