The UK election thread

[Deep Sea Isopod]

I'm considering breaking my habit of spoiling my ballot paper for this very reason. I don't identify with the Lib Dems fully, but more so than any of the other 3 main parties. My seat is a marginal, 2005 was pretty close:

Labour 41.2
Tory 37.3
Lib Dem 13.0
Plaid 5.1
UK Independence Party 1.8
Liberal Party 1.3
Socialist Labour Party 0.3

.

Labour won with 41.2% of the votes? That means 58.8% didn't vote for them! And you call that democracy?

[Jack Rawlinson]

Labour won with 41.2% of the votes? That means 58.8% didn't vote for them! And you call that democracy?

Well... yeah. Because, you know, there weren't just two parties in the election, remember? You know how "majority" doesn't mean "more than 50%" in that circumstance?

[Deep Sea Isopod]

Labour won with 41.2% of the votes? That means 58.8% didn't vote for them! And you call that democracy?

Well... yeah. Because, you know, there weren't just two parties in the election, remember? You know how "majority" doesn't mean "more than 50%" in that circumstance?

Just trying to make Labour look like fascists.

[Jack Rawlinson]

Labour won with 41.2% of the votes? That means 58.8% didn't vote for them! And you call that democracy?

Well... yeah. Because, you know, there weren't just two parties in the election, remember? You know how "majority" doesn't mean "more than 50%" in that circumstance?

Just trying to make Labour look like fascists.

Hell, you do that by pointing to their record on civil liberties. :-)

[RuleBritannia]

Check out the latest YouGov opinion polls, the Lib Dems have over taken Labour:

Conservative: 33%
Labour: 28%
Liberal Democrat: 30%
Others: 9%

[AshtonBlack]

Fucking hell.
Yes, there are policies that the Lib Dems (and I quit the party because of it) have that I do not agree with. At this stage in my life, I just want the least corrupt. Even if power corrupts them, the Lib Dems fit that bill.

[RuleBritannia]

Fucking hell.
Yes, there are policies that the Lib Dems (and I quit the party because of it) have that I do not agree with. At this stage in my life, I just want the least corrupt. Even if power corrupts them, the Lib Dems fit that bill.

But you could argue that if all you're after as a politican is power then the Lib Dems aren't the best choice for attaining it, as the perception is that only Labour or the Tories can win.

[AshtonBlack]

Fucking hell.
Yes, there are policies that the Lib Dems (and I quit the party because of it) have that I do not agree with. At this stage in my life, I just want the least corrupt. Even if power corrupts them, the Lib Dems fit that bill.

But you could argue that if all you're after as a politican is power then the Lib Dems aren't the best choice for attaining it, as the perception is that only Labour or the Tories can win.

I don't think there are absolutes, I'm not naive to think that the head honcho's of the Lib Dems won't be corrupted by power. THey are just the least unpalatable to my liberal, secular, humanist philosophies and I like the idea they could shake things up a bit. (Underdog liking?)

[Thinking Aloud]

+something to some posts somewhere.

My interest in politics is next to zero usually, but I'm pretty much unimpressed by the two main parties these days. Throwing a vote away is not an option for me - I may as well use it to make a point of showing support for another option. I've never understood the "my constituency has always voted X so there's no point trying to change it, even though X are a bunch of arses these days" attitude. That guarantees that nothing will ever change.

Of course, ultimately the election will be decided by what the editor of The Sun choses to print on his front page on the morning of polling day. That's usually how it works.

[AshtonBlack]

+something to some posts somewhere.

My interest in politics is next to zero usually, but I'm pretty much unimpressed by the two main parties these days. Throwing a vote away is not an option for me - I may as well use it to make a point of showing support for another option. I've never understood the "my constituency has always voted X so there's no point trying to change it, even though X are a bunch of arses these days" attitude. That guarantees that nothing will ever change.

Of course, ultimately the election will be decided by what the editor of The Sun choses to print on his front page on the morning of polling day. That's usually how it works.

Won't be the lib dems then, they don't pay enough... (oh sorry did I suggest that deals for media coverage would be done?) I mean erm, something else.

[Deep Sea Isopod]

As Nick Clegg pointed out. 65 years of Tory and Labour government making the same mistakes over and over again.

I'm all for giving someone else a chance. Lib Dems are the only party within range of being a threat to the other two parties, so I'll vote for them.


Still would prefer UKIP though.

[RuleBritannia]

Found something interesting. If you take Saturday's YouGov stats and put them into the BBC's "swing-o-meter" you can get a vague idea of how many seats each party would with those percentages.

Labour 28% = 275 seats
Conservative 33% = 245 seats
Lib Dem 30% = 99 seats

I makes me think if the Soviet Union had adopted such a quasi-democratic system they'd probably still be around today.

[Rum]

Found something interesting. If you take Saturday's YouGov stats and put them into the BBC's "swing-o-meter" you can get a vague idea of how many seats each party would with those percentages.

Labour 28% = 275 seats
Conservative 33% = 245 seats
Lib Dem 30% = 99 seats

I makes me think if the Soviet Union had adopted such a quasi-democratic system they'd probably still be around today.

That's the 'first past the post' system for ya.

[Thinking Aloud]

Found something interesting. If you take Saturday's YouGov stats and put them into the BBC's "swing-o-meter" you can get a vague idea of how many seats each party would with those percentages.

Labour 28% = 275 seats
Conservative 33% = 245 seats
Lib Dem 30% = 99 seats

I makes me think if the Soviet Union had adopted such a quasi-democratic system they'd probably still be around today.

I did that too, and was amazed how completely at odds with common sense this result seemed to be. I admit that I only had the vaguest idea how it worked before today - now I haven't a clue.

[beige]

I knew it was bad - but that's crazy.

Edit:
Democracy!