Why should you register to vote?

On this page, we're going to talk about why it's so important that you register to vote, and why you need to get everyone else you know registered as well.

Never take your right to vote for granted

From the Chartists to the Suffragettes, the history of voting rights is littered with examples of people taking extremely brave actions to secure the vote.

From a group of Barons tracking down a king in a muddy marshland and forcing him to sign a piece of paper in 1215, to the eventual universal suffrage of all adults in the United Kingdom 713 years later (in 1928), we must remember that the right to vote in this country wasn't always guaranteed, and gaining it never came easy.

The 1819 Peterloo Massacre saw 17 people killed for demanding the right to vote after cavalry charged into a crowd of 60,000-80,000 protesters.

Chartism was a working class movement in Britain 1838-1857 that acted nationally, protesting and petitioning to demand voter suffrage.

The Suffragettes were a militant movement of women demanding the right to vote. They used radical action to secure this right, which led to members of the movement being imprisoned and even dying in the struggle.

Take Your Place – register to vote

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