I'll say anything to get my stupid face in the press

The Conservative and Labour parties are already coalitions between their left and right wings.

“It is clearly absurd to suggest heavy traffic on the M4 is caused by immigration, but through the laughter at his silly comments you can hear Ukip’s dog-whistle politics of division.”

To be fair to Farage, it’s not really dog whistle politics if you explicitly blame immigrants.

If we didn’t have first past the post, who would win then ?

Its going to be even more of a waste of time voting than normal.

this is exactly the wrong attitude to take. By not voting you’re giving people like the UKIP lovers far more chance of getting any power.

Apathy to voting is the biggest problem in the UK and it panders to the extremist views. Yes, I understand the whole Tory/Labour/LibDem ‘oh they’re just carbon copies of each other who don’t think outside of Westiminter’ but not voting at all is far worse than attempting to use your vote to stop something really potentially bad happening.

I have no idea how I’m going to be voting come next May but I’ll be using it none the less to try & stop that cronie’s Neo-Nazi buddies from getting any more power.

+1 to Pinkster

Part of the (possibly unintentional) genius of UKIP’s approach that that by targeting bitter older people who feel ‘left behind’ by modern Britain they’re taking advantage of one of that Demographic’s key characteristics: They all vote.

YouGov’s polling has been pretty comprehensive, the younger, better educated, happier and more active you are, the less likely you are to vote UKIP and the less likely you are to vote at all.

The other advantage they have is the ‘purity of opposition’ in that none of their crackpot schemes have had to survive contact with reality. Long term opposition groups (from the Lib Dems to Hamas) have always suffered from this when they finally do get a degree of power and suddenly have to accept the compromises and negotiation required get anything done.

The other advantage they have is the ‘purity of opposition’ in that none of their crackpot schemes have had to survive contact with reality.

Indeed. The main one being that as a right wing party, so by their nature ‘business friendly’, pretty much all business leaders want Britain to remain in the EU, and rather enjoy the benefits of ready supply of cheap labour from Eastern Europe. And given corporate power in this country, their demands trump everyone else by some distance. So the irony is that the one policy he/they have, is the one that he/they can’t actually ever deliver on.

A thought that has no doubt never entered the head of the morons voting for them.

A thought that has no doubt never entered the head of the morons voting for them.

Largely because when politicians and newspapers are pointing fingers at who’s ‘to blame’ for immigration it’s much less awkward for them to point the finger at Brussels or ‘hang-wringing liberals’ than it is to point it at the corporate interests that donate large sums to political parties and own newspapers.

I wont be voting, not because of Apathy, its because none of the parties putting themselves up for election are worth my vote.

At the moment its a bit like asking me if I want brown or white bread with my sh*t sandwich.

If I could tick a box “none of the above” I would vote. But I’m not going to waste my vote for the current crop of idiots and I’m not willing to take part in a sham democracy.

Perhaps if elections offered both:
a) None of the above, and
b) required more than 50% turnout
parties would get their act together.

None of them are going to fix the economic and social issues and none of them from my point of view are fit to vote for.

Making people vote even when the choice is crap wont improve things, we will still have the same idiots in power.

At least now we can point out that so few do vote whoever wins doesn’t really have the wishes /respect of the majority.

I can’t stand the odious little ****, however, the first time I ever heard him interviewed on the radio he said that the existing political parties in the UK are much of a muchness and no longer divide opinion liked they used to and (he believed) they still should. His stated aim then was to make this a reality again and it seems he might just have managed it. Whether folk vote for UKIP or not, he has certainly polarized many opinions.

Australia has (had?) mandatory voting. Their politicians are great. Some of the finest minds on earth:

Weird, last time I was leaving Wales got caught up in this:

Immigrants on the M4

So technically I was held up because of immigrants, or more precisely idiots looking at immigrants on the other side of the road, still not ever going to vote UKIP though!

If I could tick a box “none of the above” I would vote. But I’m not going to waste my vote for the current crop of idiots and I’m not willing to take part in a sham democracy.

so spoil your ballot paper. They get recorded so it’s the nearest you can get to “none of the above”

MrNice – I could, but it wont affect the outcome in the slightest.

That’s why Id like to see a requirement that the winner gets the majority of the votes, including counting those who voted for none of the above.

Last time 45,597,461 people could have voted.

Only 65.1% did = 29,683,947
Con got 36% of the votes = 10,698,394
Lab got 29% of the votes = 8,609,527

So we end up with a party forming our government who got 2 out of 10 possible votes.

2/10 That’s really not democracy.

(http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/images/dynamicImages/file4e3ff1393b87a.pdf)

2/10 That’s really not democracy.

That really depends on your view of what the uncasted votes mean. If they’re specifically protest votes (eg none of the above) then that’s one thing. If they’re simply down to ‘couldn’t be bothered’ then the (not entirely unreasonable though maybe incorrect) assumption is that they would broadly follow the spread of those that did vote.

I’d be in favour of a ‘none of the above’ option (rather than just spoiling which isn’t explicitly that) to address the former group above. You could then potentially have a rule for a majority being necessary to actually lead with a re-election forced after, say 1 year (less would be better but not practical).

Or maybe it should be a legal obligation to vote (like in Oz IIRC) though it’s a rather negative message to have to force people to vote – unless maybe you can get the ‘none of the above’ option.

Whats even more depressing is that both the main political parties are looking at the next election with what political commentators are referring too as the ‘35% strategy’

So faced with widespread disillusion in the electorate with them, how do they address that?

Try to regain some public confidence by getting the snout out of the trough for a while? Naah… we’ll give ourselves an 11% pay rise instead. And reject reforms to Parliamentary catering as that would mean a cheaper vintage of champagne

Maybe start addressing the genuine concerns of the electorate, and listening to people other than corporate lobbyists? Naaaah… I’ve been promised a highly paid directorship in couple of years. With a bank/Serco/private healthcare firm

Both parties are going to aim squarely at their core vote, and the level of their ambition (such as it is) is that that will help them limp over the line on 35% of those who bother to vote. They’ve cynically given up on obtaining any kind of popular mandate, and instead, rather than change their behaviour, or try and mister some genuine appeal, they’ll retreat yet further from the electorate into the Westminster bubble, and take it in turns on the gravy train. Business as ****ing usual. The ****S!!!!

And they wonder why people are prepared to gibe chancers like Farage a hearing! 🙄

As per the devolution / indyref election – I wasn’t convinced by either argument fully enough to cast a vote for them so wrote a note to that effect on the paper. Vote was ‘spoilt’ but it was recorded as having been cast – so not a non-vote..

In 2010, of the votes cast just 1% were counted as “spoiled”

But as you say Binners – its business as usual.

Whets also depressing reading is the website that tells you what your vote is worth: http://www.voterpower.org.uk/

I’ve got 0.051 of a vote.

The average UK voter only has the power of 0.253 votes. This is because most of us live in safe seats, where the outcome is pretty much certain regardless of how we vote

they’ll retreat yet further from the electorate into the Westminster bubble, and take it in turns on the gravy train. Business as ****ing usual. The ****S!!!!

And they wonder why people are prepared to gibe chancers like Farage a hearing!

That’ll be the same Nigel Farage who gets a 60k annual chauffeur allowance from UKIP and once boasted about getting £2 million in allowances and expenses?

He is in just as much Bisto as the rest of them.

He is indeed! But he’s managed to convince a large number of half-wits – apparently by being pictured every couple of weeks having a pint – that he isn’t.

And yet again, it’s a reflection of the complete bancrupcy of those presently in Westminster that he’s actually managed to get away with this frankly ridiculous charade. Compared to them, he can play out his ‘Man of the People’ shtick without them being able to point out how utterly preposterous that premise is. If anyone in the 2 main political had a shred of credibility, they could just point out the simple facts. Notice how they haven’t.

Can someone tell me who I need to vote for to stop UKIP? I’ve always voted Lib Dem but never lived in a Lib Dem area so pointless. Can’t vote tory as they are just c….. but Labour are **** useless at the moment as well! I’d like to vote green but that would be as pointless not voting at all!

What do I do?

If UKIP get into power I will seriously consider moving out of the UK. I really don’t think I could handle it.

The only way UKIP have any chance of a sniff of power is in a coalition with the Tories so if you want to register an anti-UKIP protest vote then probably you’ll need to vote NuLab. Rather than voting LibDem again you’d be as well wiping your arse with the paper, for all the chances they’ve now got of getting a meaningful number of seats.

I think I’m going to stick with voting in Scotland because at least there is a viable alternative to vote for there!

chakaping – Member
Immigrants?

MI5 working at the behest of the Govt more like.

I’m sure they can create a traffic jam on the M4 when they need to.
The government has its own department to do this.
They put these signs up:

See one that says: ‘Possible delays ahead, slow down’…
Guess what is the most likely outcome on an otherwise busy but smooth flowing road?
I believe it’s what’s known in the trade as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Idiots.

Yeah. Spankers. What do traffic managers know about traffic management compared to some guy with internet access? 😆

Exactly, people should be left to cane it right up to an accident/incident and then stand on the brakes within the last 50 metres.

ads678 – reading this website: http://www.voterpower.org.uk/
will show you what your vote is worth.

Sadly most of us have worthless votes and even if they were worth something the choice is crap.

So basically your better off going for a bike ride – at least that will be enjoyable and take your mind off the pretend democracy we live in.

I’d like to vote green but that would be as pointless not voting at all!

That attitude really annoys me. Vote for the party you want to vote for and the policies you like. If you believe in it, say it, campaign for it. If everyone did it things might just change. I voted Green at the Euro elections and, low and behold, we have a Green MEP amongst the mire of blue and purple. The Greens are now actively targeting the sitting Lib Dem in my ward. For all UKIP’s faults, of which there are oh so many, at least they’ve managed to get people to believe that their votes aren’t just wasted protests.

That Vote Power site is fascinating, turns out the constituency I live in is far more marginal than I thought, ooo feel the power!

Pointless. I do still vote – people died ensuring I can. It’s the least I can do.

Could be worse, I could still live with my mum and dad:

Or at one of my previous addresses 😯

For those of you stating you have to vote, just take a moment to look at the reality.

Saying “its the least I can do” – well it is the least you can do, in fact is so far down the list of least its almost pointless. Might make you feel like you have done your bit, but your bit is worth nothing.

Look at that site I posted up about your votes worth.

Re-read the comment I wrote about the fact that the government we have was voted for by 2 out of 10 people eligible to vote.

Just voting (when its so evidently pointless) will not change things – discussing it and showing people the system does not work may kick-start something. Some people may ask their MP’s about this, some may stand for election – but sadly until the system changes that too is likely to be a waste of time and money. The more you point out these facts the more likely it will be for public opinion to alter things.

The current party’s are quite happy for you to feel like your doing something by voting.

We even see MP’s who are likely to loose their jobs change party to keep their jobs.

Take stock of the reality of the situation and adapt your action to deal with it.

people died ensuring I can. It’s the least I can do.

Drivel !

By voting you are wilfully accepting that the people who dropped us in the sheehite are capable of pulling us out !

That just confirmed what I already knew. In the constituency I live in, the labour party could stick a gibbons foreskin up for election and it’d get in. Could be worse though. Could be a Tory gibbons foreskin

With social media use and distaste for the main parties both at an all time high you would have thought we were ripe for a huge social media campaign to spoil your ballot paper at the next general election if you feel non of the available parties represent your opinions sufficiently (whatever your political leaning).

Just staying at home and not voting achieves nothing as your ‘non-vote’ is added to all those who are just apathetic in general and can’t be bothered to muster a political opinion because they don’t have the wit. But if at the count in May next year the biggest category of ballot papers nationally is the ‘spoilt’ pile that would clearly demonstrate a general public that cared enough to bother to go and protest which is far more powerful. It won’t change who is in power for the next parliament but it would clearly indicate to the political parties the size of the electorate that they could be tapping into if they could show a little more passion and diversity.

To those who didn’t vote, did you also ignore the referendum on changing the voting system?

If you don’t vote, don’t you forfeit your right to moan about politics? And if you do, then everyone else is allowed to slap you across the face with a kipper and tell you to shut the **** up?

According to that site Glasgow East is one of the safest Labour seats in the land. My voter power is 0.010.

But its failed to take into account the fact that the SNP won it in a by-election in 2009.

There are very few truly safe Labour seats north of the border.

FPTP is far from ideal, but if we were given pure PR then a Tory / UKIP coalition would be the most likely outcome

Trimix – Member

Last time 45,597,461 people could have voted.

Only 65.1% did = 29,683,947
Con got 36% of the votes = 10,698,394
Lab got 29% of the votes = 8,609,527

So you’re complaining about low turnout and…not voting?

OK.

I’m not complaining about low turnout. Just stating the facts in a politically unbiased way.

If there was someone worth voting for Id vote.

Do you think there is ?

With the current rules its both pointless for most of us to vote for the idiots and that your vote is mostly worthless.

If more people realised this and discussed it, then we may end up with a better system and party’s that were worth voting for.

Voting or not voting for most of us is still pointless – which is my point 🙂

as far as I understand it, there are pretty much about 100,000 voters that swing an election either way and all sides know where those postcodes are, hence the constant shifting of constituency boundaries when a party regains power and the way that the journo’s descend on the places where the major parties wander about the town centres at election time… crap situation really

I think that the ‘none of the above’ could be a great option – if it’s the most voted for option in a gen or byelection, return 50% of all candidates’ deposits and prevent all of them from standing in the re-run byelection. That way ALL MPs have to properly listen to their constituents and keep their noses clean otherwise the safe seats are no longer safe.

These are good ideas, but the people we need to convince to adopt them are the current politicians making a living out of this crap system.

What we really need is a revolution 🙂

If there was someone worth voting for Id vote.

Do you think there is ?

The way I think of it is that currently UKIP/EDL/BNP have a higher proportion of the vote than is representational of the UK public, because their “supporters” get out there and vote. This has a knock on impact on how the results are reported by the media, and what the media think the public is interested in. This is arguably more important than who out of the main three parties wins the election because the media drive the political agenda.

So UKIP etc are given a bigger media platform because you didn’t vote, imo 😉