Age: 22

Current voting intention: Akilah has been undecided since the election date was announced, but is now sure she'll vote either Labour or Lib Dem. She won't be voting Conservative.

Key election issues: student fees, and is concerned the government may raise taxes.

Trivia: Akilah is very much into her shoes, and her love of shopping is benefited by the staff discount she enjoys through working part-time in Topshop. When she's not working or studying she does volunteer work for a befriending scheme. She belongs to a juditsu club and also keeps fit by running. Though she studies psychology she doesn't attempt to analyse her fellow housemates!

Should she be trying to analyse a few party policies instead?

Has Akilah got it all wrong? Click here to send her your views

Essentially it boils down to this: If you vote then you have a right to complain about the Government of the day. If you don't vote you shouldn't moan as you haven't taken part in influencing who forms the Government. I believe that you should vote not on a national basis but vote on a local basis. My reason for this is if your area only has two possible winners then voting for another party is a waste of time. If all three major parties could win the seat then vote for your number one preference to represent you. Good luck and happy shopping.
Spencer Turnbull, Surrey

Whatever you do, please vote. It's important for a democracy that people participate or we slowly slide into totalitarianism. I'm in my 30's now and have never failed to register my vote, perhaps not always wisely but it is my right and duty, it is also your right and duty people have died for us to have that right.
David, Stockport

Read all the manifesto's (they are not very long and you can get them on the internet) make up your own mind. If you think they are still all talking rubbish, go to vote but spoil your ballot paper. It's important that we defend the rights our forefathers (and mothers) have won for us!
Nick Foster, Reading

To all the students who are not enthusiastic about voting I would say that even if you feel the political parties don't have much bearing on your own lives they will have an effect on other peoples'. If not for yourselves then, use your vote on behalf of those whom you think need it most. This government has done a lot for the poorest in the form of the minimum wage and keeping unemployment low; it has helped people into work and provided childcare so that women can go out to work; it has a commitment to end child poverty. You might not think your vote counts, but it will count for someone.
Tony Mulholland, London

Tax and tuition fees: both issues recommend you to the Conservatives. Labour have lied about taxes twice before, and virtually every independent expert agrees that taxes will go up if Labour wins this election. The Tories have allocated �4.5 billion for targeted tax cuts to help the vulnerable: they are currently looking at stamp duty for first time buyers. On tuition fees: Labour introduced them, the Conservatives will scrap them and instead provide a commercial student loan.
Rob S, Bedfordshire

Look at the wider society; decide which political party will do least damage to the social fabric.
Terry, Leeds

It's important to vote, you are bright and intelligent - if you don't vote you are leaving the result to chance. The Tories are all about intolerance and bigotry - look at their support for section 28 (anti-gay laws, now thankfully repealed except in Tory-controlled Kent) and how they want to place artificial limits on asylum (what if there was a war in Zimbabwe and the limit is used up, do we send people back to certain death?) For a tolerant and humane society, vote for anyone who stands the best chance of unseating the Tory.
Andrew Pavord, London

Living for the present is fine up to a point. That point is when you recognise that the present is what leads to your future. Would you not be better off now and for your whole future life if tuition fees were scrapped?
Roy Taylor, Par

Akilah, imagine if all we had to worry about was if our shoes went with our outfits, life would be so simple, (50 pairs! - bet you can't beat that) and us girls could just shop all day. In your career world you will see how the environment affects your clients, how politics affects their world. Make a difference on polling day - women made a difference with the suffragettes, women like you are still making a difference today. Use your vote. Good luck with your studies.
Nikki Ledingham, Sheffield

Voting is extremely important, it is your only means of having a say over the way society functions. Every penny you earn, and every moment of your time could be controlled by somebody else if you do not assert your rights. This is not something trivial, it is a right fought for and won. People died to ensure you can vote, reformers, chartists, radicals and suffragettes. Can you honestly say that nothing enacted by the Government or Parliament has affected you at all? The answer is clearly no.
Peter Marshall, Nottingham

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