Vote 2005, Week 1

[Halcyon]

Oh right.
Some people seem to know tonnes about politics.
I havent really paid much interest. I guess I will do more when I have a job and am making a living.

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by Millay

mmmm bovril

I could have added another couple of categories to the poll.

Im voting liberal, although im worried that I may need to tactically vote just to keep the tories out.. Im really worried about them getting in....

Didn't the lib dems spending the Tory emergency fund after they got control of Hampsire leave them rather in the mire when Sainsburys burnt down and the council got sued millions?
Didn't the Lib Dems loose the paperwork they needed to demolish the Tricorn Centre meaning it hung around for that much longer?
Didn't the Lib Dems screw up the roads comming into Portsmouth meaning it was quicker to drive from Waterlooville to Southampton for shopping than fight your way into Portsmouth, costing businesses millions and sending many to the wall?
Didn't the Lib Dems screw up the Millenium Tower so they can't make any money from souveniers amongst other contractual screw ups?
Didn't the Lib Dems turn down Virgin's offer to revamp the Tricorn and turn it into a modern multiplex cinema and shopping centre?
Didn't the Lib Dems lose the chance to have Ikea out at Tipner wreckers yard, which amongst other things would have given free park and ride into the city, reducing congestion?

Originally Posted by SMHarman

Why - what is the difference between their policies and the policies Labour have stolen from them?

Easy, the Tories did all the background thinking, planned things out, came up with the result (although people don't have to agree with it), then Labour gets wind, steals the idea, hasn't got the background knowledge and goes to implement it and screws things up.

[philip.j.fry]

Originally Posted by Ramrod

To all those here who don't want to vote. Please reconsider your stance. There are millions in the world who aren't allowed to vote. Many, have died trying to gain the right to vote. You owe it to them to vote if you can........

Or spoil you ballot paper if you can't choose, at least it registers an opinion and is counted.

Originally Posted by bob_builder

You do not need the card to be able to vote - if you turn up and you are on the electoral list you can vote (it is just a little more hassle).

Cheers for that.

Oops, looks like the main parties and thus the english really get to state their preference of political parties.

Personally i'll be voting for the Democratic Unionist Party. The main political parties know better than to put up candidates in Northern Ireland, so its local parties all the way.

Originally Posted by Ramrod

To all those here who don't want to vote. Please reconsider your stance. There are millions in the world who aren't allowed to vote. Many, have died trying to gain the right to vote. You owe it to them to vote if you can........

but its like choosing between a horse with 3 legs and a blind horse in the National!! The trouble is they both cost you money and they need shooting

[Aragorn]

I will probably vote, but I have absolutely no confidence that my voice will be heard. With the possible exception of the MEP elections my electoral choice has never influenced the results here - I have never voted Tory and we have never had anything but Tory MP's and Tory councillors Labour & LD don't even bother canvassing.

[Russ]

Looks like the LibDems will get my vote, they seem to be the only party who have the same view of Council Tax as myself - it is a grossly unfair system which should be scrapped and replaced with a version which is based on your ability to pay.

However Charles Kennedy would have to go: I don't want a Scottish PM.

Now before I get attacked for that, let me say neither do I want a Welsh PM. I want a PM who will not feel under pressure to pander to his own province. We know how vocal the Welsh and Scottish National parties are and I want a PM who will do what's best for the whole of the UK, not just one main area.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by Russ D

However Charles Kennedy would have to go: I don't want a Scottish PM.snip[let me say neither do I want a Welsh PM.

So they have to be English or from Northern Ireland then? Well not Northern Ireland as they have enough problems to be going along with
What about Blair. Do you not like him because he was educated in Scotland?

What if someone was elected (For example Tony Blair) and they decided to step down after a year and were replaced by someone else (ie. Gordon Brown)
Would you want a new election to replace the Scotsman?

[Russ]

Originally Posted by dezzo

So they have to be English or from Northern Ireland then? Well not Northern Ireland as they have enough problems to be going along with
What about Blair. Do you not like him because he was educated in Scotland?

What if someone was elected (For example Tony Blair) and they decided to step down after a year and were replaced by someone else (ie. Gordon Brown)
Would you want a new election to replace the Scotsman?

As much as it pains me to say this, I think an English PM would be preferrable. He (or she) is unlikely to be influenced by nationalistic principles unless they were for the UK as a whole. As for Blair I see him as being far more English than Scottish.

A new election if Brown took over? I think that's asking a bit much. However if Labour are to stay they I definately would not want Gordon Brown as PM.

It's for similar reasons that I believe Labour were never going to be more than also-rans with Kinnock in control.

[me283]

I shall wait to see who is running in my area. That said, I certainly shall not vote Labour, if only because I am one of the growing hordes who has no desire to see our Tone's grinning mug every time something daft is brought into legislation. Add that to the fact that I don't see him as having had much time for this country in the last eight years, and the fact that his party of fools have managed to do not a great deal in that time apart from look after themselves, and Labour it definitely ain't.

It may well be Tory as i think Mr. Howard has a lot of good ideas and deserves a chance to get the country straight again. It won't be Lib Dem as I have no faith in them, finding their thinking a little too woolly. It may be UKIP as they also have a few sound ideas. It was in the paper last week that the BNP will also have a candidate, but I can't imagine voting for them. But I did once consider voting for the Natural Law Party...!

[bob_builder]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

I will probably vote, but I have absolutely no confidence that my voice will be heard. With the possible exception of the MEP elections my electoral choice has never influenced the results here - I have never voted Tory and we have never had anything but Tory MP's and Tory councillors Labour & LD don't even bother canvassing.

Do not think that your vote will never count, however, stranger thanings can happen.

In 1997 I voted for a minority party in a safe Conservative seat - Labour got in and I regretted it! If only half of the people who voted the same way as me had voted Conservative, Labour would not have one that seat.

In 2001 the minority part no longer existed and the Conservatives won the seat back.

That is the closest I have ever come to voting "for" Labour - I have learnt my lesson and will now vote against Labour for whichever party has the best chance of beating them.

Poll edited - we now have 'undecided', and I've clarified 'Other' to show that it includes the Nationalist parties.

[Derek]

Originally Posted by me283

It was in the paper last week that the BNP will also have a candidate, but I can't imagine voting for them. But I did once consider voting for the National Law Party...!

The worrying thing is I know a number of people wanting to vote for them as a protest at the other parties. They don't agree with their politics but feel a shock of them getting a number of votes is the only thing to bring some of the other parties back to reality.

[me283]

Originally Posted by dezzo

The worrying thing is I know a number of people wanting to vote for them as a protest at the other parties. They don't agree with their politics but feel a shock of them getting a number of votes is the only thing to bring some of the other parties back to reality.

I think the BNP have a couple o policies which they can use to try and win votes from other parties. The obvious one is immigration, but I think that the TV expose has all but killed off their chances of any real success. Had it not been aired, I have no doubt that they may have done much better in the election. The Tories have a strong policy on controlling immigration, whereas Labour seem to be the opposite... the appearance is one of "all are welcome". What they don't seem to have realised is that many people do not want an open-door policy, and whilst they don't need to worry about voters mid-term, come election time it can be very different. And that sums up a lot of Labour's government... appearing to not give a damn about what the electorate want or think.

The sad truth may well be that the Tory party win, not because of their policies, but because people have had enough of Mr. Blair and his cronies. Hey, election by default!

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by me283

The sad truth may well be that the Tory party win, not because of their policies, but because people have had enough of Mr. Blair and his cronies. Hey, election by default!

That's what always happens though.
No one ever votes a goverment in, they always vote the current one out