Hello. In this post I'm going to put my opinion and situation to the readers of this subreddit. I do so in an attempt to get an opinion from you in how I should act in regards to the election today and to give you the viewpoint of a first time voter in the United Kingdom.

Background and context: I am 18 years old and I live in a safe Labour seat. Without going into too much detail, I believe the seat is guaranteed for Labour today as the history of the voting in my constituency shows a 20+ year span of them being voted into power.

Here is where I am at in terms of my opinion of the voting system: I don't feel like voting for anybody in the upcoming election in particular, however, I am leaning towards voting for the Conservatives because I have taken 6 opinion polls and watched a great video explaining all the party manifestos and that seems to be the least worst option I can vote for with Labour trailing an extremely close second. The trouble is, I don't like the idea of being naive and being asked who I voted for and people thinking I am an idiot for doing so. Do I have to tell people who I voted for? I am a bit worried about my family asking who I voted for because I know for a fact who one of my parents are voting for and I don't know how they will react to voting. I feel the current government system needs a reform and a shake up but of course I am not in the position (at this moment in time) to change anything. I could get active in the political scene but i am worried that I wouldn't have the "whip" and would be outcast for my views.

I'm just really on the fence about it all and feel pressured into voting in a system I don't support. However, I take responsibility for not doing enough research into the election to be able to cast a vote. Does anybody else feel this way? What did you decide to do?

I have considered simply spoiling the paper and simply waiting until the next general election but that is five years away and by that time (if I stay in the UK) I might think "I should have voted for n party".