THE student vote is still up for grabs, as a national survey reveals that over 80 per cent of students have not yet decided who they are going to vote for at the Scottish Parliament elections in May.
Scotcampus, Scotland’s only national student newspaper, is publishing the
results of its political survey this week revealing some surprising figures.
The survey asked students a range of questions on their political priorities
and intentions. What came back was that the vast majority use their vote but
also that an equal number had yet to decide on who to vote for.
On priorities, health and hospital closures came out as the most important
issue for the election, closely followed by education and the Iraq war. Bad
news for the SNP was that Independence was way down the table with only 5.9%
of respondents believing it as an important issue.
On a more dispiriting note, all of the political parties need to up their
game when it comes to recognition as over three-quarters of respondents
didn’t know who their MSP was.
Commenting on the findings Scotcampus publisher, Graeme Barratt said: “These
figures show that students are interested in the political process and want
to be engaged in this May’s election but are being let down by political
parties who are failing to get their message across.
“It’s also a vindication of my decision to introduce a political section to
the paper. Far from being turned off from politics our readers have provided
us with some of our biggest feedback from our political pages. I just hope
the politicians take heed of the figures and start to get in touch with
Scotland’s next generation.”
ENDS
Contact: Graeme Barratt, publisher 07723 059 878 graeme@scotcampus.com
or
Kris Murray Browne, political editor 07711 271 760, kris@scotcampus.com
Editor’s Note
The results are published in the February issue of Scotcampus, which is
released across Scotland on Feb 1st.
Scotcampus was founded in 2001 and is distributed in 40 university and
college campuses as well as being available in retail outlets such as
Borders, Beanscene and HMV.
Survey Results (based on 500 student questionnaires).
Male – 53.2 per cent
Female – 46.8 per cent
Occupation?
Student University – 53.2 per cent
Student College – 45.2 per cent
Other – 1.6 per cent
Are you a first time voter?
First Time Voter – 35.5 per cent
Non – first time voter – 64.5 per cent
For those who are not first timers:
Those who use their vote – 85.4 per cent
Those who don’t use their vote – 14.6 per cent
How many know their local MSP?
Do know – 24.2 per cent
Don’t know – 75.8 per cent
Do they consider themselves party affiliated or floating voter?
Affiliated – 16.1 per cent
Floating – 83.9 per cent
Top five most-mentioned MSP:
Tommy Sheridan
Jack McConnell
George Galloway
Cathy Jamieson
Andy Kerr
Biggest priorities in up and coming election:
General Health / Improving the NHS/Hospital Closure – 24.7 per cent
Improving Education / Fees – 20 per cent
War / Stopping of (Iraq/Afghanistan) Wars / Bringing Troops Home – 16.5 per cent
Environment – 9.4 per cent
Community Issues – 9.4 per cent
Independence – 5.9 per cent
Immigration – 4.7 per cent
Poverty (Domestic and Global) – 3.5 per cent
Other – 5.9 per cent
Has the Scot Parliament has a positive or negative effect?
Positive – 56.5 per cent
Negative – 41.9 per cent
Don’t Care – 1.6 per cent
ENDS
YOU too can post a media release on allmediascotland.com. For more information, email here.
Contact: Graeme Barratt
Phone: 07723 059 878
Email: graeme@scotcampus.com
