"I've always been a lifelong (insert part of choice) voter....."

M0nica. Financially competent? Osborne borrowed more money than all Labour govts put together! Tories - backed by business (money). Labour - unions (people). Strangely I watched a council planning meeting yesterday, all Tory I found out afterwards, all the residents' objections were ignored/they're lying, business got what they wanted. Ironically they put some 'restrictions' on the company with no way of monitoring that company was abiding by them.

I have done that in both the polls for police commissioners. I am utterly opposed to this system of elected police commissioners but will always take part in any election for public office.

There's nothing to stop you writing "none of the above" on your ballot paper Esspee but it would count as a spoiled paper.

I wish there was the choice to vote for "none of the above" on the ballot paper. I take the right to vote seriously but am sick to death of all political parties at the moment.

I would never 'not vote', though there have been times I have thrown it away on a no hoper in despair. I have read manifestos (for what they are worth), looked at past history, considered personalities (they do matter when negotiating on the world stage), chosen locally trustworthy candidates and listened ad nauseam to TV and radio presentations. I recognise how 'clever' some of these potentional leaders are (or not, as the case may be). Listening to world news as well as ours it seems as though the general populace are tired of the constant schoolyard bickering and blaming and want something new, but could that be 'Trump'?

Well, no matter how I voted in the past and whoever governed us, my life remained hard. I had to work hard and battle to support my family. Breaks and holidays were rare, treats few and far between. I did better than my parents for which I thank free education for baby boomers. Now I am retired and still supporting family Luckily so far I am not one of those pesky 'aging population' damaging the NHS and Social Care though this may well come. I have had three children and several life maintaining treatments on the NHS already though, to be fair.

So, still not a clue who to vote for. I wonder what would happen if enough independent candidates stood and won a majority. Is that possible? OK rant over. No further comment!

I did the quiz Henbane gave a link to.

I was not surprised to end up with more views in common with Labour than any other party, nor that the Conservatives were the other end of the spectrum, but it made me realise the extent to which it is the policies we do not agree with in a party that decides our vote, not the other way round. I cannot envisage a situation where I would vote Labour because of the things I disagree with, so I will probably vote for the runners up, the Lib Dems, as usual.

Scones, jam and cream are Serious Issues phoenix.

I do agree about the need for an open mind on politics and in fact many things. I agree with many of the comments made by Day 6.
I fear for the Labour Party which has been my natural heartland for much of my adult life.
I also worry about tribalism.

Maybe I should stick to dog walking and gardening.
Except, I just posted on the should I vote conservative thread - can't keep away!

Anglo Catholics belong to the CofE don't they? It's just what we used to call "high church"

Thank you for your post, dbDB77 , you have encapsulated just what I was getting at in the OP.

One could almost put anything in, not just political allegiance, I remember a conversation with someone a bit older than me, who said "I have never cooked or eaten bubble and squeak, my mother never made it, so nor will I!"

As I said, insert anything, "my dad never went in a plane, I have always worn only brown shoes, I put my left leg in my trousers first, I put the jam on the scone before the cream"

Perhaps not with that last one, could open up the whole cream tea debate, and I don't think we could cope

According to St Google --Teresa May is the first British Catholic PM
As an Anglican Catholic, not Roman Catholic.

Ignore. Me forgot to refresh!!!
I was completely unaware that religion came into politics and prime ministerial position
If so Complete madness!

Not sure what you mean paddyann re PM?

Great post Day6

Interesting OP phoenix.

Times have changed so I confess that I am a floating voter. I want common sense to prevail, as well as justice and, dare I say it, a party that appreciates MY position. Ducks down behind parapet

Over the years what the main parties stand for has changed so much. The Conservative Party has moved right into the centre, for the first time in it's history, more so than at any other time. The Labour Party has in recent years moved out to the far left. Political commentators agree.

I am from a very working class background. My home town was industrial and full of factories. Labour and the Unions had power and to vote any other way was....well...beyond the pale.

That town now has lost it's factories and business and science parks tend to be the places where people work. Office blocks went up, people started commuting. Men no longer wear flat caps and cycle to work. Women also make up a large percentage of the workforce. The way we live has changed beyond belief since I was a child.

Jobs still need protecting, as do workers' rights. We still need health care and schools and decent transport systems, and we need houses, both for those who can afford to buy and for those who can't. However, people now have aspirations. This working class girl and her siblings were educated. We went on to further education. We got careers. All done by graft and not by having parents who could afford top schools. The local comp did for us, and we got on. We worked, saved, married, had children, bought property. It was a struggle, but we did it, because we had aspirations.

This happened to many families. We moved up. Every single one of us could probably say that we have moved on (for better) over the last half century, unless of course we've been blighted by ill health, disability or sheer bad luck.

We have much to thank Labour Party reformers for, but the party cannot rest on past glories. It must be in tune with social change. Labour isn't moving in the right direction because swathes of traditional Labour supporters want the lives they have NOW recognised as well. Many who were supporters are now home-owning, hard working, aspirational people who save and want the very best for their children and for the fruits of their labour to bring them rewards.

This is why for me, a party that recognises all strata, the weak as well as the strong of society works best. My Dad voted for Labour all his life, but his children don't have to wear his flat cap as a symbol of solidarity. He worked so we could get on, not remain stuck in a factory town of the '60s.

My peers have moved on too; many who ate bread and dripping as hungry children work as doctors, solicitors, teachers - products of the days when we HAD to work at school, gain an education or else! Our backgrounds mean we appreciate struggle, but we want our futures to recognise our efforts.

Which party represents that massive sector?

This is why I am a floating voter. Political rigidity isn't for me. I could go right or left, but prefer the centre. I am listening to both May and Corbyn, but not Farron who is pro EU.

Phoenix - I was listening to the Today programme this morning and was reminded of your thread when I heard a man say "I've never voted Tory, I'm not voting Tory this time and I never will vote Tory."
I'm not questioning his politics - he could have said any political party.
As you said "Just because something has always been done, does it have to continue?"
As the old saying goes "Minds are like parachutes - they function best when open"

Good to read your post Coco51. Policies matter but also it's the actions, ethos and philosophy. I would be happier with a different Labour leadership. I wonder if the outcome of this election will be as dire as predicted. If so, could we hope for an alliance of the social democratic, left of centre parties. I'd be distressed to see the Labour part split but long for a more left of centre approach to the difficulties our country faces.

I think it is probably better to think about policies than personalities. I have been a (shock, horror) Conservative voter for most of my life, not because that was the way my parents voted, but because I was brought up to believe that we were a 'certain type of person' i.e. poor but very respectable. We lived in council houses but were not like 'those people'.

At 20 I married a man who became bank manager and have lived in mortgaged houses ever since. I began to think that we were in that middle kind of income to be hurt by both Labour and Conservative policies, but still Conservative.

A few setbacks and many years later (I divorced the bank manager) I am still in a relatvely comfortable position, but have seen the benefits side of life, and find myself an ardent supporter of Jeremy Corbyn. I abhor what the Tories are doing to the most vulnerable people, and the way they think it is a huge joke when Corbyn highlights the plight of working people relying on foodbanks. I worry about what is happening to the NHS and what kind of future my grandchildren will have when everything is privatised.

I could have written your post, Cindersdad except I vote conservative in a town which has always been red or dead (and much good that has done us over the years!).

Do a bit of research there's plenty of info around and see if by voting for the candidate (except ukip) who is likely to come second might unseat the Tory!!

Like many I live in a constituency where the same party always gets in. You could say my vote is wasted as my preference is for a different candidate who is more likely to be 3rd rather than 1st or 2nd. However, I live in forlorn hope that one day my vote will count even under FPTP. Currently the Polls indicate an increased Tory majority which is not what I would like but there is nothing that I can do to prevent it.

A vote for a winning candidate whom I don't support is in my view wasted.

Just to say thank you all for the posts, I was almost in 2 minds about starting the thread, but it seems to have been received in the spirit in which it was meant

I don't vote for the same party every time. It depends on their Manifesto. Locally how they work with residents. Unfortunately, where I live is "a one party state".

My father was Secretary to the local Labour party in the 1950's. He left when he found the Treasurer had spent all the subscriptions.

My DM wasn't really interested in politics. Married to my DF for 40 years, she voted Tory because he did. Remarried at 62 she the voted Labour because my DSF did.
I'm finding it very difficult because I'd rather vote for trained chimps than some parties, but I'm not confident about "my" party's ability.

I found this very enlightening about which parties were most aligned with one's beliefs (and amazingly accurate in the detailed breakdown of my position on various axes):

uk.isidewith.com/en/political-quiz

However I came out with "SNP" - not awfully useful as a guide to who to vote for as I live in Surrey!

I shall wait for the manifestos before making my mind up, although as I have said before I live in a safe Tory seat with a dreadful MP who gets re-elected election after election because of the party he represents, not because of the person that he is ( if that was the criteria, he would have been ousted 20 years ago the useless git). I too am mystified by the allegiance that people feel to any one party; my vote is used to try to elect who represents my beliefs the most closely, although in this case I may vote tactically to try to get rid of himself. All parties have something to appeal to me; I like the Labour party approach to NHS, to schools, but dislike their policies of envy such as taxing the rich, and their definition of rich as being anyone earning in excess of £70,000. Personally I do not care what people are paid, none of my business, and it is for the market to decide ( Tory in me). I do however think that tax should be paid on what a person is paid, no tax avoidance, no breaks. Like some of the Green party policies, but some of them are weird to be frank. Would not vote UKIP if my life depended on it. Can UKIP have a lifelong following as they have only been around for a few years I wonder?