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No one to vote for if a General Election was called now

(205 Posts)
MamaCaz Fri 29-Mar-19 09:46:10

I am sure that I am not alone in feeling that if a General Election was called right now, I would be totally stumped.

Despite what some will have deduced from my posts on the political threads, I am not a dyed-in-the-wool socialist, and have been known to vote both Labour and Conservative in past elections. I suppose that makes me a floating voter, though I am more swayed by how the party in power has behaved over the last term of office than I am by any unrealistic promises of what wonderful things they 'will' do after the election.
That is why,based on what I saw in Cameron's first term in office, I certainly wasn't prepared to vote Tory in 2015, or in 2017 when May called the election.

But who to vote for?

Labour would almost certainly get my vote now if it had a half-decent leader, but it has become increasingly obvious that under Corbyn, Labour stands little or no chance of winning an election, and even if they did, I think that chaos would ensue. It would be a disaster.
In fact, if they had a decent leader, I think that there is a strong chance that they would already be back in power.

Yet in my area (Leadsom's constituency), Labour is the only party that stands any chance whatsoever (with a miracle) of getting even close to challenging the Conservatives, who got over 62% of the vote in 2017.

The Lib Dems are showing little sign of recovery (is this their own failing, or are the media to blame for not allowing them enough coverage?)

In the absence of a system of PR, a vote for the smaller parties just feels like a totally wasted vote, in my region, anyway!

Everything considered, right now, if pushed, I would probably vote Lib Dem, for the simple reason that they have been against Brexit all along - it really angers me when (mostly) Tory brexiteers claim that all votes for both Labour and Conservative in 2017 count as support for Brexit, as if that was the only policy on their manifestos.

At least voting Lib Dem would remove my vote from that count, which has to be better than nothing.
Without even that option, I would feel totally disenfranchised!

Does anyone else feel the same?

varian Sun 28-Apr-19 19:23:12

Wake up. Vote Liberal Democrat - stop brexit.

OK, you can call this campaigning if you like, but, as a longstanding GNetter, I have always believed that the Politics forums were there for us to say what we believed and let others say what they believe.

Anyone who is unsure can weigh them up and that may help them decide and those who dislike political arguments can turn away and look on other forums.

maryeliza54 Wed 24-Apr-19 22:51:04

Aahhh UKIP the spiritual home of Tommy Robinson, the party that thinks it’s fine to say to a woman MP ‘I wouldn’t even rape you’. Really what’s not to vote for? Bring ‘em on

moggie57 Wed 24-Apr-19 22:40:33

i would vote ukip

Anniebach Wed 24-Apr-19 22:36:13

No council elections in Wales.

If a general election I don’t think I will vote,

maddyone Wed 24-Apr-19 20:51:50

Ironically we won’t be here for the May 2nd local elections as we’re going away, and we decided too late to get a postal vote. If we were here I would vote LibDem but I won’t be.

I’m really thinking about a possible general election. I just don’t know who to vote for, should one arise, and in today’s climate, anything could happen anytime. Perhaps it will become clearer as events progress. I’m not counting any chickens though.

varian Wed 24-Apr-19 19:33:26

The next election on May 2nd is for Councillors. These are people who want to do something constructive to help their communities, not people whose only aim is to destroy co-operation between different types of people for their own selfish ends.

Vote for the candidates which you think have the best interests of your community at heart, not for the destroyers.

In our little patch we can elect two councillors. They will make important decisions which will affect us all - planning permissions, refuse, many other local issues.

We have the choice of five candidates - two Liberal Democrats, two Conservatives and one Labour.

You will notice there are no brexit parties, ukips or other destructive groups.

I will be voting for both of the Liberal Democrats as they are good hard working local people and we have been fortunate to have had an LibDem Council for the last forty years.

maddyone Wed 24-Apr-19 14:10:49

I really struggle with the idea that MPs who have committed an offence should be allowed to continue to sit in the HofCs. It’s just wrong.

Anniebach Wed 24-Apr-19 08:28:38

We may have a by election in Brecon and Radnor . The Tory MP has been found guilty of fiddling the books, he has been fined and has to do community service. He said he will remain MP. He now has to face a recall petition .

Labour hasn’t won this seat since the 70’s, the Libs then held the seat for some years , if there is a by election the Libs may take it back.

crystaltipps Wed 24-Apr-19 07:55:18

I’ll vote Green ( if we have any candidates)

maddyone Wed 24-Apr-19 00:01:05

Well it’s ages since I first posted on this thread, but it’s still going strong, and unfortunately I still don’t have anyone to vote for should there be an election. What to do? I don’t feel I can decide to not vote, I brought up on the mantra, women died so you can vote, and so they did, which is why I feel I must vote, but for whom?

GracesGranMK3 Tue 23-Apr-19 19:36:16

I agree with Varian about the Lib Dems actually giving us a better government than we would have had without them. Who knows who we will have to vote for by the time of the next election. The two larger parties could have split into more than two parties each. I will make up my mind when the time comes.

varian Tue 23-Apr-19 19:17:25

If there had been no coalition agreement in 2010, the most likely scenario would have been another GE which the Tories would have won outright as they were the only party with the funds to fight another election, and so all the appalling Tory policies we have seen since 2015 could have been enacted five years earlier and we would never have seen good LD policies like the Pupil Premium or taking low earners out of income tax happen.

Anniebach Tue 23-Apr-19 19:05:03

Yes, but doesn’t change my views, they kept Cameron in power

varian Tue 23-Apr-19 19:02:25

Have you not noticed how much worse the Tory government has been since 2015?

Anniebach Tue 23-Apr-19 19:01:04

I did think of voting Lib, but can’t forget they kept Cameron in power

varian Tue 23-Apr-19 18:56:47

The government has tried to deliver a disastrous Brexit that only Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson and Jacob Rees-Mogg wanted.

Again and again, they have been aided and abetted by Jeremy Corbyn - who has failed Remainers.

But public opinion has moved on since 2016.

✔︎ Brexit negotiations have failed

✔︎ Public confidence in the government has collapsed

✔︎ And every day, more people are realising how important Britain's membership of the EU is.

The Liberal Democrats want to stop Brexit.

We demand better.

If you want to stop Brexit, use your vote in this election to back the biggest party fighting on your side. Vote Liberal Democrat

varian Thu 18-Apr-19 18:43:21

Every day more and more people are realising how important EU membership is to our country and our future.

And the Liberal Democrats stand ready to STOP BREXIT.

We’ve been fighting Brexit for three years. We were the first to call for a People’s Vote and have led the opposition in Parliament.

We want Britain to remain in the EU because it’s best for our economy, best for our public services and best for the environment.

A vote for the Liberal Democrats in these European elections is a vote to REMAIN in the EU.

GracesGranMK3 Thu 18-Apr-19 00:19:56

Theresa May could put off Queen's speech amid Brexit turmoil

I think that would be a kindness Varian

GracesGranMK3 Thu 18-Apr-19 00:18:24

Yes. But there could be some big changes between now and an election so it may be too soon to start deciding. I certainly don't agree that all MPs are self serving and I am interested to see some of them even talk sense now they have come out of the blanket of the front benches. I would certainly vote whatever happens. (Unless the right have revolted and shot us all which just occasionally doesn't seem so far fetched)

Anniebach Wed 17-Apr-19 21:57:29

Could put off ? we could have a wet / dry summer, someone on this forum could win the lottery ,

varian Wed 17-Apr-19 19:48:59

Theresa May could put off Queen's speech amid Brexit turmoil

www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/apr/17/theresa-may-could-put-off-queens-speech-amid-brexit-turmoil

craftyone Wed 17-Apr-19 06:40:49

Anniebach, we only have 2 of those, so I crossed by one and then spoilt my paper as a protest. Will be brexit in the euro elections or even ukip of there is no brexit candidate but I have had it with the mainstream parties. All have been working together to destroy democracy and we WILL have our say

Anniebach Sun 14-Apr-19 12:10:58

I will not vote unless the Momentum/Corbyn party return to the broad church Labour Party .

Here we only have Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem to vote for, no thank you

Sara65 Sun 14-Apr-19 12:03:37

I agree, although I feel that everyone has a duty to vote, I really don’t know who I could vote for. I’ve voted conservative in every election since I was old enough to vote, but I know I’ll never do it again, can’t stand Johnson or Gove, and absolutely loathe Rhys Mogg. Hate what Corbyn has done to the Labour Party, and not a lot of time for the smaller parties. Time for a new party, the very few decent men and women from all parties

Granny23 Sun 14-Apr-19 09:50:28

I am well aware that many people dismiss opinion polls and bi-elections as just a snapshot at a particular time and place. However I will continue to post them as I come across them because when they all show the same trend/trends, we have to take note of them.

New BMG Poll April 2nd-5th: "Should the UK remain a member of the EU or leave the European Union?”

GB: Remain 55% Leave 45%
Sco: Remain 74% Leave 26%

www.bmgresearch.co.uk/latest-eu-voting-intention-f…/