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- author, Shelley Phelps
- role, BBC Wales News, Westminster Correspondent
-
Among the crowd of people chatting as they waited for breakfast to be distributed at Tonyrefail Community Centre in Rhondda Canon Taf was Lewis Watt, a 32-year-old plasterer.
In a speech just days before the July 4th general election, Lewis said he has never voted before and does not plan to vote this Thursday.
“I have too much going on in my life to listen to what’s going on at the Capitol,” said Lewis, whose partner is pregnant with their third child.
“People are strapped for money right now, so it’s pretty tough trying to find work and clients and bring home a paycheck,” Lewis said.
“So I spend my time looking for a job and spending time with my family. I spend a lot of my time on that, so I’m not really interested in politics.”
The BBC visited Rhondda and Ogmore to understand how engaged voters are in this election – and why people might not be.
At Scoops and Smiles, an ice cream shop in Ferndale, some people feel like there’s nothing on the political menu that suits their tastes.
Mark Burns, who recently moved to the area after a period of homelessness, said he won’t vote because he couldn’t find a party that shared his views and concerns.
“There’s nothing in their manifesto that’s aimed at people like me,” he said.
“I’m especially worried about my grandchildren’s future and what they’ll be doing in 20 to 30 years,” he added.
So what will get people to vote for him?
“It needs to be someone with a track record of doing what he says he will do and at the moment there is no such person in Westminster,” he said.
His daughter, Tracy, has voted in the past but is unlikely to vote this time either.
“I think they’re worried that they’re going to disappoint people and not provide what they said they were going to provide,” she said.
“If in the future a political party comes along and says we’re going to change this and we’re going to make this better for our children’s future … and then it actually starts to happen, then I’ll definitely vote for them.”
Back at the Tonrefail community centre, Jane Ann Williams, 80, and her daughter Debbie Bowen, 62, said they both intended to vote, despite their years of experience in politics.
“You can’t criticize if you don’t vote,” Jane Ann said.
While a candidate who recently visited the center won her support, she feels that politicians generally don’t follow through on the promises they make during elections.
“They come in and don’t keep their promises. They’re completely different people,” she said.
Debbie said she didn’t think politicians really understood “what people at the bottom go through” and was unimpressed by what she saw of Westminster on TV.
“It looks like a big bingo game because everyone is talking to each other.”
Gideon Skinner, head of political research at polling firm Ipsos, said while distrust and lack of engagement in politics was not new, there were signs that trust in politics was particularly low going into this election.
“Trust in politicians has fallen to an all-time low of 9 percent,” he said.
Skinner said trust in politicians was at an all-time low, with almost half of people surveyed last year saying they had “very little” confidence that governments of any party would put the needs of their people first.
He said it was important for politicians to overcome barriers such as “apathy and disillusionment with the political system” and show that “political engagement can bring about change and that governments and politicians are truly listening to the voice of the people.”
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