Areeb Ullah, 23
A student at King’s College London where he is vice-president of education at the students’ union.
“London is currently going through a housing crisis and the cost of living is so expensive. Yet none of the parties are giving a solid basis on how they will tackle the issue
“I didn’t expect Trident to come on the agenda. It’s historically been a very fringe debate. The fact that all the parties are coming out either reiterating their support for Trident or completely abandoning the notion of it, to me is quite exciting.
“I think it should be scrapped. I only view it as a status symbol for our country, nothing more or nothing less. It makes no sense to have Trident. If you abolish Trident you’ll be able to afford 4 million students’ tuition fees.
Vanessa Cutter, 33
A mother of three who lives in Newcastle Upon Tyne. She also works part-time as an associate lecturer in psychology at Northumbria University.
“I think Labour are just the Tories under a different branch. There’s nothing that Labour has done this week that would make them appeal to me anymore. I’ve lost hope in them being a leftwing, socialist option.
“In the past I haven’t voted out of principle because there hasn’t been anyone that I could vote for. But I realise by not voting, you’re not necessarily making much of a statement, you’re perhaps being apathetic.”
James Morby, 23
A PhD candidate at the University of Sheffield who lives in Nick Clegg’s constituency, Sheffield Hallam.
“I’m stuck between the Lib Dems and Labour. I voted for the Lib Dems in 2010 and the whole tuition fee situation put me off.
“I’d like it to become more proportional: it’s crazy that you can have a system where a Labour vote is worth between five and 10 times more than a vote for a small party. Arguments for first past the post aren’t enough to offset the massive disproportionality we have.”
“On non-doms I think the current system is fine, or at least to my understanding it’s fine that they pay UK tax on their UK earnings and anything they bring in, and also a charge. That seems fair. It’s not an issue for me. If they said they [Labour] want to change it then it’s not going to sway my vote either way.
Helen Belcher, 51
Married with two teenage children. She runs a software business in Berkshire.
“I’ve ended up voting Lib Dem every time since 1983, but their broken pledges have now tarnished them just like the parties they hoped to supplant
“I know who I’m not voting for but I haven’t decided whether it’s even worth voting for anyone else. I lost trust in the Lib Dems, I’m not convinced by Labour, and the Greens seem too naive.
“The non-dom announcement by Labour made me feel a little bit more comfortable with them. I thought that, irrespective of whether it generates more or less money, the principle is important. And that’s what Ed Miliband is beginning to show: where his principles lie
“But I still don’t like the populism of Labour, saying things like: ‘oh we’ll not allow immigrants to claim benefits until x years have passed’.”
Alice Wroe, 24
A graduate who recently started a project called Herstory which uses feminist art to engage young people with women’s history.
“I’m undecided because I don’t want to vote the way I always have without thinking through my options. I feel unhappy with the last five years and want to genuinely be open to vote in a way that will benefit me and my community.
“Personally I find Trident a difficult subject ... for the first time in the whole election campaign I found myself agreeing with Nick Clegg and gravitating towards the Liberal Democrats because having three instead of four submarines is a kind of symbol to the world that this isn’t who we want to be as a country.
“For the first time in the whole thing, Nick Clegg said the right thing for me.”
Christopher Donnan, 22
Originally from Wirral, he now works at a bank in London’s financial district.
“This general election will be the first I’m old enough to vote in, having been slightly too young to do so in 2010. I’m certain that I’ll be voting – I take this right very seriously – but I’m currently not 100% decided on where to put my cross on the ballot paper.
“I think this week has been a good week for Ed Miliband. On the whole the Tories have had far too negative a campaign this week and it has really shot them in the foot. If they actually just campaigned on what they’re good at – running the country – they might win more votes. If they keep slandering Miliband then they’re really going to put people off. They’ve certainly put me off this week.”
Justina K Ogunseitan, 22
First-time voter and student at Cambridge University. She is also an award-winning poet.
“I don’t feel like politicians have ever particularly spoken to me. When I watch politicians speak on television it looks like a class of schoolchildren that have forgotten to put their hand up when they want to ask a question. And it’s just quite embarrassing. It’s just a lot of poking fun at one other and putting each other down.
“[On Trident] We’re not going to shut down the arms trade. It’s annoying; ideally you want to be in a situation where you don’t need to have nuclear weapons. But it seems to me that we are in a world right now where the reality of war is there. If tomorrow we lost our nuclear weapons we would feel naked and vulnerable.”
