News UK general election 2015 discussion

[Second Summer]

The UK general election is on Thursday 7 May 2015.

How do you plan to vote? I.e. if the Greens don't stand a chance in your area, then will you vote for Labour or someone else in order to kick the Tories out?

In the context of the election, how do you feel about issues such as the economy, the NHS, housing, immigration? Or "green" issues such as enviroment degradation, pollution, climate change? Do any of the big parties actually care?

How do you think the different parties will do in the election? Will UKIP spoil it for the Tories? Will the Greens spoil it for Labour? Is Nick Clegg a thing of the past?

 

[Blobbenstein]

I have thought about spoiling my postal vote, as I think our democracy is 90% sham, but I live in a marginal...we had Labour's David Drew from 97 to 2010, and after that we had the clown Cameron voting monkey Neil Carmichael....I don't want to be part of letting him in again.

David Drew is standing again, so I will probably vote for him. He is a vegetarian as well, so stick that up the Greens.

 

[beanstew]

I live in a very safe Tory seat so my vote counts for little. I will probably vote Green.

 

[Second Summer]

So, how do you think it'll go in the election? I was just looking on ElectionForecast.co.uk and they predict (at the moment) that the Tories get the most seats, but not enough for an outright majority. They need 326 seats for a majority.

There is an 88% chance for a hung parliament.

Assuming the average predictions, it seems that:

• Labour could get a majority together with SNP and the Lib Dems in a coalition.
• The Conservatives and the Lib Dems together don't have enough seats for majority.

At the moment I see that the Tories are doing their best to pressure Milliband into ruling out a coalition with SNP. That would be a mistake, I think.

 

[ledboots]

How many parties are there in England?

 

[Second Summer]

How many parties are there in England?

Assuming you mean parties represented in the British House of Commons, there are apparently 12, plus 3 independent MPs.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I usually vote Labour to vote against the Tories but I'm considering voting for the Greens this time. Knowing me I will bottle it and vote Labour when I actually get the postal vote sent to me. I have to say though that the recent performance by Natalie Bennett in interview was toe-curling.

Greens' Natalie Bennett suffers 'mind blank' during campaign launch | Politics | The Guardian

 

[Second Summer]

So if the Tories manage to stay in government, do you think that's the end of the NHS? Or is it equally doomed under Labour?

Considering the way things have been developing in society in general for the last few decades, with ever more privatization and outsourcing, it seems the NHS has become a bit of an anachronism.

 

[ledboots]

So if the Tories manage to stay in government, do you think that's the end of the NHS? Or is it equally doomed under Labour?

Considering the way things have been developing in society in general for the last few decades, with ever more privatization and outsourcing, it seems the NHS has become a bit of an anachronism.

That is a possibility, to end the NHS? I thought the citizens were happy (for the most part) about the NHS? What would they do instead?

 

[Spang]

 

[Second Summer]

That is a possibility, to end the NHS? I thought the citizens were happy (for the most part) about the NHS? What would they do instead?

My impression is that recent governments, in particular the current Tory + LibDem one, have been doing their best to undermine the NHS by underfunding it, and making doctors and nurses work crazy overtime. This obviously leads to lower quality health care and is compromisng the safety of the patients. In the longer term, this will lead to patients starting to increasingly consider private health care solutions. At the same time, some of the NHS tasks are being outsourced to private health care providers, thereby helping the growth of the private health care industry at the expense of the NHS. Doctors and nurses will obviously work where there is more money. The more the private health care industry grows, the more feasible it becomes for patients to choose that over the NHS. The less the NHS is used, the less funding will be given to it. And so on.

 

[ledboots]

Oh, I see, thanks. I didn't know there was much private healthcare over there and see the dilemma.

 

[Muggle]

I have no idea how I'm going to vote.
I'm in a pretty secure Tory area but UKIP appears to have a fairly strong following here. (No UKIP on the council though. )
But there's no way in hell I would ever vote Tory, not even to keep UKIP out. Couldn't live with myself if I ever voted Tory.
Will probably vote Green if there is a candidate here. No idea what I will vote if there isn't, probably spoil it if that's the case.
I will stretch to vote Labour for the local elections because our Labour councillor has been the only candidate for the past few elections who actually lives in the village. He's really good. But I can't bring myself to vote Labour in the general election unless it's to keep UKIP out but that's not going to be the case this time.
(I voted Lib Dem in 2010. First time I could vote and I was a uni student. So you can probably guess exactly how I feel about the Lib Dems now. )

But then again, I don't really know if I want to vote Green. Ok, I know they don't have a chance in hell of winning but some of their things I really don't agree with. The stupid £10 minimum wage thing for one. Ok, yes it's a lovely idea but if that happened I would lose my job. Because small business like the one I work for wouldn't be able to afford the staff so would have to close.

 

[Second Summer]

But then again, I don't really know if I want to vote Green. Ok, I know they don't have a chance in hell of winning but some of their things I really don't agree with. The stupid £10 minimum wage thing for one. Ok, yes it's a lovely idea but if that happened I would lose my job. Because small business like the one I work for wouldn't be able to afford the staff so would have to close.

I think the "don't have a chance in hell" is important. Yet it's not completely and entirely impossible that there is a hung parliament and a minority government that will need the support of one or more smaller parties. Said government will then have to make a deal with the smaller parties. Do you really think the £10 minimum pay will be the Greens' demand in this scenario? Or will they make demands relating to their core issues, i.e. environmental policy? I suspect the latter is a lot more likely. Also, consider what is worse: The Tories (and if they become a minority government then they may be reliant on UKIP support) or the £10 minimum wage?

 

[Muggle]

I think the "don't have a chance in hell" is important. Yet it's not completely and entirely impossible that there is a hung parliament and a minority government that will need the support of one or more smaller parties. Said government will then have to make a deal with the smaller parties. Do you really think the £10 minimum pay will be the Greens' demand in this scenario? Or will they make demands relating to their core issues, i.e. environmental policy? I suspect the latter is a lot more likely. Also, consider what is worse: The Tories (and if they become a minority government then they may be reliant on UKIP support) or the £10 minimum wage?

Sorry, I should have been clearer. Don't have a chance in hell of winning here. 2010 they got something like 600 votes here. So should I vote Labour because they have a stronger chance of winning?
To be fair it is all pointless because the Tory guy is going to win here.
Just looked it up. In 2010 the Tories got 23,000 votes, Lib Dems 15,000, Labour 10,000, UKIP 1,600, BNP 1,100, Green 565.
Since 1983 we've been Tory apart from the 1997 and 2001 elections when Labour won.

Yeah, tactical voting. How I hate it. Wish we had STV but we're stuck with FPTP

 

[Second Summer]

Sorry, I briefly forgot about the first-past-the-post thing!

May as well vote for the Greens then, unless polls show that Labour has a chance of winning?

 

[Moll Flanders]

2015 General Election - Vote for Policies

Here is a survey to see what party you most agree with.

ETA - I got 70% Labour and 30% Liberal Democrats

 

[Muggle]

2015 General Election - Vote for Policies

Here is a survey to see what party you most agree with.

ETA - I got 70% Labour and 30% Liberal Democrats

70% Labour, 20% Lib Dem and 10% Green.

Interesting.

 

[Moll Flanders]

I thought my result would be more towards the Lib Dems or it would be at least a 50 50 split between Lib Dems and Labour but I do seem to agree with a lot of Labour's policies.

Seat Calculator | May2015: 2015 General Election Guide

 

[ledboots]

I took the quiz just for fun (I'm an American) but I couldn't put in a valid English postal code at the end so couldn't get results.