Chuka joins forces with Stephen Fry to promote Votematch
Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, this week joined forces with Stephen Fry to promote Votematch, a new application which aims to boost turnout at the upcoming European elections.
The event, held at Apple’s flagship Central London store in Regent St on 11 May 2008, organised by the pressure group UnlockDemocracy, showcased the Votematch application which allows users to see how closely aligned their own views are with parties standing in the European elections.
After answering a series of policy-based questions and deciding which issues matter most to them, users can see how their responses compare with party positions on each issue, and how closely each party’s manifesto as a whole matches their own views, with the aim of encouraging them to vote in the European elections.
The application, which is accessible both online and via handheld devices such as the iPhone, has been successful in boosting voter turnout elsewhere in Europe. UnlockDemocracy hopes that the same will be true here, as the turnout for the last European elections in 2004 was a paltry 37.6% in the UK.
At the launch of the online tool, which helps citizens orientate themselves and become better informed about the political choices they make, the actor and comedian, Stephen Fry, described the online tool as being “like a dating site for voters”.
Alongside host Fry, the launch event was supported by Chuka Umunna, Parliamentary Candidate for Streatham, Jennette Arnold AM, Deputy Chair of the London Assembly, and Mary Honeyball MEP (who is standing for re-election for the London European constituency next month) for Labour. For the Conservatives, David Davis MP attended, whilst the Liberal Democrats were represented by Chris Huhne MP and the Greens by Jean Lambert AM.
Commenting on the launch and his support of Votematch, Chuka Umunna said:
“Anything that can help boost voter turnout is a good idea, and combining democracy and new technology will help engage people who might not have voted otherwise, especially young people.
“For the European elections, it is imperative that all mainstream parties
encourage people to get out and vote, not least so that we can prevent the BNP from gaining representation.
“These elections offer the BNP the chance to gain an MEP in London. There is a real danger that the BNP could grab enough votes to do so, giving them as much as £250K a year of public money in the form of salaries, resources and office costs.”
