I might vote Tory but that doesn't make me a bad person

Hey Leticia the silent majority did come to the fore! Talk is cheap- actions speak louder than words. Their votes said it all! Thank God!

Well said Leticia, that's what I was trying to say! We are accused of being uncaring or thick!

Absent, I think trisher's post might show you!

Russell Brand is a good example- he makes a noise and has thousands of supporters and it hides the fact that most people find him a self serving, hypocrite who isn't worth even listening to- a complete irrelevance.

Someone like trisher irritates me no end. It is the whole attitude 'I am right and if only you were educated you would think the same'- with no acknowledgement that people can have the same information and come up with different conclusions. It is always ' they do this because they are conned etc'.

It is a time that the silent majority come to the fore. You can take all the noisy people who voice opinions on the Internet and think that speak for the majority but then you get a secret ballot and find they don't.

If we are going into semantics ok maybe we don't need admit, perhaps recognise would be a bit more acceptable to you. I still have more respect for the old fashioned Tories who don't think the poor matter than the ones who want us to believe that they really care, but accept policies such as the bedroom tax.

Why should they have to admit anything to you, trisher? Are you the thought police? Why should they have to admit exactly why they are voting for any party to anyone?
It would seem to be a very rigid view of other people.
And a good reason for me to choose the exact opposite to you.

I don't mind anyone voting Tory if they will only admit exactly what they are voting for. As I see it there are two sorts of conservatives. The die-hard true blue who is quite often rich and privileged and who doesn't care about the poor or anyone less able to care for themselves, and those voters who have been conned into believing the current party line that if the rich get richer the poor will benefit eventually. Either way the poor, the underprivileged, the disabled and the homeless will suffer. If you are happy to look at the increasing numbers of people using foodbanks, the homeless families living in B&B temporary accommodation because of the lack of social housing and see that continue for the next 5 years well that's fine. But the idea that the conservatives are a caring party-well I'm not the one being conned.

However some people voted in this election in vast areas of the UK, they will have a different administration in charge of many of their public services.
The Scots should be happy in the main with their popular SNP party in the Scottish parliament with what could well be much increased power. And Labour voters in Wales should be happy that they have a Labour administration in charge of some of the main services.

So to those who voted other than Tory and are now complaining about a Tory government in Westminster - Tory voters in Wales could be feeling equally frustrated.

bags your comment about your friends and their views on RB reminds me of the old 'philosophical' saying 'All brains and no common sense' .

I did think that advert he did with the violin was very funny though!

Going back to the OP – why would you think the way you voted in a UK General Election might make you "a bad person? If you had lived in Cambodia and supported Pol Pot, maybe there might have been a bit of an edge – but all you did was vote Tory.

And POGS, although it grieves me to say so, I think the dreaded Peter Soulsby is a really good mayor for Leicester and, if I could, I would vote for him!

At some time we all have had a government that we didn't vote for!

Leicestershire Council will probably always be Labour, the wards are a mix of parties so I guess that's democracy. Can't change it , can't complain about it , it's how it goes.

He proved himself quite simple minded really. Bless.

should have typed "it's one THING"

But he was totally big-headed, and naive, in thinking he could influence the course of the election just by what he said. Did he really think he had such a huge and adoring fan base?

Following on from inane political comments from c'lebs, Lily Allen wonders what other country she could live in now that doesn't have a fascist regime like England under the Tories. I wonder whether she has any idea of what it is like to live under a totalitarian regime where people just disappear off the streets and live in fear of secret police. Maybe socialist Lily didn't learn too much about different types of governments and regimes when she was a pupil at Bedales, but no excuses in differentiating between a democracy and fascist regime now she's all grown up with squillions of followers on Twitter. It's one declaring a political allegiance but I really wish people wouldn't put out bilge like this.

I have a mixture in my family as well kitty. Inlaws are all different as well. We manage to get along and even to laugh at ourselves and at one another.

I did persuade my daughter to tell the conservative candidate who called at her father in law's door yesterday that they were a household of labour supporters. Not sure FIL was amused, but the rest of us deserved a smile as the day unfolded

Sometimes Oxbridge types are clever at particular subjects like maths or chemistry but not all that astute when it comes to other matters like politics.

However I quite like RB and his views even though his mannerisms are irritating. A Guardian columnist today said he reckoned RB might have been right after all when he said voting was a waste of time for some people. It certainly was for me because the Conservatives always get in where I live.

Soutra - you google.

To be fair to Russell Brand's stupidity, he did mean that he now realised that his change of heart about voting (ie "I've changed my mind. That lovely Ed came to visit me. Everyone vote labour") would immediately make the nation do as he recommended. He really thought he could swing the result all on his own.

(I expect you knew that anyway)

Yes please soontobe! It's how you find what to put in the ruddy square brackets and then how to put that in the post.
Tutorial very welcome

Nor do I I am64. I've bred 3 and they are all thoughtful people, concerned about society. We just think the answer lies in different directions. DH has a theory that they are Labour voters as their formative years were during Maggie Thatcher's tenure. Their two younger sisters grew up while Tony Blair was in charge and they vote Tory!

kitty I don't think all Tory voters lead enchanted lives. Nor do I think they are bad people. Some labour voters are not at all on my wavelength. I never could understand why anyone voted labour in 1997 with Tony Blair at the helm. He scared the pants off me then and went on to exceed all my worst expectations.

I think it is interesting to debate different political views and learn from one another. It's probably just a raw time to be doing so, that's all. If I was scared in 1997 I'm terrified now. I hope I will find things won't be as bad as I fear.

Would you like to learn how to do links Soutra?
Not sure I am necessarily the one to teach you, but I used not to be able to do them. But when you know how[I had it all written down for a couple of months before I mastered it automatically], it is not that hard. Just some button pressing.

kitty I'm a Labour voter who doesn't believe all tory voters live enchanted lives. I don't believe all Labour voters are dreadful people either