The 2015 General Election

[smetrov]

Shy tory syndrome amazes me - wherever you go - theres seems to be an anti tory alliance - yet IMO they will win this election.

The pollsters factor in shy tory sydrome, and calculate that a good % of 'Don't Knows' actually vote Tory.....

 

Its a bit ironic really - the bad repuation IMO comes from the latter thatcher years - but these years are what many tories regard as the golden era.

 

FWIW - I think Clegg will jump at helping the tories in power again - whether his party would stomach another full blown coalition is debatable. I think Conservative largest party - supported to some extent by the lib dems is the most likley scenario...

[chrisp65]

I was quite impressed with Clegg yesterday. 

When he said he had an absolute promise, a red line, that he would want extra spending on education he was asked if that was actually true and could he be trusted on it given that he held up the signed pledge last time about tuition fees.

 

Boldly, he explained that this education promise was on the first page of the manifesto, whereas the silly old stuff about tuition fees, whilst regrettable, had never been on the first page.

 

For some reason I can't explain, I'm more disappointed when a Liberal lies than when (both) the others do. I think maybe I expect more of them, whereas Labour and tory you know its just words for the sake of words and means less to them than reading the ingredients off a random packet of something.

[Jon]

yup, me too.

 

tends to be them, or libdems generally.

 

I've voted lib dem, labour & conservative perviously - Green this time.

I'm genuinely beffudled that anyone could vote both Tory and Green in a pretty short lifespan. The Tories and the Greens are so far apart ideologically and practically as to make it a really absurd revelation.

 

Unless of course you didn't know what you were doing previously, and have now had some sort of epiphany?

[lapal_fan]

 

yup, me too.

 

tends to be them, or libdems generally.

 

I've voted lib dem, labour & conservative perviously - Green this time.

I'm genuinely beffudled that anyone could vote both Tory and Green in a pretty short lifespan. The Tories and the Greens are so far apart ideologically and practically as to make it a really absurd revelation.

 

Unless of course you didn't know what you were doing previously, and have now had some sort of epiphany?

 

 

I got older and learned about stuff.

 

People change opinions.  Unless you're one of these I AM A CONSERVATIVE/LABOUR/LIB DEM nutters.

 

It's like religion as far as I'm concerned, people blindly backing a party - moronic.

[darrenm]

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

 

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

 

Their major headliner IIRC was proportional representation. They got their way with that but only a referendum for alternative vote, which nobody wanted anyway so the vote failed.

 

And since then they've failed to keep any kind of control on the really unpopular Tory actions such as de facto privatisation of the NHS and charging for education.

 

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

I'm stuck between an idealistic vote with the Greens or a tactical vote with Labour to get Conservative out.

[donnie]

Lolz at those who would even consider voting Green Party. They are totally bonkers. The policies are bordering from the ridiculous to barking mad.

[tonyh29]

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

 

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

 

Their major headliner IIRC was proportional representation. They got their way with that but only a referendum for alternative vote, which nobody wanted anyway so the vote failed.

 

And since then they've failed to keep any kind of control on the really unpopular Tory actions such as de facto privatisation of the NHS and charging for education.

 

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

I'm stuck between an idealistic vote with the Greens or a tactical vote with Labour to get Conservative out.

 

they did block the Tory boundary changes , even if it was done out of spite rather than motive , possibly if they hadn't the Tories would be looking at a majority this time around

 

I'm not a fan of tactical voting , it's done by the uber clever to show how clever they are when in reality anyone that thinks a tactical vote to remove Cameron and replace him with Miliband needs a straight jacket  .. yeah yeah I get that Cameron is lazy and a bit of a liability at times , but at least replace him with some vaguely competent whilst being oh so clever 

 

some study estimates up to 9% of voters mark their ballot papers tactically, influencing the results of about 45 seats in the process .... that could make a big difference this time around

 

that swapvote website is the latest left wing brainchild to actively encourage tactical voting and of course in no way allows for any manipulation 

 

Edited April 28, 2015 by tonyh29

[tonyh29]

Lolz at those who would even consider voting Green Party. They are totally bonkers. The policies are bordering from the ridiculous to barking mad.

Welcome to Villatalk , home of the bonkers ,  ridiculous and barking mad

[lapal_fan]

Lolz at those who would even consider voting Green Party. They are totally bonkers. The policies are bordering from the ridiculous to barking mad.

 

depending on your viewpoint - they all are.

 

#donnieformod

[blandy]

 

No, it's not PFE. I genuinely utterly loathe the tories. (yes I know they don't actually eat actual babies*), but I can't think of one single tory politician who makes me think "hold on they're alright, actually" The nearest I can come up with is Ken Clarke, I suppose. He's about the only one who doesn't scare me senseless with the lunatic outpourings of the rest of them. But the rest of them have kind of cast himaside.

They are incompetent, ideologically driven, high on entitlement and a misplaced sense of superiority. They're the worst option for government that we could realistically get. Horrible lying, devious words removed.

*yes they do.

out of interest how many Tory MP's have you met , actually spoken to in coming to this conclusion ... because unless your answer is all of them , I can't see how you can come up with your rather absurd comment

 

If someone said what you have but replaced the words Tory with Black people or Gay people  ... you'd think that person was ill informed and rather ignorant  , wouldn't you ?  I get your sentiment , but not your execution of it   .;.. sorry ,

 

A small handful.

Listen, the way I see it is like this, Tony. They go on my TV and my Radio and go in my paper presenting themselves (as do all the others) for our support/rejection/judgement. That's the democratic part, or should be - where every 5 years we get to judge them on what they've done, what they've said, what we think they'll do next and so on.

With the greatest respect, equating my [highly negative] views on politicians standing for election, with racism or homophobia is to miss the point entirely.

I am judging and commenting on them based entirely on their words and actions, not on their ethnicity or, er sexy-time preferences.

 

When Grayling comes on the telly having made a massive arse up of the Law system - I see him as an incompetent word removed, based on the evidence,

When Gove comes on...talking utter sh*te ..I want to do violence.

Ditto, Osborne, Cameron, May, and all the rest of them. Like I say the only one that doesn't make me cross is Clarke.

When a mother's terminally ill child dies, and she then gets hit with a £700 bedroom tax cut, when people are driven to suicide by the ATOS work assessments, when they change the law to allow fracking companies to operate beneath our homes, without our consent, when they chop up Nimrods, when they try and do war in Syria, when they try and wheedle through TTIP, when they appoint Andy Coulson and the rest of the slimy scumbags as advisers, when they secretly abet Murdoch, when they re-organise the NHS after promising not to. When they try and take credit for things that are nothing to do with them. All those things and many many make me loathe and detest them.

Whether they are personable or not to my face or anyone else's, their actions and deeds mean I loathe them.

Yes other parties and other politicians can be just about as bad, at times, but for consistent across the decades and the breadth of their party, all round baby-chomping, they're the worst.

[Stevo985]

Lolz at those who would even consider voting Green Party. They are totally bonkers. The policies are bordering from the ridiculous to barking mad.

I won't vote for them I don't think.

 

The spectrum test tends to align me with them, but I don't particularly align myself to anything they say. And Natalie Bennet is probably the least inspiring leader I've ever seen.

 

If I did vote for them it would be a protest vote really. 

Doesn't matter in the end. They'll all do the same shit anyway.

[Condimentalist]

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

 

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

 

Their major headliner IIRC was proportional representation. They got their way with that but only a referendum for alternative vote, which nobody wanted anyway so the vote failed.

 

And since then they've failed to keep any kind of control on the really unpopular Tory actions such as de facto privatisation of the NHS and charging for education.

 

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

I'm stuck between an idealistic vote with the Greens or a tactical vote with Labour to get Conservative out.

 

Because they don't have many hardline supporters like Labour or the Tories. Because people are not used to coalition governments and ludicrously expected them to be able to deliver their entire manifesto. Because it has suited the Tory party and their friends in the media to make the Lib Dems the whipping boys of government to take the heat off their own performance. 

[tonyh29]

 

yup, me too.

 

tends to be them, or libdems generally.

 

I've voted lib dem, labour & conservative perviously - Green this time.

I'm genuinely beffudled that anyone could vote both Tory and Green in a pretty short lifespan. The Tories and the Greens are so far apart ideologically and practically as to make it a really absurd revelation.

 

Unless of course you didn't know what you were doing previously, and have now had some sort of epiphany?

 

 

Depends on what policy you deem important though  ....

 

Immigration the Greens aren't that far away from the Tories ( or indeed most of the other parties )

 

EU - don't the Greens also promise a referendum on Britain's EU membership ?

 

 

IF ( admittedly a big if) they are the only policies that you base your decision on then ( hello Ukip)  then arguably you could easily flip between the two  

[blandy]

 

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

Because they don't have many hardline supporters like Labour or the Tories. Because people are not used to coalition governments and ludicrously expected them to be able to deliver their entire manifesto. Because it has suited the Tory party and their friends in the media to make the Lib Dems the whipping boys of government to take the heat off their own performance. 

 

That's definitely part of it, but I think there's another part as well. I think a large number of LD supporters 5 years ago were of the view that they were a left leaning, "nice" party, who cared about the environment and the young and were pro europe and kind of open in outlook.

 

Then they got into bed with the Tories and bad things happened. Bad things that LD voters most certainly didn't want to happen. People felt betrayed, basically, and the tuition fees thing has been such a weight on them, because it's like a beacon of that betrayal.

[lapal_fan]

 

 

yup, me too.

 

tends to be them, or libdems generally.

 

I've voted lib dem, labour & conservative perviously - Green this time.

I'm genuinely beffudled that anyone could vote both Tory and Green in a pretty short lifespan. The Tories and the Greens are so far apart ideologically and practically as to make it a really absurd revelation.

 

Unless of course you didn't know what you were doing previously, and have now had some sort of epiphany?

 

 

Depends on what policy you deem important though  ....

 

Immigration the Greens aren't that far away from the Tories ( or indeed most of the other parties )

 

EU - don't the Greens also promise a referendum on Britain's EU membership ?

 

 

IF ( admittedly a big if) they are the only policies that you base your decision on then ( hello Ukip)  then arguably you could easily flip between the two  

 

But I'm not voting for their policies, I'm voting for them in a vain attempt to pull the other parties in line with my own thinking.

[smetrov]

 

 

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

Because they don't have many hardline supporters like Labour or the Tories. Because people are not used to coalition governments and ludicrously expected them to be able to deliver their entire manifesto. Because it has suited the Tory party and their friends in the media to make the Lib Dems the whipping boys of government to take the heat off their own performance. 

 

That's definitely part of it, but I think there's another part as well. I think a large number of LD supporters 5 years ago were of the view that they were a left leaning, "nice" party, who cared about the environment and the young and were pro europe and kind of open in outlook.

 

Then they got into bed with the Tories and bad things happened. Bad things that LD voters most certainly didn't want to happen. People felt betrayed, basically, and the tuition fees thing has been such a weight on them, because it's like a beacon of that betrayal.

 

 

I also think for years - the Lib dems could conjure up policies and discussion documents, make idealistic speeches ....it never mattered they weren't ever going to be brought to book

[tonyh29]

 

 

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

Because they don't have many hardline supporters like Labour or the Tories. Because people are not used to coalition governments and ludicrously expected them to be able to deliver their entire manifesto. Because it has suited the Tory party and their friends in the media to make the Lib Dems the whipping boys of government to take the heat off their own performance. 

 

That's definitely part of it, but I think there's another part as well. I think a large number of LD supporters 5 years ago were of the view that they were a left leaning, "nice" party, who cared about the environment and the young and were pro europe and kind of open in outlook.

 

Then they got into bed with the Tories and bad things happened. Bad things that LD voters most certainly didn't want to happen. People felt betrayed, basically, and the tuition fees thing has been such a weight on them, because it's like a beacon of that betrayal.

 

Even though by and large its now seen that tuition fees were a good thing  ...the  reforms have not just helped universities, but they have done more for the poorest students ...and  the evidence bears it out. 

[choffer]

 

 

 

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

Because they don't have many hardline supporters like Labour or the Tories. Because people are not used to coalition governments and ludicrously expected them to be able to deliver their entire manifesto. Because it has suited the Tory party and their friends in the media to make the Lib Dems the whipping boys of government to take the heat off their own performance. 

 

That's definitely part of it, but I think there's another part as well. I think a large number of LD supporters 5 years ago were of the view that they were a left leaning, "nice" party, who cared about the environment and the young and were pro europe and kind of open in outlook.

 

Then they got into bed with the Tories and bad things happened. Bad things that LD voters most certainly didn't want to happen. People felt betrayed, basically, and the tuition fees thing has been such a weight on them, because it's like a beacon of that betrayal.

 

Even though by and large its now seen that tuition fees were a good thing  ...the  reforms have not just helped universities, but they have done more for the poorest students ...and  the evidence bears it out. 

 

 

Now there's a claim that needs substantiating!

[smetrov]

 

 

 

 

I was a rabid Lib Dem supporter last election as they had the best policies and alignment of the visible (to me) parties and it seemed there was a genuine movement towards them so we could get a major political shift.

Then they found themselves in the awkward position of having to form a coalition with the Tories or leave the country with a hung parliament.

Can anyone explain why they're now so hated by their previous supporters other than failing to stop the Tories doing what the Tories do?

 

Because they don't have many hardline supporters like Labour or the Tories. Because people are not used to coalition governments and ludicrously expected them to be able to deliver their entire manifesto. Because it has suited the Tory party and their friends in the media to make the Lib Dems the whipping boys of government to take the heat off their own performance. 

 

That's definitely part of it, but I think there's another part as well. I think a large number of LD supporters 5 years ago were of the view that they were a left leaning, "nice" party, who cared about the environment and the young and were pro europe and kind of open in outlook.

 

Then they got into bed with the Tories and bad things happened. Bad things that LD voters most certainly didn't want to happen. People felt betrayed, basically, and the tuition fees thing has been such a weight on them, because it's like a beacon of that betrayal.

 

Even though by and large its now seen that tuition fees were a good thing  ...the  reforms have not just helped universities, but they have done more for the poorest students ...and  the evidence bears it out. 

 

 

Now there's a claim that needs substantiating!

 

 

As a parent thats not my experience.

 

It turns the universties into organisations that hunt students @ £9k a time ..

[omariqy]

Even though voting for the Tories would probably best suit me financially, I think I would self combust if I did.  I think I will be spoiling my ballot as things stand.