Yahoo News A generation is crying out for real change as 'something doesn’t seem quite right'
Many young voters will not be able to remember anyone but the Conservatives in power.
Under the leadership of David Cameron, the party came to power as part of the coalition government with the Liberal Democrats in 2010. Mr Cameron was succeeded by four Prime Ministers - Theresa May, Boris Johnson, Liz Truss (albeit very briefly) and Rishi Sunak - in what has been a tumultuous period in power.
The party's time in office has seen years of brutal spending cuts as part of the austerity agenda, which have been deeply unpopular with the vast majority of Merseyside's voters.
READ MORE: People are running out of hope in Merseyside's 'three hour town'
However, if opinion polls are to be believed, Labour is on course to win next week's general election and bring 14 years of Conservative rule to an end. It is looking increasingly likely that Sir Keir Starmer will be the country's next Prime Minister, promising to "stoke the fire of change" and rebuild Britain.
As voting day approaches, the ECHO spoke to young people from Merseyside's Labour strongholds, some of whom will be voting in a general election for the first time, about the issues that matter to them and what they think about the prospect of a Starmer-led government.
Ansil Kharel is the owner of Momos - a Nepalese street food venue on Lime Street in Liverpool city centre. The 21-year-old from Waterloo will be voting in a general election for the first time and has not yet decided whether his vote will go to Labour or the Green Party.
As a business owner, Ansil is worried about the cost of living crisis. Increased operating costs remain a huge hurdle for the hospitality industry and he is concerned by the tax burden venues face.
Though he is happy to pay his fair share of tax, Ansil wants to see that translated into more meaningful investment in public services.
He told the ECHO: "I do enjoy paying tax, I want to help people out. But there’s barely any visual reassurance for people my age that our tax money is getting used for things that will help us or benefit us.
"The NHS is absolutely incredible, they’re so underfunded. We pay so much tax so we want it to make a difference - the NHS is still underfunded even though we’re paying so much tax."
The NHS and funding it properly came up a lot in the ECHO's conversations with young voters. Filmmaker Jack McLoughlin, 26, from Kirkby, has family who work in the health service and believes the Conservative Party has failed it.
He told the ECHO: "They (the Tories) have ground the country down. You only have to walk about and see the damping effect they have done - in the hospitals too.
"I've got family members who work in the NHS. They come home and they’re shattered. There’s not enough beds, people are lying in the hallway, lying on the floor. We saw with covid - there wasn't enough PPE."
Maisie McDonough, 25, from Aigburth, is a healthcare assistant in the health service and she has seen first hand how the service has struggled under Tory austerity.
She told the ECHO: "I started working in the NHS in October as a healthcare assistant. Straight away (I saw) it's just been understaffed. I've started off as a band two and I'm doing a lot of the roles of a band three.
"I feel like they're very stretched. I think that's one of the biggest things with healthcare assistants now. We're really skilled but we have to stay in a band two because of how stretched the NHS is to pay the wages of a higher band."
Among the 'five missions' that Labour has built its manifesto around is to 'build an NHS fit for the future'. The party has promised to cut waiting times with 40,000 more appointments every week, to recruit 8,500 additional mental health staff and to double the number of cancer scanners.
Maisie is encouraged by Labour's missions but would like to see the party be bolder. She explained: "It is easy to just come up with these five missions and say what we all want to hear.
"What they've said is great for social progression. But when I was reading, I thought 'are they going to state how they’re going to do this?'.
"They probably wouldn't want to get into taxes because it would put a lot of people off who are quite happy being the richest they can be, and they'd feel a bit threatened by that."
Labour has promised not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT in order to fund its manifesto pledges, which have been accused of being cautious, as the party stands to inherit a weak economy. Jack, who is a big fan of Jeremy Corbyn, would also like to see a bolder approach from Sir Keir.
He said: "I'm working class and we've voted Labour all our lives. Starmer feels like another Tony Blair in a way.
"Regardless of what you thought of Jeremy Corbyn, I felt like he was more for the people. People called him a Marxist and all sorts. But I think he was a true socialist at heart.
"I probably will vote Labour. There’s something that doesn’t seem quite right."
Jack added: "Labour is a socialist party originally. He (Sir Keir) hasn't got that, whereas Corbyn did.
The Green Party was cited as an alternative to Labour by those who spoke to the ECHO. Musician Harry McKenny, 21, from Huyton, is less than enamoured with Labour's offering and would consider voting Green instead.
He told the ECHO he was not relishing going to the polling station next week, saying: "I'm sick of it all to be honest. I think a lot of people our age are in the same boat. I don't have much opinion on any of them. Ever since I can remember them, I’ve not been able to relate to any of them.
"I'm very stuck. I want to vote, because I want them to vote. If I was to vote for anyone, it would be for the Green Party. But unfortunately it's a bit of an empty vote. It'll get to the day and I probably vote Labour. But it's not exciting."
Maisie also said she could be tempted by a vote for the Greens, while Ansil said that environmental issues are very important to him and that could lead him to vote for them. However, he thinks ensuring that people have enough money in their pockets and the country has a strong economy so it can invest in public services is key.
Ansil said: "I am Nepalese and the community is very family oriented, we like to take care of each other. Salaries now mean people barely have any money to live.
"The Asian community like to send money home. How are you meant to support your family when people are struggling to support themselves?
"Inflation has gone so high, tax has gone high. It needs to balance out. We’ve been open for two years and the bills have gone up quite a bit, it makes it so difficult for small businesses.
"Small businesses are what helps the economy grow in this country, but the government doesn’t seem to care."
Though there was a feeling of apathy about Labour's offering among those we spoke to, an alternative to the Conservatives would be welcomed greatly on Merseyside. That said, Sir Keir has stressed that Labour will need time to fix the number of problems facing the nation.
Maisie would be pleased if Labour forms a government on July 5, despite her hesitations with the party.
She said: "I’d be really happy if Labour win, because it's been 14 years with the Conservatives. But I’d also be sceptical - I’d want to see if it all plays out like they say it would.
"The NHS would greatly improve and I’d like to see how that all plays out. I think I did read that they want to tax private schools and lessen the need for private education - I think one of the missions is to widen barriers of opportunity. I’d like that and I'm excited about those policies."
For Ansil, it's a case of ensuring there is meaningful change which means Britain works in the interest of younger people and cities about Liverpool.
He said: "Things have to change. If not, my generation will be so disappointed - as will the generation after me. I also think that if you want to improve the government and the country, I’d like to see more young people in politics, people who care about the future."
He added: "Liverpool is so big, it should have a lot of money to spend. The city should have so much funding, we’re a tourist destination, it’s so necessary as a city but the government doesn’t care because we’re a working class city.
"We’re one of the major cities in England and we don’t have the things that other cities get. I want to see more development in the city and more investment."
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