The GE2015 may well see the votes of Women and young people being crucial and maybe more so in Scotland and Wales
It may well be behind the announcement that SNP members improve gender balance of party
Yesterday they released figures showing the extent to which the extraordinary surge in party membership has contributed towards improving gender balance and the proportion of young people in the SNP.
Before the referendum around 33 per cent of SNP members were female, putting the SNP in line with the average figures for UK political parties. Since then, as membership of the party has surged to over 93,000, the proportion of SNP members who are female has also risen sharply to 44 per cent.At the same time Plaid's leader Leanne Wood was reaching out for the youth vote.
Research into the demographics of members of the three Westminster parties cited earlier this year by the House of Commons Library suggests that 39.5 percent of Tory members are female, 31 per cent of Labour members are female and 29 per cent of Lib Dem members are female.
Meanwhile younger people also now make up a far large portion of SNP members. While Under 30s made up 10 per cent of the party before the referendum, the figure now stands at 21 per cent.
She said
"This General Election will arguably be the most unpredictable for decades. Figures indicate that there is a strong possibility young people between 18 and 25 years old could determine the outcome.
"Plaid Cymru believes that young people have been forced to pay too high a price for too long under Westminster's austerity agenda.
"With 374,000 young people in Wales not in employment, education or training (NEET), urgent action must be taken before our nation becomes home to a lost generation. We know what happens when this is allowed after witnessing the deliberate de-industrialisation of many of our communities back in the 1980s. It cannot be allowed to happen again.
"As part of a wider plan to improve the Welsh economy, the Party of Wales has advocated a Youth Jobs Guarantee Fund to ensure that any young person in Wales who has been unemployed for more than four months will be offered either a job, training or an apprenticeship, as a guarantee.
"Both Labour and the Tories are promising more cuts which will saddle the next generation with a legacy of debt and deprivation. Neither party has a plan to turn around the Welsh economy or to create jobs. In the case of the Labour Welsh government, they complain about cuts to the Welsh block grant, yet have failed to deliver on fair funding and they have been lukewarm about income tax sharing powers. As a result, they just accept the cuts. This has to change.
"The under 25s potentially have substantial power in the next election, if they choose to exercise it. I want young people in Wales to back the alternative next May - to bring to an end this Tory-led government and instead to win real gains for Wales on funding and powers.
"If Wales was funded in line with Scotland, we would be able to afford to invest much more in skills including, for example, providing Higher Education to all for free, as is the case in Scotland. This is money we are owed, but Plaid Cymru is the only party putting the case for it.
"The best way to make sure that Wales and her people count after the next election is if people here are prepared to break with tradition and instead of supporting the established Westminster parties who all too often do not prioritise Wales, they back The Party of Wales. With our positive agenda to build the Welsh economy, to end austerity and to scrap Trident, there is a home for young people in Plaid Cymru."
As a Male over 60 I hope both Parties can reach out to both Women and Younger People and Both ther Haand that Rocks the cradle and those who left the cradel not to long ago change the sytem and our Nation.
"Plaid Cymru believes that young people have been forced to pay too high a price for too long under Westminster's austerity agenda.
"With 374,000 young people in Wales not in employment, education or training (NEET), urgent action must be taken before our nation becomes home to a lost generation. We know what happens when this is allowed after witnessing the deliberate de-industrialisation of many of our communities back in the 1980s. It cannot be allowed to happen again.
"As part of a wider plan to improve the Welsh economy, the Party of Wales has advocated a Youth Jobs Guarantee Fund to ensure that any young person in Wales who has been unemployed for more than four months will be offered either a job, training or an apprenticeship, as a guarantee.
"Both Labour and the Tories are promising more cuts which will saddle the next generation with a legacy of debt and deprivation. Neither party has a plan to turn around the Welsh economy or to create jobs. In the case of the Labour Welsh government, they complain about cuts to the Welsh block grant, yet have failed to deliver on fair funding and they have been lukewarm about income tax sharing powers. As a result, they just accept the cuts. This has to change.
"The under 25s potentially have substantial power in the next election, if they choose to exercise it. I want young people in Wales to back the alternative next May - to bring to an end this Tory-led government and instead to win real gains for Wales on funding and powers.
"If Wales was funded in line with Scotland, we would be able to afford to invest much more in skills including, for example, providing Higher Education to all for free, as is the case in Scotland. This is money we are owed, but Plaid Cymru is the only party putting the case for it.
"The best way to make sure that Wales and her people count after the next election is if people here are prepared to break with tradition and instead of supporting the established Westminster parties who all too often do not prioritise Wales, they back The Party of Wales. With our positive agenda to build the Welsh economy, to end austerity and to scrap Trident, there is a home for young people in Plaid Cymru."
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