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If you’re a nurse—or hands-on with the daily grind of patient care—you might ask, “Why vote? Will anything actually help?” But hang on.

With pay eroded in real terms, unsafe staffing levels, and mental health under strain, your vote is one of the few tools you still hold to demand real change.

So let’s dig into what the parties are promising and what they’re actually doing. Welcome to Ballot Box Bingo: Nurses’ Edition.

What nurses care about (because that matters)

Here’s what’s topping the RCN (Royal College of Nursing) agenda and why it should matter to any nurse right now:

• Fair pay & real-terms restoration (3.6 per cent is barely scratching the surface; many voted it down as “grotesque”)

• Safe staffing and anti-corridor care—overworked staff are a patient safety issue

• Training bursaries and growth for student nurses and career progression

• Mental health resilience and burnout support

• Long-term workforce planning that stops people from quitting (quit rates are up by 43 per cent in 10 years)

• NHS funding & resistance to privatisation

Political parties: what they say v what they do

Conservatives (Opposition-ish)

What they say: “We’ll fix staffing, build hospitals, recruit 92,000 nurses, and restore morale.”

What they’ve done: Painfully little. Pay rises lag inflation; nurses reject the 3.6% rise. Strikes and corridor care remain a crisis.

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Lots of talk, few real ticks.

Labour (Current Government)

What they say: Labour promised a five-seven per cent public sector pay deal, workforce expansion, and hospital rebuilding.

What they’re doing: Real rises so far fall short of what’s needed, and reforms to address nursing shortages remain patchy amid rising quit rates.

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Promises look stronger, but outcomes still leave gaps.

Liberal Democrats

What they say: Support nurses through NHS funding and pushing for safe staffing in manifesto.

What they’ve done: Seat at the coalition table had limited influence; track record is mixed.

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Nice souncing, but their muscle is unproven.

Greens

What they say: Massive NHS investment (think £50 billion), immediate pay boosts, end privatisation.

What they’ve done: Mainly campaigning—they have never been in power.

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Heart’s in the right place; they tick all the boxes (for now).

Your Party 

What they say: Anti-austerity, pro-nationalisation, massive NHS reinvestment.

What they’re doing: Starting strong—not elected yet, but they play hard on left-wing solidarity.

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Bold ticks from a party that is still setting up.

Plaid Cymru

What they say: Standing up to keep the NHS fully funded, better pay in Wales, and safe staffing.

What they’ve done: Campaigning in devolved institutions; tangible regional policy.

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Strong tick for Welsh nurses; less visible elsewhere.

SNP

What they say: Scottish NHS remains publicly funded and politically protected.

What they’ve done: Kept tuition fees low, NHS de-prioritises privatisation—Scotland accepted an eight per cent nurse pay deal (against 3.6 per cent in England).

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Scots get good ticks, but challenges persist.

Northern Irish Parties (Sinn Féin, DUP, SDLP, Alliance, UUP)

What they say: Mixed—some push nurse support strongly, others remain vague.

What they’re doing: Health is devolved, and pay/budget moves depend on fragile assemblies—progress is patchy.

Ballot Box Bingo insight: Not UK-wide players, but still relevant where health policy is devolved.

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Ballot Box Bingo: Nurse Priorities Scorecard

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The Verdict

Nursing is under pressure—and the 3.6 per cent pay rise that nurses voted down reflects it: morale, safety, staff retention, and respect remain critical.

The Greens, Your Party, and SNP offer the most complete proposals—but Labour is in power, and promises matter too. Whoever you vote for, make it count.

This is one profession that saves us; maybe we should save it back.

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