Am I the most important voter in the country?

 Am I, Caitlin Doherty, first time voter, reader, cake eater, student of stupidity and English Literature on the side, the most important voter in the whole of Great Britain? 

Some of those terms just don't seem to fit together do they?
Student. Voter. Important.
They're just not a combination of letters that you regularly see splashed across your newspapers.
However, this is a genuine query. Am I the most important voter in the country?

It's now less than two months until a General Election. Possibly the most important General Election of some time.

A post coalition election. An election in the time of Twitter. The first election in the time of five parties. An election in possibly the time of greatest 

If you can name, in one go, all of the people taking part in the television debates then I applaud you. 

Being a student I am registered to vote in two constituencies. Warwickshire North, my home constituency, and Norwich South, my university constituency.
I didn't know that this was allowed until I got a very scary letter through my university post box telling me to register to vote in my university city within the next 48 hours or receive a fine of £80 and lose my left leg.
I didn't want to do that. I wanted to vote at home.
Two panicked phone calls later, one to my mum and then one to Norwich City Council, I found out that I don't actually have to vote in Norwich, I can register there and then vote wherever I please. I don't have to pay £80 and I still get to keep my left leg.

Scare tactics. Nice move there Home Office. Lovely.

Why does that make me so important if all students can do that?

My two registered addresses are both fairly important areas: 

Norwich South: Norwich South has never been a safe seat, it has sung fro the Conservatives to Labour and then back again before the Liberal Democrats won with the student vote in 2010. 
My ever mounting university debt bill tells me the Liberal Democrats and Mr Clegg won't be winning it anymore. 
Statistics seem to suggest that in May Norwich South will either go back to being held by Labour, or it will become the second (maybe even third or fourth) Green Party constituency in Great Britain. 
This doesn't mean that the Conservatives or Liberal Democrats have lost interest; having been a Tory seat pre 2010 there is a realistic chance of a win for the party once again, and the Liberal Democrats are desperate to avoid embarrassment; not only was Norwich South one of their greatest wins in 2010, with Nick Clegg sat on the UEA Board of Directors, losing catastrophically in Norfolk would be a PR disaster for Mr Deputy. 
Unsurprisingly, since Christmas there have been representatives of all five of the major English parties on campus. 
Leaflets. Leaflets everywhere. I feel ever so popular.


Warwickshire North: In 2010 Warwickshire North was the most closely fought constituency in the country, won by the Conservative candidate, after two recounts, by only fifty four votes. Fifty four votes in a community of more than seventy thousand people. 
The turnout at home in 2010 was 67%, higher than the national average of 65%, but still not phenomenally high. 
The drive in Warwickshire is quite simply the drive for bums out of seats and into the polling booth; a minuscule number of voted really could make all of the difference. 
During my politics A Level , I signed myself onto the mailing lists of the three major parties' constituency offices meaning that my hotmail inbox is being constantly inundated with emails talking about wind farms, Nigel Farage,  the M42 and HS2; personally I just think they should combine all of these conversation pieces together. A policy promising to have Nigel Farage on top of a wind turbine as a commuter landmark along the HS2 line would win my vote any day of the week  . 
All riveting stuff, but I have to admit, there's very little to tell any of these parties apart. People pleasing is quite obviously the main aim of the day. 

Separately from my geographical circumstances, but perhaps equally as importantly, I make up part of the demographic that politicians seemingly want to impress, I wear a sticker reading 'student'. 
It seems that, miraculously, politics have recently realised that students are actually people. Not only people but adults. 
Adults who can vote. Adults with money. Adults who Tweet. Adults who aren't happy with what's been going on in government recently.
Suddenly we're worthy of impressing. 


Given the unpredictability of what the government will look like come May 6th, this is a very strange position to be in. 
In an election where no one party is certain to make the necessary majority, I could vote in two constituencies where one vote could quite literally decide the winner. 
In the time of more than 80% of British constituencies being safe seats, I do feel a strange sort of pressure. Wherever I make it, my vote will count. I need to make sure I make the right one. 
Being a 'Virgin Voter' this is a very difficult decision to make:

There are so many pieces of paper to read. 

What if I make the wrong decision? 

How long do I have left to choose my place? 

If I'm so unsure, should I vote at all? 

Is there any point in voting? Do manifestos really mean anything? 

By the time the next Parliament ends I will be out of education and in my mid-twenties; should I make a decision based on student Caitlin, or working Caitlin? 



So many questions, so little time left, so...
Come on then politicians. I want impressing. Where's my free cake and guaranteed job security?