UK Election!

My friend has today disowned his wife’s best mate on the basis she’s voted Reform instead of her usual Tory vote. When asked why, she said “Immigration needs sorting out properly, and that can’t be done with a Brown person in charge” ??

Nothing like politics to get people to reveal themselves.

“I honestly think the voting age should be 16 to 67”

I do think voting should carry some sort of age-weighting – including if you have kids of below voting age.

Those with more skin in the game should carry more priority.

And referenda should be outlawed. After joining the EU.

?

Strange thing is they are not stupid. My mum was a deputy head of a highly rated special needs school (as they were called then) and my dad designed complicated bits for telescopes like William Herschel and Hubble!

Blimey , you’d think that if anyone could’ve seen the writing on the wall, it would be your dad

Wonderful interaction with a school run mum earlier. She said she was thinking of voting Reform.

Didn’t know what the candidates name was or what he stood for. Or too much about Reform’s “policies”. But hey, ho. That Garage chap seems nice. ?

From a quick glance, the candidate is white, middle class, male, business owner and doesn’t like 20mph limits. Not sure what else, but I’m willing to bet his offering is a string of worthless epithets.

Cons are bound to win in our constituency but managed to persuade my wife & son to vote libdem as most likely to be 2nd – hopefully any head wind gained this time will come to fruition next time ?

well i voted tactically (lib dems) for what its worth (as unfortunately devizes has been a tory safe seat).

@kormoran this is what I truly don’t understand – he is fully onboard with the climate disaster, very well read on it – probably understands more than most despite being 86 still has most of his marbles. His take is basically we’re ****ed anyway so what are Labour going do. Personally I think thats defeatist and selfish.

Anyway daughter just got home. I told her to vote with her heart not her head in her first election so she is voting Green. Off we go to do our bit for democracy such as it is these days….

***but managed to persuade my wife & son to vote libdem***
Why? Leave them to make their own decisions, they are grown-ups.

Just voted for the second time today. A good 15-20 minutes queuing this evening. This is likely to be a pretty safe Labour seat, and it’s a place where everyone hates the Tories, so I’m not sure if the queues say anything about turnouts more generally.

I do think voting should carry some sort of age-weighting – including if you have kids of below voting age.

Those with more skin in the game should carry more priority.

And referenda should be outlawed. After joining the EU.

WTAF ?

I think that only people with big dogs and V8 Toyota Land Cruisers should vote !

“Just voted for the second time today”.

I thought we were only allowed one vote each.

“well i voted tactically (lib dems) for what its worth (as unfortunately devizes has been a tory safe seat”.

The polls I’ve seen have LibDem winning there.

I hope some of these “it’s pointless, but I voted LibDem anyway” turn into big surprises. Swapping Tory MPs for LibDem MPs is a win win.

In our seat, it’s the best chance of Labour winning since I moved here 20 years ago. I don’t think it’ll happen though… a combination of “Labour are just establishment now” and “Labour will tax me to give more money to the work shy” types around here. But here’s hoping…

Have we done the page that’ll play a Wilhelm scream every time a Tory loses a seat tonight?

https://matteason.co.uk/scream/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR02k-I4q1sDRfjdCnWyPuvHCqa18I17bTsNryAQspyFeubweHEhO3dPl4Q_aem_nBJKITgT8Z_bDwfj0kzNpA

I thought we were only allowed one vote each.

It’s because I have children. I have 14 kids so I get 14 bonus votes, so I can pwn the childless lefty libs

(It was a proxy vote)

Leave them to make their own decisions

Did you speak to anyone in the last 5 years about politics?

Strange thing is they are not stupid.

I just don’t understand why anyone would vote Tory/reform, I don’t know of anyone who’d vote that way either.

Been living here 12 years and by a margin that’s the biggest turnout at the polling station. Good luck everybody….

I see there’s a constituency where you can vote for Reform but they can’t tell you who the candidate is yet.

she said “Immigration needs sorting out properly, and that can’t be done with a Brown person in charge” ??

I have never understood why Rishi Sunak ever thought he could attract racist voters better than Nigel Farage.

Although to be fair he did give a good go with Rwanda but if you are going to try to win a general election on a racist bandwagon it would help you weren’t the brown child of immigrant parents.

What self-respecting white racist is going to vote for an Asian prime minister to govern the UK ffs?

IMO making immigration, Rwanda, and stopping the small boats, such a central theme of his premiership was easily Rishi Sunak’s greatest mistake as Prime Minister.

He simply pumped oxygen over glowing embers of UKIP/Brexit Party/Reform UK.

The shear scale of the devastating defeat that the Tories are about to face is directly linked to that fateful decision.

And the writing was already on the wall before he became Prime Minister – do not make immigration a central election issue unless you want the far-right to do extremely well. A lesson which should have been well and truly learnt right across Europe long before July 4th 2024.

Just voted for the second time today.

Our granny voted Conservative until the day she died.

Now she always votes Labour.

Our granny voted Conservative until the day she died.

Now she always votes Labour

?

I live in a pretty run down part of the country. 9 out of 10 villages/towns/cities look like something from a distopian film. It’s been that way for decades. Years of labour and Tory governments have made little difference as far as I can see.

If you lived in those areas and someone came along and convinced you / someone you trust / lots of people in your social media circle that the problem is someone’s fault, and that getting rid of that someone fixes the problem, you might vote for them too. What have you got to lose?

I’m not saying I would vote reform (or Tory) but I do understand the desire for change.

I see there’s a constituency where you can vote for Reform but they can’t tell you who the candidate is yet.

Genius. Do you want one of these boring candidates or a mystery candidate who is almost certainly a throbber? Mystery candidate every time.

Stuck in France, our postal vote didn’t arrive (but the result’s nailed on), the internet’s not working. Is there a useful website I can view on my phone announcing early results as they come in? Any recommendations most gratefully received.

Guardian normally do it well, but I’ll be following BBC reporting.

Don’t you tactical voters feel a bit eurghh afterwards?

My OH reported to me on the school mums discussing political matters today. A couple didn’t know who to vote for, another confused the prime minister with the opposition, and the other convinced them all to vote reform.

Vote early, vote often

“Did you speak to anyone in the last 5 years about politics?”
Yes, but discussing politics isn’t ‘persuading’ someone else to vote for the person you want them to vote for.

This is the sort of advice we should give to people who aren’t sure about what they should do…
“I told her to vote with her heart not her head in her first election”

Just let grown-up people make grown-up decisions FFS.

Harsh @Sandwich, harsh.

I shall go and stand in the corner, facing the wall, and have a bit of a word with myself.  (also going to stop trying to post emojis as they just show up as question marks)

Binnerette number one (aged 20) is off to an all-nighter club night tonight in the grungiest student venue in Manchester. They’re going to have the election results on big screens all night so they can do shots to accompany the ‘Portillo Moments’ ?

No idea if this’ll work. But it’s the ghost of Emmeline Pankhurst and the ghost of a WW2 serviceman talking about voting. And it’s excellent.

I’m not saying I would vote reform (or Tory) but I do understand the desire for change.

I think it may ‘interesting’ in our new constituency. With the boundary changes, anything could happen. Either way, one of my old school teachers will no longer be my constituency MP.

Just been and voted with my lad – his first general election on his 21st birthday.

A friend is working the polling station, said its the busiest she can remember, though other polling stations haven’t been as busy, from what she’d heard.

There was a (former?) Tory MP with his daughter at the Cambridge uni open day today, obviously looking to the future

For the first time since I have been able to vote I am abstaining.  Tories or reform will not win my seat.  Its either labour or SNP.

The SNP candidate lied to my face and then refused to return messages.  I had just about steeled myself to vote labour then came Starmers latest pro brexit announcement.  I just cannot vote for a party that is a brexiteer party and that has consistently lied about it.  Lib dems – still no apology for the coalition or for Carmicheals lies.  They have no honour.  Greens – I have been a big supporter but using all their political capital on Trans rights not their core message has put me off totally.  They need to find their way again.  Tories and reform are obviously beyond the pale.  No interesting independents to vote for.

I am sure some of you will give me a kicking for this and if it had been a tory held seat I might have had to hold my nose and vote to get the tories out but its not.  Whatever happens here will not effect the next government.

I am sad to do this but I see no option.

I did a postal vote, but a mate went to vote in person this evening and said there was a big queue, so that’s optimistic. Even if it’s just the nasty, bitter old racists voting for Reform, it ****s the Tories in this marginal seat

Jake Berry is in the next door constituency and his social media posts have been virtually begging people not to vote for Reform. Jake the Snake knows he’s toast tonight too ?

People queuing out the door at our little village voting station. Never seen it that busy.

I was one of those who didn’t get their postal vote and I had to drive 20 miles and wait an hour to get a replacement voting pack. The place was only open until 5pm – what about the (I’m assuming) thousands that can’t get out of work or don’t have the means to get to the single place in our county to pick up their vote pack?

I voted.

Come on its 10:30 where I am, hurry up with the exit polls.

“For the first time since I have been able to vote I am abstaining”

Uncle Jezza… now you’ve made this public, you do know you’ve forfeited your right to moan about politics for the duration of the next Parliament

If there isn’t a bus going to drop you off outside your house, you still get on the one that takes you the closest to home

You’ve still got 90 minutes to GET OUT AND VOTE.

If you don’t then every time you comment on a politics thread, you’re getting this….

You have been warned! ?

Stuck in a huge huge great  queue to vote at the moment. Round the corner and right along the road.

Never seen anything like it here!

This “feels” important.

My thoughts exactly TJ, but still struggled along and voted, Green as it happened, but still disillusioned.