UK General Elections 2010

[Shiny Grimer]

General elections for the UK will be held on May 6. I'm trying to keep up with this election since I've never followed any non-US election. The three main parties everyone seems to be talking about don't seem particularly attractive to me. The only opinion I have so far is that I despise the BNP.

I've heard a lot about this David Cameron guy since before this election was announced (though I can't recall if it was positive or negative). I did hear about the marriage tax and "we want to be the most family-friendly country in Europe", which sounds a little silly and old-fashioned to me (the benefits extend to civil partnerships, though, so at least that's good). Other than that, I must admit that I am ignorant of everything else. I took the Telegraph's "How should I vote" quiz and apparently I should vote for the Liberal Democrats, though were a whole lot of issues that I had no opinion on (Should we reduce the number of MPs by 10%? I don't know!) and I picked "England" as my region for the hell of it.

Also, this made me lol:

There is an unspoken commitment within the big three to a federal Europe and a more powerful UN and the new world order.

new world order oh my gosh put on your tinfoil hats the eu is just another attempt to turn us into slaves. It sounds just like "NAFTA is just an attempt to get rid of our freedom!!1!".

So, what do you fellows think?

 

[Minish]

Mm... I can't vote yet, but I'd go for the Lib Dems if I could.

Conservatives suck, but will no doubt get in because most people think they're the only alternative to Labour and everyone hates Labour at the moment.

I think the majority of the country think the BNP are the scum of the earth, so yeah, I wouldn't worry about that.

 

[Teh Ebil Snorlax]

Conservatives suck, but will no doubt get in because most people think they're the only alternative to the Tories

Conservatives = Tories. That is all.

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

The Tories are going to win (even though Cameron seems slightly retarded whenever I read/watch an interview with him, he's still more popular than Gordo and no one knows the Lib Dems), which I will frown about. Labour will get re-elected after 4-8 years of Conservative reign, rinse and repeat.
The BNP don't stand a chance so no one cares.

I bet Cameron is sad now his bigot Polish bff Kaczynski is dead :c sorry Dave, you'll have to ally yourself with another homophobic, far-right religious nutcase.

 

[Jolty]

I'll be voting Lib Dems

Even though the Tories will undoubtedly win :| When everyone gets sick of one of the big two, they all go off to vote for the other one hrrrrg

I bet Cameron is sad now his bigot Polish bff Kaczynski is dead :c sorry Dave, you'll have to ally yourself with another homophobic, far-right religious nutcase.

also I lol'd

 

[Tailsy]

Um, why aren't Wales and Northern Ireland in the tags? They get to vote too!
Also those tags are shit I'm going to fix them after this post.

If the Tories won, then Scotland's probably offski (to go and be shit WITHOUT YOU GUYS). I don't mind that result.

I want Labour or the Lib Dems to win - unfortunately everyone is a bit dim and this won't happen.

And uh, 'nobody knows the Lib Dems'? Everyone knows the Lib Dems, they're the third-biggest party wtf. Comedy panel shows shouldn't twist your opinion on that. In fact, their political broadcast was the first one I saw (education seems to be their focus which is kind of hilarious).

 

[Dannichu]

Whoo, I was hoping someone would make this thread!

So I'll probably be voting Lib Dem - I'm so excited about it; I've never voted before!

The LD's are actually likely to win in my area (our current MP's a LD), though there are Conservative posters and signs up all over the place - my dad told my sister and I to tear up any Tory signs we came across on our travels and he'd pay bail if we got arrested for damaging property.

The Conservatives are confusing me so much this election. I mean, it's quite good that the Conservative party is becoming way more middle-y rather than far-right (though I suppose the BNP stretches the UK far-right out pretty far to the right... but nobody takes them seriously, so it's not too bad), but I really don't know what to think about them. I mean, they keep hammering home that they're going to protect the NHS no matter what, but if any of the three parties anyone really pays attention to were to do anything bad to the NHS, it'd surely be the Tories, right?

And that debate the other week about that gay couple being turned away from the B&B - it's not so much the discrimination I cared about, it was learning that Cameron et all were going after the gay vote! What madness is this? The sun rises in the east, up is the opposite of down and the Tories hate gays! My world is actually falling apart D:

In seriousness, that actually made me lose a little respect for the Tories. I mean, I dislike them and pretty much everything they stood for, but at least they stood for something. Now they (and by 'they' I mean 'Cameron' - nobody else in the Conservative party seems to ever say anything) just seem to say whatever it'll take to win the election, which leaves me very suspicious of what the hell they'll do if (when) they're elected, because they don't seem to believe in anything they're saying anymore.

As a side note, I wish so, so much we had proportional representation in the UK. The system we have of voting is not only unfair (call me old-fashioned, but I think the party that gets the most votes should win), it's ridiculous. Nearly everyone I know votes tactically - I wish I could vote for the Green Party, but it will definitely be a vote wasted if I do, and while I wouldn't mind doing that just to make a point, I'd rather use it to prevent the Tories getting another piece of the UK. D:

 

[Tailsy]

As a side note, I wish so, so much we had proportional representation in the UK. The system we have of voting is not only unfair (call me old-fashioned, but I think the party that gets the most votes should win), it's ridiculous. Nearly everyone I know votes tactically - I wish I could vote for the Green Party, but it will definitely be a vote wasted if I do, and while I wouldn't mind doing that just to make a point, I'd rather use it to prevent the Tories getting another piece of the UK. D:

Well, you don't...

 

[Minish]

Conservatives = Tories. That is all.

wtf me
I know, I just meant to include Labour again in that sentence. What I meant to say is that the Tories will get in because people think they're the only alternative to Labour. @_@

Also, apparently my mum got really offended when I told her 'plz vote Lib Dems k :D' and is now probably going to vote Tories just to spite me. After saying that she would 'look at each of the parties and decide for herself!' like voting is actually a big deal for her. ;-;

 

[Dannichu]

Haha, I've got a story that's nearly the exact opposite - my sister (who's too young to vote, but 17 and old enough to make up her mind and can I just say here that having a voting age of 18 is stupid?) keeps getting election leflets and such through the post, and she was sitting at the table reading them, when our parents come in and find her reading a Conservatives leaflet. The way they reacted, you'd think they'd found her reading porn. "What is this filth? I won't stand for it in my house!" It was hilarious.

Sorry Tailsy D:

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

Obama will win.

That is all.

 

[Tailsy]

Obama will win.

That is all.

Oh lord, the wit!

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

And uh, 'nobody knows the Lib Dems'? Everyone knows the Lib Dems, they're the third-biggest party wtf. Comedy panel shows shouldn't twist your opinion on that. In fact, their political broadcast was the first one I saw (education seems to be their focus which is kind of hilarious).

I know that! What I mean is the Lib Dems have never been in power so people don't feel they know them and the Liberals were last seen in the Prime Ministerial post with Lloyd George in 1922 so they're not really remembered at all.

I'm not completely retarded :0

As a side note, I wish so, so much we had proportional representation in the UK. The system we have of voting is not only unfair (call me old-fashioned, but I think the party that gets the most votes should win), it's ridiculous. Nearly everyone I know votes tactically - I wish I could vote for the Green Party, but it will definitely be a vote wasted if I do, and while I wouldn't mind doing that just to make a point, I'd rather use it to prevent the Tories getting another piece of the UK. D:

This is pretty much the situation we have in Portugal as well :v the last election was pretty tight between the PSD and the Socialists, so the Socialists put out a message saying 'HEY LISTEN we know you like other, superior parties more (ie the Left Block) but you should vote for us or the PSD will get in instead of us! it's better to have a mediocre centrist party than a centre-right one, right.'
And it worked, unsurprisingly. My whole family stubbornly voted for the Left Block anyway but oh well.

 

[Flazeah]

I'll be voting either Labour or Lib Dem. Unfortunately the Tories are quite popular around here, so I suppose I should vote whichever one out of Labour and Lib Dem is more likely to get more votes here. The local Labour guy is pretty cool, though.

 

[Harlequin]

NOBODY VOTE LABOUR OR CONSERVATIVE PLZ. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE WHO CAN VOTE VOTES LIBERAL DEMOCRAT.

No, seriously: the Liberal Democrats are the only viable alternatives to New Labour and the Conservatives. Under New Labour we've been incrementally stripped of various rights and the Conservatives? The Conservatives will only make things worse.

If the Liberal Democrats get in (or at least if it swings the vote enough for a Labour/Liberal Democrat alliance) we will finally see some degree of electoral reform, better policies for LGBT citizens and general awesomeness.

Because, yeah.

UP WITH THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

 

[Minish]

Yaaay I agree! Lib Deeeems. :D

And Danni, I'm in the same situation -- I'm 17 but I'm actually interested in voting and can make up my own mind. :/

 

[Ruby]

I'd be voting Labour if I were a month older. The Lib Dems run my local council and they are shit.

 

[Effigy of the Forgotten]

I'll be voting Lib Dem, not that it'll make a jot of difference, I live in one of the most Conservative supporting areas of the country. Worth a go though eh ;)

 

[Tarvos]

so can we turn this into dutch elections which are in june cos I get to vote in those not shitty UK elections

 

[Valerunner]

Lib Dem.

Mostly because I smell a failed plan from the Tories and Labour!Wales isn't doing well.