European Election Issues Poll

Next week will be our chance to have a say in who represents us in Europe, as we vote in the EU elections. No matter what you think about Europe, we’ve got a huge opportunity to get people thinking about how they use their vote.

Compared with other elections, the parties standing candidates to be our MEPs don’t get many questions about what their plans are once they’re elected. We’ve got a week to change that. Together, we can find out their positions on our most important issues and use that to help us – and our friends and families – decide how to vote.

Yesterday a random sample of 150, 000 38 Degrees members voted on a list of issues to decide what parties should be quizzed about. The issues were chosen from campaigns that we’ve all worked on together or previously suggested, and are all issues that are affected by the EU.

The results are in! Here’s how 38 Degrees members voted.

You can also view a bigger version of the results here.

The top five issues were made into questions to be sent round to parties. A 6th question around tax dodging was also added, as a lot of 38 Degrees members mentioned it in the comment box on the page, and it frequently comes high in the weekly member poll.

Yesterday the following questions were sent round to political parties standing in next weeks elections:

1) How will MEPs from your party go about stopping the NHS, our welfare and the environment from being threatened by global trade agreements like the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)?

2) What will MEPs from your party do to secure tougher regulations protecting bees from harmful pesticides?

3) Will MEPs from your party work to secure tougher EU targets on CO2 reductions to help tackle climate change?

4) What will MEPs from your party do to strengthen employment rights protecting workers across the EU?

5) How will MEPs from your party protect constituents’ privacy by ensuring tougher laws on data protection across the EU?

6) What will MEPs from your party do to crack down on tax dodgers, ensuring everyone pays their fair share of tax?

Some parties have already sent their responses in! Next week 38 Degrees members will get to rate where each party stands on scorecards. We can use these to inform how we vote at the polls next week, and can share the results out with our friends and family!

In the meantime 38 Degrees members who are planning on voting next week can check out Vote Match, a site that matches views to party positions.