View Full Version : General election
The election is a week away now. Who will you be voting for and why? What are the main issues that concern you?
I'm adding a poll to the thread which everyone can vote in, even if you are under the required legal age.
Here's some sites to help you decide:
http://www.whoshouldyouvotefor.com/
http://www.backingblair.co.uk - not what you think!
SoapRach
28-04-2005, 12:36
Hmm As the only one to vote so far does that mean people don't care?
I have big problems with the British 'party' system. MPs are supposed to represent their constituents, not their party!
My local MP is fantastic, a great constituency MP who had the guts to stand up and be counted when he opposed the Gulf War.
Robin Cooke resigned from government over this issue showing that he has principles and he gets my vote.
Unfortunately this also means that I end up voting for Tony Blair, a man for whom I have no respect at all....
i am a first time voter and i know for a fact i won't vote for Labour don't trust blair he is a lier he lied about things like Iraq,tuition
fees ID cards (Big Brother) Etc
and i wont vote for conservative don't trust Howard with the NHS Education and they have not changed since the last time they where in.right now LibDems have got my Vote
I have big problems with the British 'party' system. MPs are supposed to represent their constituents, not their party!
My local MP is fantastic, a great constituency MP who had the guts to stand up and be counted when he opposed the Gulf War.
Robin Cooke resigned from government over this issue showing that he has principles and he gets my vote.
Unfortunately this also means that I end up voting for Tony Blair, a man for whom I have no respect at all....
My local MP isn't fantastic - he voted for student fees, war in Iraq etc. I won't be voting Labour as Teflon Tony has said one lie too many.
I think its time we changed to proportional representation instead of our current first past the post system. I want my vote to be counted nationally, even if my chosen candidate doesn't win locally.
Quick example of PR (Proportional Representation)
Labour 30,000
Conservative 25,000
Lib Dems 15,000
According to the above, the Labour candidate has won with 30,000 votes, but the most important figure is 40,000 (the sum of conservative and lib dems) who do not agree with the choice of candidate. PR ensures that those who votes get count against also get some form of representation.
Labour and the Conservatives don't want to see it happen as the current system favours them .... and they say we live in a democracy ....
This Thurday is the crunch day - is this thread reflecting the interest people have in politics these days?
no I dont think so but some people dont like telling!
The poll is totally anonymous.
I know this is going to sound toally sad, but I've got Thursday night fully planned. I'm gonna stay up all night, grab a few curries etc, and watch the results come in. I love seeing politicians get their come-uppance. Anyone remember Portillo and Hamilton? :lol: Or should that be :moonie:?
Anyway, its well worth staying up for - its ike watching a drama, only its live!
Yea i'm going to stay up. Still not sure who i'm voting for
I have to agree with Mordor on the proportional representation, here in Scotland we have a list top up system for the Scottish Parliement. This results in a coalition government where Labour are tempered by the LibDems. A good example of the benefits is the lack of tuition fees in Scotland, and also the free care for the elderly.
Another good thing is that groups such as the Greens have representation in Parliement. No votes are wasted. Currently for the Westminster Parliement if you don't live in a marginal constituancy then your vote is wasted.
MysticKitten
01-05-2005, 22:12
Hi all im not going to get on my soap box at all and who you vote for is up to you but my hubby is a local conservative councillor and I stood locally but didnt get in (boo-hoo). My other half and I were with Michael Howard around three weeks ago and he is such a nice guy. He does tell the truth that is why he said that he would have also gone in for Saddam, he could have blagged his way out of it but he didnt. He talks sense and is not just trying to make himself a celebrity like Blair. If you dont know who to vote for this Thursday ask your self one question. When you go to the pub at night or pop up the shops in the dark nights do you feel safer now than you did 8 years ago, well I for one dont. :cheer:
If you don't vote then you have no right to complain about the government we get. Don't disenfranchise yourself. Vote for who you want to see running the country.
What I would like to know is how the Conservative think that buy cutting spending on public services is going to improve them?
I'm still in a bit of a quandry!!!
If you don't vote then you have no right to complain about the government we get. Don't disenfranchise yourself. Vote for who you want to see running the country. I totally agree with you on this ,
People are always moan about who is voted in but if you dont vote in my opinion you have no right to moan,
i also think it is especially important for woman to carry on voting after everything our grandmothers generation went to to get us that right, dont throw it away,
Im still not decided who im going to vote for all i know is that i really dont want tony blair in for another 5 years personally i think another 5 mins is to long !
Yup, I agree with Shari. I know its easy to have total apathy but the only way to make a difference is to go out and vote. Can you imagine what a difference it would make if the turnout was 90% instead of the expected paltry 56%. Just over half the population is going to vote - shameful.
i don't understand why howard and Blair are fighting over downing street when they are just as bad as the other
I can't vote.. not my country but I know is Ireland, nobody really cares.. there is a lack of voting and then they complain about who is running the country. It always ends up been the same party all the time...
We did once go 3 months with no government, everything went well.. I say we should have kept it like that... :)
I just did the poll on the website Mordor suggested, it said I should vote for the Green Party.
I think the Lib Dem's will be up on seats this time around
I can't vote.. not my country but I know is Ireland, nobody really cares.. there is a lack of voting and then they complain about who is running the country. It always ends up been the same party all the time...
We did once go 3 months with no government, everything went well.. I say we should have kept it like that... :)
What's the saying? "Anarchy rules!"
Ha ha We did have many votes in Ireland for a puppet on a children's program. His name was Dustin the Turkey.. there was a lot of spoilt vote in that year, all for him... :rotfl:
Lol - bad as that Michael Moore one where he put up a Fictus tree and it won.
i'm going to vote Libdems only party i trust
It seems the Lib dems could have a good election this year.
Lol - bad as that Michael Moore one where he put up a Fictus tree and it won.
People just don't care until the government does something they don't like and then they complain.. I would like to see someone else beside Labour or the Conseratives win but not Kilroy (who is he with)
i think Labour is going to be really weak this year because of things like Iraq ID cards Tony Blair will be lucky if he ever gets in again
Kilroy? Used to be with the UK Indepence party and now has started his own: veritas.
What amazes me the most is how alot of the so-called lefties have a right wing agenda.
vote for the most honest party - they do what they say they are going to do - not make election promises and then go back on them.
Nice though, however the most honest parties e.g. the LibDems and the Greens haven't really had a chance to go back on their promises ,yet! It is easier to be honest if you don't have to forfil your manifesto...
Thats why with PR at least you get some form of representation. The current system sucks.
That's true, but we have to work with what we've got. We won't ge PR by not voting, but a vote for the Greens or the LimDems would be a push in that direction. That said, as I mentioned earlier I am voting on local issues....
Well I can't believe I missed this thread :o
Going back to earlier points about PR. It may appear to work as a better solution but it also has many flaws. A good example is Germany after WWI where PR was the choosen method. And it was a disaster, governments constantly reforming, policy changes causing hyper inflation (well The Wall Street Crash was the majority factor but the 'messiness' of the government did not help) and eventually the German people became alienated and elected Hitler and we all know what happened there.
A more modern day example is Israel where Ariel Sharon is constantly reforming his government. Admitedly problems aren't as severe but Israel ahs a whole host of problems and this 'government forming' to me, personally, takes the emphasis out of the hard politics - a general problem with PR IMO!
As far as the general election is concerned this current election has been incredibly lacklustre. Little has happened and made me want to vote. I feel that Labour is less crdible than in 2001 (for obvious reasons), a tory party that to me, is jumping on the immigraion bandwagon to gain support and a Lib Dem party that does have some sensible polices but really has no credibility and no experience and therefore mistakes could easily be made.
On Thursday I think Labour will be re-elected but with a smaller majority and a big increase for the Lib Dems. I'm still unsure with the Tories they could gain but equally IMO they could go the other way.
Well thats my two penneth tell em please if i'm speaking rubbish!
There's several variations on the PR system that can be used to prevent continious reforms. I'd favour any system that vould ensure that no vote is wasted in a democracy.
I agree re your points about Labour. Its a bit of a catch-22 situation for the lib dems. Good policies, little credibility and thus trust.
There's several variations on the PR system that can be used to prevent continious reforms. I'd favour any system that vould ensure that no vote is wasted in a democracy.
I agree re your points about Labour. Its a bit of a catch-22 situation for the lib dems. Good policies, little credibility and thus trust.
Well as far as Lib Dems go they do have the best policies. A good example of this is a website where you vote based on policies rangeing from Transport to health crime and immigration. The shocking result was many people - Tories an labour came out on the majority supporting the Lib Dems. There runs the risk of obvious bias but it does how a clear favour towards their policies. Brits are hard to shift from their stubborn ways. Its a two party voting system. Similar to the USA. Mind you thats a country where more people can vote for the 'winner' to see the 'looser' get in on 'points'. I'm thankful we don't have that system :D
Did you see my earlier post re. the PR system in the Scottish Parliement. It uses FPtP for the majority of the seats and then 'tops up' from regional party lists. This then results in a true reflection of the voting public in parliement.
We have 3 green MSPs, plus although labour have the most seats they need the LibDems to give them a majority. We therefore have a strong coilition, with labour being tempered on the more extreme issues such as tuition fees.
di marco
03-05-2005, 20:25
jsw i agree with you about the disadvantages of the pr systems but there are also advantages and examples where it works well, like shari said in scotland, the pr system works well there and so could work similarly well here. pr gives better representation to smaller parties and although a coalition may be formed (it is very likely) it might well benefit the majority rather than create an unstable government. the fptp system may seem unfair but that does have its advantages as well
Its almost crunch time - tomorrow is D-Day. Just realised that the local polling office has been moved to one 3 - 4 miles away (next town). Can't see many people making the effort to go all that way to vote from here. Maybe its their way of forcing people to use postal voting!
can't even get funding to do another year of college cause of this rubbish Goverment i want Blair out now i wanted to be a chef well there goes my career plans thanks a lot tony blair
What about evening classes?
yea there is evening classes but not for Catering
di marco
04-05-2005, 20:15
Its almost crunch time - tomorrow is D-Day. Just realised that the local polling office has been moved to one 3 - 4 miles away (next town). Can't see many people making the effort to go all that way to vote from here. Maybe its their way of forcing people to use postal voting!
our polling station is just down the road, only about 1min walk away
mins about 3mins away!! Do some parties provide transport to polling station, they did when I lived at my mums and that was only about 10mins away
Don't forget to vote today!
Just back from voting, I was the only person at the polling place. Officals said it had been dead. And it is a lovely sunny day here - that is supposed to up the vote!
di marco
05-05-2005, 20:38
the school where my mum works was being used as a polling station so the kids werent there but the staff still had to go in and my mum said that there were quite a lot of people coming in during the day. also seen quite a few people walking down my road with their card things to go to the one just down my road and when i went to buy chips there were loads of people outside the church which is also being used as a polling station
Do you live in a marginal constituency?
di marco
05-05-2005, 20:54
not sure, i dont think so but ill check and see if my mum or dad know. but i do agree that more people prob turn out to vote in marginal constituencies as its never really certain what the outcome is going to be there
Just been to vote. Glad to say my polling station was busy :)
So I seen in another post that labour got it... mmmmm
Labour should never of got in again well we all know what Blair is going to do more war against our wishes
di marco
06-05-2005, 20:42
Do you live in a marginal constituency?
well my mum says that sometimes the winner gets a large majority here but other times they dont. obviously we cant make our minds up! our mp only won by about 200 votes yesterday so that was very close
di marco
06-05-2005, 20:44
Just been to vote. Glad to say my polling station was busy :)
yeh apparently our polling station was really busy as well. its only a really small building and my dad said that when they went to vote there was a huge queue coming out of the door!
Labour should never of got in again well we all know what Blair is going to do more war against our wishes
I know Blair was misled in the war,and I think he has learnt a hard lesson. I am not convinced that and of the other parties,would have done any differant.But people have short memoreis and are attacking on one issue,has everyone for gotten the good that has been done.
Free Tv licence for over 75's
mortgage rate conservatives 14% labour got it down to 4.5%
increased child allowance,£500 for new borns,more for unmarried mum's
winter fuel allowance over 65's up from £50 to £300. and there are many more increases that the public have forgotten.
Not everybody looked at the one issue otherwise he wouldnt have got voted back in......
WRT achievements that the Labout government has delivered over the last 8 years let's not forget:
1) Pension Credit. Poor pensioners are now better off than ever before.
2) Working person tax credit
3) Family Tax credit
4) Childcare vouchers that offer tax and NI releif on childcare costs
Although I do no personally benefit from these I am greatful to live in a country where the poorest and weakest are looked after. 500,000 children have been lifted out of poverty. Many people who wanted to work, but couldn't afford to take lower paid jobs as they would be better off on benefits, have now joined the job market gaining respect for themselves and income for their families.
Yes I agree that Tony Blair doesn't have the trust of the nation, he should go and let Gordon Brown take foreward the agenda.
thanks Shari you add a few that I forgot.and I too do not benefit from any of the allowances other than the mortgage rate.and cheaper car tax,as I have a small car .But I am lucky enough to be working and pleased to help those in Genuine need.
I completely agree with the new proposals to wean people off of incapacity benefit and get them back to work if they aren't genuinely unable to work. I know someone who claims this benefit saying he has a bad back and yet manages to go to the gym 5 times a week and cycles everywhere - nothing wrong with him apart from being work shy.
The minimum wage is something else I think Labour have been right to introduce.
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.