General Elections

[mitch91 0]

Who would you vote for if anyone of any age could vote

[Emperor Oli 0]

Conservatives.

[Peter 615]

Its a choice between having you're teeth pulled,a large injection or chewing wasps.

Whoever wins lets hope its closer.

We all know it will be Mr Smarm...pity he doen't lead the Tories.

[Sylvester 15]

Conservatives, i've voted for them in all the bi-elections and local ones so i see no reason why not to in the General.

By UK Independence party has gained my vote a few times, and when i'm really, really stuck for someone to vote for the Liberals get it.

I will never vote Labour as long as Blair is leading it. "Education, education, education..." then he goes and trebles university entry fees (doesn't affect me, but it might affect some of you guys).

[Master Jmd 89]

Conservatives still. I agree with Sylvester that "I will never vote Labour as long as Blair is leading it. "Education, education, education..." then he goes and trebles university entry fees".

Oh, and well done on your 2200th post Sylv

Edited April 21, 2005 by Master Jmd

[Emperor Oli 0]

Just out of interest, what constituency do you all live in, and which party is it held by?

I live in the Ribble Valley, a strong Conservative seat. It's the fourth-strongest in the country apparently.

[Sylvester 15]

Hillsborough, Sheffield.

Very strong Labour seat, i've never know it not be Labour. Liberals hold most of the seats in the area though, although not the ones that matter, so Labour win out.

In the neighbouring ward to ours, Barnsley West some candidates had put up 'vote Tory' signs (brave people)... they didn't last long... most got smashed in quite quickly.

Everyone's stuck vote Labour signs out though. Us Tories keep a very, very low profile up here... can get you into a bit of trouble if you don't. There's still high unemployment after the 1980s mining strikes and alot of resentment... Thatcher is hated with a passion, there'll be much celebration when she finally snuffs it.

The disinterested Labour voter in these wards that have taken a dislike to Blair are refusing to vote for anyone.

Although where i live is due to undergo a redefining of the boundaries which means we might get shoved in with Barnsley West, which means that i'll be one of probably say 3 people voting blue in the elections.

[mitch91 0]

St. Helens South. Labour, but Lib Dems have a chance to get it.

[Emperor Oli 0]

BBC Election site.

You can enter your postcode to find your consituency, and loads of other information. It gives a brief synopsis of the constituency's political past and lists the candidates in contention. Interestingly, you can find the margin by which the winning party won in 2001.

Eg. Ribble Valley

[Master Jmd 89]

Slough's candidates are:

Sheila Gunn Conservative

Geoff Howard UK Independence Party

Paul Janik Independent

Ajaz Khan Respect-Unity Coalition

Fiona Mactaggart Labour

Thomas McCann Liberal Democrat

David Wood Green

It is Labour that has been in for the last few years, and by 2001's results, it does not look as though it will change for a few years...

[Geoff T 3]

Personally I'd introduce an examination which people had to pass before they were elligible to vote. That might help alleviate the downside of uninversal franchise, which is that stupid people get the chance to vote on issues they don't understand or don't give a toss about. Some people (of all political persuasions) would vote for a dead cat if it had the right colour rosette.

Things are going to be interesting this time. Labour's Achilles heel has always been a low turn-out, which generally reflects apathy on the part of working class Labour voters. This time, however, I evisage a big dent in the middle class labour vote because of, inter alia, Iraq and top-up fees. Moreover, these middle class liberal types are likely to defect to the Lib Dems. I also imagine that the war is going to take its toll of the working class Muslim vote.

At least we won't have a Conservative government (sorry to all you right-wing youngsters, but some of us lived through Thatcherism). Howard is jumping opportunistically on every bandwagon that comes along and anyone with half a brain is beginning to notice that their policies are changing from one day to the next.

My MP (Ann Coffey) is an unreconstructed Blairite who toes the party line like an automaton. Much more fun to see what happens next door in Cheadle, where Patsy Calton for the Lib Dems is defending a majority of 33 after seeing off the sitting Tory in 2001. A Labour vote there is wasted, so let's hope they all vote tactically for Patsy.

Geoff

No to the illegal invasion of Iraq

No to top-up fees

Free care for the elderly

You get where I'm coming from...?

[Peter 615]

Geoff

What colour Citroen do you drive ?

We live in a democratic society where everyone has the vote....and its everyone right.

(thank goodness)

Its a pity a newspaper like the Sun can have such an effect.

Personally I would like a bit of Right Wing hard lining together with a bit of Socialist compassion.

In a Capitalist system the best should & will rise to the top...we must encourage this for our societies benefit....wealth eventually will cascade down.

Everyone now seems to want something for nothing and want it now....and feel its their devine right.

(I dispair at the designer label brigade)

Get rid of PC rubbish,enforce discipline with zero tolerance....educate people to respect....

If you can't afford to raise kids don't have them....or at least expect everyone else to pay.

Maggie wasn't so bad...it just seems trendy to think she was.

[Geoff T 3]

We live in a democratic society where everyone has the vote....and its everyone right.

(thank goodness)

.

Maybe if we had a fairer electoral system, with proportional representation, people would feel that their vote had some chance of making a difference. Under the present system the real outcome of elections is decided by a handful of marginals and the whims of the floating voter.

OK, my tongue was in my cheek when I suggested an examination, but it does concern me that many who do vote do so largely because some external factor - and here I'd include the partisan press alongside class loyalty - propels them unthinkingly in that direction. I'd be very worried, for instance, if we were to have a refendum on the European Constitution or the Euro when so many people remain ignorant of the issues involved. I'm reminded of the words of Winston Churchill, who said that democracy was a bad system, but all the alternatives were worse.

I can't help thinking that our present first past the post system is a major contributory factor in voter apathy. If you give people a system in which they feel that their vote really does count, they'll be more inclined to use it.

I'm no great political animal, and a member of no party, but faced with a party of the right and another hardly less to the right, I know where my vote is going.

G

PS. - Citroens? What do you take me for, a sandal-wearing, crystal-hugging, nut cutlet-munching, woolly hat-wearing, wooshy liberal?

[Emperor Oli 0]

some of us lived through Thatcherism

Most of my family lived through the Thatcher years and don't think they were bad. I agree with Peter's point; everyone seems to have a go at her. This will probably stimulate a flurry of negative points but I couldn't care less because from what I have researched myself, most of her policies were, in my eyes, fair and rational (apart from the abolition of apprenticeships). But, I digress.

[Sylvester 15]

some of us lived through Thatcherism

Most of my family lived through the Thatcher years and don't think they were bad. I agree with Peter's point; everyone seems to have a go at her. This will probably stimulate a flurry of negative points but I couldn't care less because from what I have researched myself, most of her policies were, in my eyes, fair and rational (apart from the abolition of apprenticeships). But, I digress.

Depends what jobs your parents did.

My parents have always done manual/skilled labour jobs.

Infact in my father's British Rail days, when the Thatcher era was in full swing, we had to keep moving as he chasing his job, as depo by depo got closed down by the government in railway cutbacks (Thatcher government was very anti-railway), Doncaster offices closed, Sheffield, Lincoln, Retford, at one point he had to commute to York or Peterborough everyday (by rail) just to bring in the cash. Eventually he was faced with redundency and had to shift into railway crossing manufactory as a grinder.

They were hard times for the skilled manual workers in the old industries (steel/mining/cloth mills etc.) who had left school without any qualifications.

[mint_mark 9]

...most of her policies were, in my eyes, fair and rational (apart from the abolition of apprenticeships).  But, I digress.

Yeah, but that's just because you don't remember how wonderful British Rail was before

Anyway, if Geoff would like to see a voting exam I would put forward a similar suggestion for a parenting license.

And some final thoughts on economics, I would say that free markets maximise profit, wealth can gush away as well as trickle down and some aspects of society might benefit more from a service motive rather than a profit motive.

I have scoured the manifestos but not seen a single policy related to coin collecting! Although there was talk a while ago about taxing ebay transactions...

[Sylvester 15]

If the liberals were anti-euro i'd vote for them, i've always had a soft spot for the liberals.

I tend to vote conservative, but i have issues with doing so, i think if they were actually in government i'd be voting against them.

It feels wrong to vote for them, but i'll give them the benefit of the doubt. If the Thatcher policies come back, then i wouldn't vote for the again.

As for Labour, i wouldn't vote for Labour as they are now, but say 10/20 years from now then things might be different.

I happily switch parties as their policies change.

[Sylvester 15]

Yeah, but that's just because you don't remember how wonderful British Rail was before

Well they were always on bloody strike in the 70s.

Mind you wasn't everything?

[mitch91 0]

Try this it is accurate

Test

It tells you who you should vote for

[Sylvester 15]

Try this it is accurate

Test

It tells you who you should vote for

Okay i was way off there; (the results are)

UK Independence - 45%

Green Party - 36%

Liberal Democrats - 14%

Labour - 12%

Conservatives - 3%

Although i've voted UK independence several times so that's no surprise.

So i might not care for the 'free market' much, but i it doesn't ask questions like should the death penelty be brought back? Should corporal punishment be back? Should the benefit handouts be restricted?

If they'd asked the right questions i would have come out more right wing. I'm more of a Consensus politics (1950s/60s) Conservative... Rock on Harold MacMillian!

The Old Right... i like the idea of a social security net there for those that really need it, but far too many take advantage and the frauds should be sorted out.

Aas for all these murders, druggies and boyracer louts that seem to have infected the whole country, they should be lined up and shot for what good they do society they'll not be missed, there'd be less crime and road accidents. Rehibiltation does not work, once a thief always a thief.

[Sylvester 15]

Wow done it again, rethought some questions, came out minus on conservative (-11) and -27 on labour!

Looks like the Liberals are my party! UK Independence still leads...

I don't have a car so i don't care what they do with road tax or child care or anything, so once i removed those from the equation rather than guessing agree or neutral, it changed the results a heck of alot!

[mint_mark 9]

I got the result I expected but with an unexpected showing in second place for the greens! Hmmmmm....

As for BR striking all the time... that's cos they didn't have a proper service motive in place. I would love to see someone try a system that actually rewards the behaviour they want to encourage. It's very easy to get it backwards and conclude that a hospital full of ill people is more "efficient" than an empty hospital and a healthy, productive population. Or that frequent arrests and full prisons are better than bored police and crime-free streets. Et cetera...

[Peter 615]

The result is blue...but i would like to think I am purple with a hint of Green & a splodge of BNP....oOOPs

[Master Jmd 89]

Try this it is accurate

Test

It tells you who you should vote for 

Interesting:

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Conservative

Your actual outcome:

Labour -30

Conservative 18

Liberal Democrat 0

UK Independence Party 20

Green 13

You should vote: UK Independence Party

UKIP's primary focus is on Europe, where the party is strongly against joining both the EU constitution and the Euro. UKIP is also firmly in favour of limiting immigration. The party does not take a clear line on some other policy issues, but supports scrapping university tuition fees; it is strongly against income tax rises and favour reducing fuel duty.

And unexpected...

Edited April 23, 2005 by Master Jmd

[Master Jmd 89]

Hmm...tried it again (like sylvester, rethinking some of my answers), and I got this:

Your actual outcome:

Labour -32

Conservative 15

Liberal Democrat -5

UK Independence Party 19

Green 16

So there you go...still UKIP...but I would still vote Conservative because otherwise it is practicaly giving labour the victory...

Where did your test go sylvester (the one that said if you were right-wing etc...)?