Something i overheard today.
Liberal? What’s that when it’s at home?
And while my political inclination puts me roughly between Labour and Conservative, I have to admit that the Liberals have rarely reflected my own attitudes. Which makes putting an X in a box a slightly fraught experience.
No, I’m going to conduct a six hour howlatthemoonathon as a protest. It’ll be just as effective.
Liberal? What’s that when it’s at home?
i thought it was an american political leaning hence the confusion
Not a chance. bunch of pale blue tories. I used to vote liberal democrat on occasion but since they propped up the tories in office they have lost my vote until they apologise for that.
And as for the prposal from Jo Swinson that there should be a statue to thatcher on the vacant 4th plinth it really shows how detached from reality they have become.
I think we could all do with a bit of sensible pragmatism in our politics right now, so maybe.
Not sure I get the hate towards them after the coalition. It's it bit like me saying I'll never vote Labour because of their unilateral nuclear disarmament policy.
Not that we are voting but I’ll vote for them ,not as a protest but because I can’t vote for anyone that is Leave.
Plus I really ****ing hate tories.
The fact they propped up the tories led to all sorts of serious damage to the country and serious monetary loss to me personally. They need only have done a "confidence and supply" support then they would have had real power to constrain the tories. We would sill have publicly owned mail and we would not have had the brexit referendum nor would we have had a wage freeze for healthcare workers. they were supposed to be the only party of true principals - but they sold them all for ministerial cars and still are unable to say they made a huge blunder. I expect them to lose more seats. Good riddence.
I loath hypocrites more than I loath tories
I'll be voting LD. Quite keen to see the back of the current Conservative council.
Not a chance. bunch of pale blue tories. I used to vote liberal democrat on occasion but since they propped up the tories in office they have lost my vote until they apologise for that.
I’ll be voting LD. Quite keen to see the back of the current Conservative council.
And there in a nutshell is the irony of the current voting system. Someone of TJ's persuasion living in the wrong constituency choosing not to vote LD because they propped up the Conservatives and either not voting at all or voting green/labour and therefore helping to let in the Conservatives in in their own right.
It would be interesting to know what Clegg would do if given a second chance with hindsight in the situation he was in. It would also be interesting to rerun history and see what a pure tory government would have done in 2010 - i.e. if the LDs made a difference.
Who'll notice the "protest"? Nobody. If you want to protest, protest, if you want to vote then vote, don't piss about. IN MY HUMBLE OPINION WINKY FACE. Vote for the person with the best combination of electability and bearability, literally nothing else achieves anything.
I still reckon ballot papers should have the option to vote for “A constituent, to be selected at random”
I have no confidence in anyone awful enough to endure the machinations of local party politics.
I'll be voting Liberal Democrat.
Can't vote Labour and certainly can't vote Conservative in good conscience.
I voted Labour in the last GE purely tactically to prevent a tory majority.
But I certainly can't vote for a pro brexit party, (yes I know these are local elections).
Quite likely I'll vote for them, as it's the only chance of getting the useless Tory council out of power where I live.
I quite like the LDs in their own right. Having come from Canada, where you generally have 3 functional parties, coalitions are more common, and it sometimes means that one you like has to make compromises.
I don’t hold what Clegg did against him or against the LDs.
Not that any of this is relevant to those of us in Wales, mind...
Convert - tactically to get rid of a tory council? I might just hold my nose and vote for them. Fortunately neither the tories nor the lib dems get much in the way of votes in my area and also we have a proportional system here for electing councils. Multi member constituencies
It would be interesting to know what Clegg would do if given a second chance
Thing is the Liberal Democrats held back a lot of tory crap whilst in a minority coalition, (any one remember clegg getting peddled out to deliver any negative news whilst Cameron would deliver anything remotely positive?) the tories have since reversed a lot, and they are running wild, and the Liberal Democrats had to make some serious concessions to keep them in check to some degree, and they are demonised for that till this very day.
You have to ask who are the worst party in the coalition equation.
And while my political inclination puts me roughly between Labour and Conservative, I have to admit that the Liberals have rarely reflected my own attitudes.
I see myself firmly on the left yet they very often do reflect my attitudes - remainer, voting reform, some green issues etc...
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Mattyfez wrote,
"Thing is the Liberal Democrats held back a lot of tory crap whilst in coalition"
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For me they don't get any credit for "holding back some of the tory crap" because the liberals were the only reason there could be any tory crap at all. It's like opening a gate then expecting congratulations because you stopped 10% of the sheep from escaping through it.
Really? When was the last time there was a party with any influence in office that wasn't the same old tired fluctuation between labour and Conservative?
The fact they propped up the tories led to all sorts of serious damage to the country and serious monetary loss to me personally.
Well we’ll never know how bad it could have been for the country or you personally if there had been a Tory minority government. There wouldn’t have been any extra cash, in fact the markets don’t like uncertainty so there may have been less.
they were supposed to be the only party of true principals – but they sold them all for ministerial cars and still are unable to say they made
or did they sell it all out for the hope that the AV vote would bring them increased leverage in the future?
however I assume the OP was referring to some local council elections. It always strikes me as odd that people would allow Westminster behaviour to lead their decisions for local council elections. Actually what you want at local level is intelligence and backbone - that comes down to the individual not the colour of their rosette.
Voting Lib Dem as a protest is like throwing your shoes at the sky to protest against clouds
I voted for the orange team as my son calls them in our local election a few weeks ago as they were the only team who could beat the blues. My son wanted me to vote green like I usually do but I really wanted the blues to lose...and they did!
Poly - the point is if the LDs had only done a supply and confidence deal the tories would not have been able to get many of the bills they did get thru parliament and its very likely we would have had another election
Anyone not voting Labour due to them introducing tuition fees is 97?
Vote for what they propose and what they offer you not historic mistakes.
vote for what they propose and what they offer you not historic mistakes.
Exactly. Makes me laugh when tories challenge Corbyn on what the labour party did in 2004. It had nothing to do with him or what he is proposing (fair chance he voted against whatever they were doing most of the time anyway!)
Why use Liberals as a “protest vote”?
Clearly you’ll vote either Contard or Labtard, so off you go and do that.
Then you’ll moan about the current state of political areswipes, and proclaim “it’s not my fault”
Definitely not.
Whoevers in power you'd all moan about them for some reason.
If we are damning the libs for the coalition,how can anyone vote labour due to Blair or conservative due to all of them.
Vote for a better future not the past.
Whoevers in power you’d all moan about them for some reason.
That's simply because you can only vote for the party that overall best matches your beliefs in how the country should run.
If you are very lucky they will match about 80% which still leaves 20% to be unhappy with. The only solution for 100% happiness is to become a dictator but as there can only be one at a time that seems a little unfair.
I'll be voting Lib Dem because I cannot support a party that will allow Brexit to go ahead. I'm Corbynista normally, but just can't vote Labour while Brexit's hanging around stinking the place up.
I have this weird way of voting that nobody else seems to do.
I read the manifestos of the parties at national and local level. Then I vote for the one who best aligns to my own beliefs as they currently are.
Revolutionary, eh? This time round is was Lib Dem.
I think we could all do with a bit of sensible pragmatism in our politics right now
I think we could do with dismantling our political system and starting again.
I have this weird way of voting that nobody else seems to do.
I read the manifestos of the parties at national and local level. Then I vote for the one who best aligns to my own beliefs as they currently are.
Mental.
Do Labour in England and Wales encourage their voters to vote for the Tories, and vice versa to block out the Lib Dems?
Yep.
Labour have a nasty hard left element coming to the fore & likewise the Tories have an equally iffy hard right.
I feel I've no other choice & TBH it sits far better than contemplating either of the above for the foreseeable future!
To echo an earlier post - go ahead & damn the Libs for the coalition if you like but isn't it faintly hypocritical not to damn Labour for Bliar? One of the most odious leaders of the modern era - a liar & a profiteer are some of the nicest things I can find to say about him....
I can vote LibDem, or I can watch from the top of my nice shiny ivory tower, riding around the ballustrades on my high horse, as the Conservatives sweep to power.
Not a chance. bunch of pale blue tories. I used to vote liberal democrat on occasion but since they propped up the tories in office they have lost my vote until they apologise for that.
What a bunch of nasty tory-loving snowflakes: https://www.indy100.com/article/7-laws-the-lib-dems-stopped-the-tories-from-passing--gkKwqOshgb
For me they don’t get any credit for “holding back some of the tory crap” because the liberals were the only reason there could be any tory crap at all. It’s like opening a gate then expecting congratulations because you stopped 10% of the sheep from escaping through it.
Turning that on its head, they did something to stem the tide; something the DUP is unlikely to do unless it benefits their aims in NI. We do have a coalition government at the moment too.
I read the manifestos of the parties at national and local level. Then I vote for the one who best aligns to my own beliefs as they currently are.
It'll never catch on.
I voted LD last time round as a tactical vote against the Tories (I live in a Tory stronghold). Complete waste of time.
That said, at the moment they are the party that most closely aligns with my beliefs on the big issues. Pro European, Anti-Brexit, pro Proportional Representation, pro enterprise / business /innovation, pro green issues and very strong locally at council level.
Can't vote for Corbyn because of his stance on the EU / Brexit.
Can't vote Tory. Obviously.
The lib dems didn't have to go into a coalition with the tories. Labour offered them the chance to form one with them which was declined. So I don't buy the whole 'holding back some of the tory crap" stuff either.
I have voted for the only candidate to happen to live in the area i live, happens to be Lib Dem.
The lib dems didn’t have to go into a coalition with the tories. Labour offered them the chance to form one with them which was declined. So I don’t buy the whole ‘holding back some of the tory crap” stuff either.
No chance that Clegg sincerely interpreted the voice of the people as a voice calling for change after more than a decade of New Labour rule, then?
I was so glad he did what he did at the time. Not because I wanted Cameron's crew, but because I believed - and continue to believe - that every governing party needs a shake-up after two terms or more in office. Arrogance sets in otherwise, and however much I may not mind Gordon Brown as a person, I think his party had become somewhat arrogant.
No chance that Clegg sincerely interpreted the voice of the people as a voice calling for change after more than a decade of New Labour rule, then?
The voice of the people didn't say that. It simply (through the mangle of opinion that FPTP is) said it didn't want a labour majority.