For the first time ever I honestly don’t know who to vote for. I have got to a stage where I hate them all. I always used to rail against MrAdamW saying that his vote was the most powerful thing he has. And look what we end up with. All of them the same.

For the next election I’ll start a Nottingham branch of Plaid Cymru. None of the major parties will get my vote.

I honestly believe that this time I will refuse to vote or spoil my paper. 🙁

It shows that you do actually care about who is in charge of the country but you don’t believe that any of the people you have to choose from represent your views. You then don’t get lumped in with the whatever ridiculous %age of elegible voters who don’t bother to turn up an das I said:

You have no right to complain about whoever does get into power if you do not use your vote!

Spoiling your paper is still using your vote.

No – it isn’t. You’re simply lumped in with the tards that can’t manage to successfully put one X in one box.

Thing is binners, whoever the 1% voted for would see it as a clear mandate that the country had elected them to lead. See the Tories at the last election for evidence of this.

Who would I vote for? I’d probably look at who would be best for my interpretation of what’s best for the community and go with them. Lib-dems did a reasonable job at local level, labour probably less so. After seeing Thatcher’s government and now watching her unholy spawn I could never bring myself to vote Conservative.

UKIP, since by STW definition I’m a racist homophobe and we need to be out of Europe for purely financial reasons.

It shows that you do actually care about who is in charge of the country but you don’t believe that any of the people you have to choose from represent your views.

Yes, but what does that achieve? Who am I showing exactly? Annoying a civil servant is not particularly rewarding is it?

The point is that spoiling a ballot is a personal expression. If it makes you feel better, do it. But really it doesn’t achieve anything. If our system stated that an election could be invalidated once the proportion of spoiled ballots reached a certain level I would rush to the station and spoil my ballot like a right artistic bastard.

But until that happens I’ll abstain and hope that my disillusion won’t be mislabelled as laziness.

my voting is based on my experiences at University – all the parties were mostly t0ss3rs (and wimps if liberals) but the conservatives had slightly less t0ss3rs

plus the labour lots had a lot of sneaking, lying barstewards – like you weren’t able to vote as the labour/socialist lot with the voting stations would station themselves out of sight, but let it be known to the labour faithful where they were.

The labour lot very nearly got the student union shut down for illegal activity and the rumour was that kinnock (all the paperwork on him went missing mysteriously) ran several political parties whilst at uni to soak up as much funding as he could get.

I don’t see labour acting much differently these days than they did back then.

Tory.

I sceptically voted tory in the last election – first time I haven’t spoilt the ballot paper or voted for a joke candidate.

However, so far I have seen them making some progress in the big and small things.
However, the attitude and perhaps some explanation for the problems in the country can be typified by some people I heard talking at a bus stop.
“Well, I don’t see things getting any better now.”
Rather ignoring that the general promises were to stop the country going broke in the long term – not to spend more on current services.

The problem is that so many voters have very little idea of the realities of what is required to successfully run a country.
This means that often politicians can’t do what they’d like to do because the voting populace probably won’t understand it.

Green.

But I would quite likely vote differently in a different constituency, eg Plaid Cymru. Basically any serious candidate which stood on a social-democratic ticket.

Zulu-Eleven – Member

The local candidate who I thought would represent my interests best regardless of their parliamenrtary party allegiance.

But that’s not answering the question, is it ? Answer the question Z-11 …..you’re not usually shy about expressing your political views.

i woudln’t vote. I’d prefer the tories got in, as I think they’re less likely to raise taxes than labour, but I’m not naive enough to think my vote will make a difference

I’d vote for me, and my new super friend political party I would set up.

Consisting of mega minds like James Dyson, Robert Peston, Richard Branson and Adrian Chiles from the one show.

I haven’t quite ironed out the details yet but I think it would look something like this

PM – LHS
Foreign Secretary – Richard Branson
Chancellor – Robert Peston
Home Secretary – James Dyson
Environment Minister – David Attenborough
Sports Minister – Adrian Chiles
Defence Minister – Jeremy Clarkson
Culture Secretary – Guy Ritchie

They’re all rubbish. I cannot ever vote Labour again (I did once in 1997 and regretted it within a year), the Tories are doing their utmost to convince me that they couldn’t be trusted to run a bath while the Liberals have reneged on every single pledge barring Alternative Voting, but the campaign for that was so inept they never stood a chance of changing the system.

I’d vote green, but I support nuclear power.

None of the above

There’s no party for me.

None, all the candidates here are useless.

No idea.
Didn’t do any good.
Can’t stand any of them anymore TBH.

just go down the pub instead.

I need a party that fits my views.

the toxic combination of shame, despair and disillusionment

I’d just not bother voting.

I generally feel the same. What’s going on? Democracy? Ha. The sheer level of disillusionment within the UK is frankly astonishing. Revolution may not be as impossible as we tend to think, something has got to give.

Certainly, a step change is required, we surely can’t go on like this.

The Roman Party. Ave!

if they were standing
Missed this. Sadly it was just local elections, but was glad to see my vote had gone to the lowest-scoring party :).

Right now, I really don’t know. Ethically, I can’t bring myself to not vote, after the struggle that so many women historically faced to give me that right.

But I have never felt so disillussioned about all the parties as I do now. So whoever I vote for it wouldn’t be a ‘positive choice’, but rather a ‘lesser of all evils’ option.

This does make me question whether democracy (or at least the democratic system we have here) actually works? Or maybe it does, and the choices we have reflect the culture of selfish individualism that prevails in the majority of society?

I do feel a bit sorry for those in England without an electable left-of-centre alternative, but it’s a bit chicken-and-egg. Would such a party be elected today, or have all the parties ended up representing the current views of the (non-STW) majority?

I do feel a bit sorry for those in England without an electable left-of-centre alternative

Some of us don’t want a left of centre alternative.
I just want a balanced party, not left or right but a bastard mixture of the best bits of both.

Sorry wrecker – I was just trying to reflect upon my perception of the STW forumites.

a bastard mixture of the best bits of both.

What, like a coalition you mean? Problem is, how do you make sure you just get the best bits, and not the scrag end, greedy self serving nasty bits?

The Greeks voted for PASOK to keep New Democracy out, or New Democracy to keep PASOK out. So now, when they have a crisis, they have a parliament full of MPs that nobody actually wants, and who haven’t a clue among the lot of them. So I am brought to the conclusion that it is best to vote for the candidate you like best, and not in some tricky tactical way

Agree Wrecker.

Some of us don’t want a left of centre alternative.

In which case you don’t have the problem that druidh suggests exists…..do you ?

selfish, blinkered and insular

Harsh, given you dont know what his interests are!

You have no right to complain about whoever does get into power if you do not use your vote!

Rubbish. If you vote and lose, you have submitted to the democratic process and lost. You played the game, lost and now you are just whinging about it. Stop being pathetic.

If you decide not to vote and instead lobby, then you have a crack at making a difference, then you can complain that you are not represented.

I just want a balanced party, not left or right but a bastard mixture of the best bits of both.

I like this.

The left wing/right wing classification, IMO, forces an artificial order/prejudice on voters’ thought processes. It inspires people to think in ideological, rather than in human terms.

The Greeks voted for PASOK to keep New Democracy out, or New Democracy to keep PASOK out. So now, when they have a crisis, they have a parliament full of MPs that nobody actually wants, and who haven’t a clue among the lot of them.

You missed out the Prime Minister which no one elected but which the EU imposed……and all because the previous Prime Minister had the barefaced cheek to want to ask the Greek people what they thought about government policy.

Problem is, how do you make sure you just get the best bits, and not the scrag end, greedy self serving nasty bits?

There’s the issue right there, and everyones definition of the best bits will differ. If they can get the big issues (health, education, unemployment etc) right, everything else is a bonus.

LHS – If you stand next time, you’re getting my vote

But that’s not answering the question, is it ? Answer the question Z-11 …..you’re not usually shy about expressing your political views.

I can’t answer the question Ernie, because there isn’t an Election in the offing, there are no potential candidates and I’ve not had a chance to select on the basis of their policies and my interests

Certianly my current MP’s voting record is as follows:

Voted against a more proportional system for electing MPs.
Voted very strongly for greater autonomy for schools.
Voted for automatic enrolment in occupational pensions.
Voted very strongly for encouraging occupational pensions.
Voted for replacing Trident.
Voted against a smoking ban.
Voted strongly for more EU integration.
Voted very strongly for increasing the rate of VAT.
Voted for Labour’s anti-terrorism laws.
Voted very strongly for university tuition fees.
Voted for raising England’s undergraduate tuition fee cap to £9,000 per year.

And there are some ponts there I agree with, and some I thoroughly object to – personally I’d be interested to know their views on countryside access, fieldsports and forestry privatisation before making a decison on whether to support them or another candidate.

Fred thinks I should decide on whats best for the community, well, to an extent, whats best for the commmunity as a whole benefits me, so fits in with my own best interest, however at the same time I have principled stands on cetain issues that could easily see me move my vote against the encumbent, or see me vote tactically, on the basis of those narrow interests, regardless of whats best for “the community” as Fred thinks we should vote.

for some people it could be decided on abortion, for others it might be on the basis of increased rights for cyclists, and for others based upon a candidates position on animal research – Personally, I think thats a defendible principled stance and democracy in action, rather than pure self interest.

Dear “The rich”

I’m voting for the town hall clock. It’s far more reliable than any of the MPs around here, and would just about as much use in government as well.

No idea who I’d vote for. I’ve come to the conclusion that it doesn’t really matter which of the 3 main parties you vote for, they’re all so closely aligned that it makes no difference.

Politics has become more about who has the best PR agency than the right policies. I don’t think any of them represent the peoples best interests, just their own and those of their paymasters the banking elite.

Red, blue, yellow? Whatever.

I like the idea of being governed by our own parliament rather than the European one, so would be tempted to vote UKIP. Problem is from what I can see you scratch the surface and might as well vote BNP.

+1 to Ernie, if you think any of us live in a democracy take a look at Greece. The birthplace of democracy and they remove the PM because he has the bare faced cheek to try to ask the people what they want!

I won’t be able to vote tomorrow, as I haven’t been sent a polling card.

I tend to make my choice by a process of elimination:

Labour – every single previous Labour administration has ended in bankruptcy and chaos, so they disqualify themselves for being unable to count

Lib Dems – will say whatever it takes to get elected but always incompetent when in office; a bunch of inadequates who aren’t good enough to be in either of the other two parties (with the possible exceptions of Cable and Laws) and who tend to say one thing in Westminster and the opposite locally (and I’m not just thinking of the current bunch)

Green – if there’s one thing that the 20th century taught us it’s that communism doesn’t work. When they realise this they might get more votes, because the central message is strong

UKIP – potty, closet racists, whose presence prevents any meaningful debate about Europe, immigration etc. (watch them do well tho’)

Nationalists – deluded regional self interest, all funded by someone else

Which only leaves abstention (weak), revolution (dangerous) or, pathetic as they are, the Tories

Dear “The Rich”

Wow. Now thats what I’m talking about. Trouble is, this is a nation of sheep, indoctrinated and numbed by reality TV, corrie and The Sun.

Wow. Now thats what I’m talking about. Trouble is, this is a nation of sheep, indoctrinated and numbed by reality TV, corrie and The Sun.

Not forever.

More importantly, who do you want to win I’m a celebrity get me out of here? I vote for the Aussie bird with the big bangers.

I thought they only ate rice and cockroaches. Where did she get the sausages from?

Labour – every single previous Labour administration has ended in bankruptcy and chaos, so they disqualify themselves for being unable to count

I fail to see how the credit crunch cuased by the US sub prime market or the OPEC oil hike had anything to do with labour – the tories matched labour spending commitments for example so would have faired no better.

Green – if there’s one thing that the 20th century taught us it’s that communism doesn’t work. When they realise this they might get more votes, because the central message is strong

The greens are not communists are you just confused ? How is that communist China doing right now throughout the failure ? Better or worse than rampant capitalism?

More importantly, who do you want to win I’m a celebrity get me out of here?

Haha, Exactly.

(Pat Sharpe FTW BTW, for having the cajones to speak his mind.)