The teenager versus the politicians

  • Published
Cherry Cherkas met some of her local candidates

Newsbeat introduces a 19-year-old first-time voter to the people who want to be her MP.

And she was allowed to ask anything she wanted.

We told Cherry Stewart-Czerkas she had free rein when she met the four main candidates fighting to represent her area, Bristol West.

Cherry, who is part of the BBC's Generation 2015 project, is a student and "definitely not sure who to vote for".

Getting a job after university is her biggest concern.

Bristol West has been held by the Liberal Democrats for eight years, but it's a marginal seat - meaning Labour, the Green Party or the Conservatives might be in with a chance of winning instead.

UKIP, Left Unity and Dawn Parry, an independent, are also running in Bristol West.

Cherry is nervous about her job prospects after university, and says no party has grabbed her yet.

"I'm looking for a party that can help me secure my future and help provide a stable jobs market for myself and everyone else."

Labour candidate Thangam Debbonaire met Cherry at her campaign headquarters

She explained Labour's heavy focus on training and making sure government funding filters down to support young people's needs.

"Local business need access to good sound investment, so we're not just chucking money around."

Cherry admitted she has concerns about the Labour leader:

"When I think of Ed Miliband, I think of a wet flannel. I don't see him as a strong leader."

Thangum responded: "A lot of people haven't had the chance to see him in action. When you are in opposition you aren't on as much show as when you are in power.

"One of the things that inspires me about him, he does take on vested interests like the banks."

"She was very friendly which was good," Cherry said after meeting Thangum.

"There was a little bit of waffle when she started talking about general Labour policy as she kind of got into her spiel. I'm not sure if that was just her campaigning side coming out.

"But I did learn a lot."

Read more of Labour's policies

Darren Hall from the Green Party explained to Cherry how he would like officials in Bristol to have more control over their city, instead of having to do what authorities in London say

He said he wants more support for "small businesses that enable young people to get really creative exciting jobs".

Cherry said she was worried the Greens would focus too much on making the world "cleaner and greener" instead of tackling other issues like welfare.

"It's two sides of the same coin," Darren said.

He used the example of new house he'd visited recently where a family were living after escaping domestic violence.

The house was so eco-friendly, he explained, the monthly energy bills were just £20, which leaves the family much better off.

Darren said "it's kind of a win-win."

Cherry said she discovered voting for a smaller party might have an impact locally; however it wouldn't make much of a difference nationally.

Read more of the Green's policies

The Conservative candidate Claire Hiscott pointed to her party's track record in Government

She argued the party had "been creating about a thousand jobs a day across the UK".

For Claire, better transport links are vital to attracting new business to Bristol.

"If I was your MP I'd be on every trade delegation that there is. I'll carry someone's suitcase to get on a delegation to get businesses investing in Bristol."

Cherry wondered if the Conservatives care enough about people on benefits.

"I would say sometimes we don't communicate how much we do care, but when you have a strong economy you can then invest in public services," said Claire.

Read more of the Conservative's policies

Liberal Democrat Stephen Williams claims he bagged £7m investment for Bristol while helping it get selected as European Green Capital 2015

"That's paying for a lot of projects for the city," he says.

Stephen has been the MP for Bristol West since 2005 (Labour held the seat before then) and he's been a minister in the coalition Government.

"I've worked very hard. Unemployment in Bristol West is really quite low.

"There are lots of opportunities for graduates.

"Most of my power is national. Locally an MP has 'soft power' - you bring people together," he added.

"I've been bringing employers together to try and build local businesses."

For Cherry, Stephen Williams was "the only one of the candidates that I thought 'Oh yeah, he's an MP'.

"You can tell he's spent time around Westminster."

On the topic of the Lib Dem's broken promise from 2010 about not raising tuition fees, Cherry said: "He was making sure that I understood the Liberal Democrats were in a coalition so everything that has happened wasn't just their fault."

Read more of the Liberal Democrat's policies

So what did Cherry think?

It took six hours to travel around the constituency and meet all four MPs.

"It's been a little bit of a tiring, long day but it's been interesting," Cherry said.

"Before, I imagined all the candidates to be mini versions of the party leaders.

"But they are significantly different."

Does that make things better or worse?

"Better I think. They are much more relatable.

"They were much more sincere in their care for this area and their knowledge of the area impressed me.

"I thought, 'You know what, they do know what they are talking about.'

"They do know the people here. That was refreshing.

"A lot of the time when I see these politicians in the House of Commons it feels like they don't even know the country they are representing.

"It was nice to see they do know."

So, has Cherry made up her mind which way to vote?

"Almost."

And here's the full list of candidates for Bristol West

Thangam Debbonaire - Labour

Darren Hall - Green

Claire Hiscott - Conservative

Dawn Parry - Independents for Bristol

Paul Turner - UKIP

Stewart Weston - Left Unity

Stephen Williams - Liberal Democrats

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