Who will you be voting for in the General Election?

[directhex]

I miss out on voting by one month, so I ticked on behalf of my friend. She's voting Labour but only 'strategically' in order to not let the tories in, which she probably would do by voting lib dem. (if that makes any sense)

that seems to be one of the main points of both the conservatives AND labour - vote for us! if you vote lib dem, the others will get in!

i also recall that if everyone who agreed with lib dem policies voted for them, we'd have a ginger prime-minister

i live in one of the safest tory seats in the country - will i vote tactically? will i ****. i'm voting for my principles, for whom i want as leader of the country

[Tifosi]

i live in one of the safest tory seats in the country - will i vote tactically? will i ****. i'm voting for my principles, for whom i want as leader of the country

which is?

[directhex]

which is?

not the bloody tories, and not "new" labour!

[Stewart]

Ah, BNP then.

[0iD]

naa, UKIP

[Elspuddy]

not voteing
3 reasions
1) MY BIRTHDAY IS ON THE SAME DAY !!!
2) some one is going to muck up this country no matter who you vote for
3) see (1)

[Donny John]

Vote Labour :d

[RVF500]

Having looked at the results of the poll on here it would be nice to have that as an actual result on May 5th. With labour trailing miserably in 3rd place (at time of writing).

Why won't I vote labour? probably because I disagree with them on virtually everything. Added to that is the total distrust I have of the personalities in the current govt. Finally because of the total lack of integrity their leaders have.

The lib dems haven't held power since the first world war. I'm far from convinced that they would be an effective govt. The only thing they seem to hold an opinion of for more than 5 minutes is taxation. They want high taxation.

So that leaves the tories. They can run a country and an economy. Ask Gordon, he's lived off the back of the tory economy since he got the job. I agree with more of their policies than I do the other main parties (which isn't really saying that much). If anyone will but the curb on the nanny state they will. They want close ties with Europe but pull up short of total integration. I agree with that. In short that's where I will be placing my vote.

If I were to register a protest vote it would be with the party most likely to dislodge those I wanted to protest against. Hence I would vote tory given that scenario too.

No matter who wins, there won't be an Englishman at the top in the English parliament building.

Actually my wife will be doing it for me. Cuz I'm in sunny Malaysia working on a project and will be for a few months yet. What's the weather like back there?

[Russ]

its worrying the ammount of young people (ones too young to remember last time they were in power) who want to vote conservative. can you really afford 20% mortgages?


read about how it used to be, and realise how much better it is now... its far from perfect, but i'd vote in bush before i'd vote in conservative

[Russ]

another quick read threw, heard somebody mention targets..

NHS Targets are a GREAT idea. OK, its stress and strain on the staff, but it creates more jobs in Britain. Jobs for nurses, jobs for admin staff, jobs for staff to cook food for the extra staff.

Employment rates are at an all time low, compared to being at an all time high when the tories were in power, higher interest effects everyone. if people cant afford to buy houses, construction companies cant build them, and the ammount of staff needed to build a house (alot, my dads a builder) is a rather large amount. under new labour ive seen my family move from having a qualified out of work bricklayer father, to one who has to turn down work hes so busy, and a mother who earn 10k a year to somebody who earns more than double that.

please just read the manifesto's before you do something stupid

[0iD]

Under this government I've seen the company I work for decline by half. Our market is predominantly the Middle & Far East, therefore the war & the strong pound have dealt us a double whammy. And yes, I'd love to jump ship & change jobs, but thanks to Blair British Engineering has been in a spiralling decline for some time now. There are so very few enineering jobs to be had

Every spare bit of greenfield land I grew up on as a kid is now a housing estate (no joke), full of unaffordable housing. If I didn't already own a house I'd sure-as-hell not be able to buy one now! How the hell are kids going to do it?

My wife, a district nurse has had pay rises postponed & then incremented over a year. She's doing twice as much work for sod all extra pay. And now unsociable hourly rate is being abolished, nurses will stop working crappy shift patterns for no extra incentive. Why does she work crappy shifts? Well we cant afford the stupidly high childcare costs. Not to mention the hostells full of immigants she has to visit, on her own with no protecion. Doctors by-the-way get a police chaperone.

And don't get me started on the CSA, b*stard baby of the last Conservative government, allowed to get out of control by Blair as if it didn't exisit.

TBH as far as who to vote for is concerned i have read the manifesto's, which are a good proportion of false promises & I don't see any one better than the others.

It's disheartening.

[Mrs Dak]

If it came down to "likeability" it would have to be Boris Johnson for Prime Minister all the way - he at least is quite likeable and funny, in a eccentric british way

Boris is our local MP and is currently 'doing the rounds'. He visited the garden centre where eldest Dakette works last weekend.

Boris: Can I count on your vote on May 5th?
Dakette: No.
Boris: Um *runs fingers through mop on head*
Dakette: I'm only 15

She has now changed her mind from probably not bothering to vote in the next election, to maybe voting for Boris as he made her laugh. Last time I voted for the Green candidate coz he had an amusing name (can't remember it now). Makes no odds round here, tory stronghold

[ultimate]

Under this government I've seen the company I work for decline by half. Our market is predominantly the Middle & Far East, therefore the war & the strong pound have dealt us a double whammy. And yes, I'd love to jump ship & change jobs, but thanks to Blair British Engineering has been in a spiralling decline for some time now. There are so very few enineering jobs to be had

It's disheartening.

Dont blame Labour for the engineering decline, because that despotic bitch thatcher got rid of all our assets in this country, engineering,coal,docks,oil,steel and once the that has gone you are left with a barren widerness so how anybody can vote conservative is totally beyond me ans as soon as this election is over and god forbid the cons (good name for them) will ditch their so called leader and they have admitted this, so how can you vote for a non entity with no leader and who would take on a rabble of liars like them?.

[0iD]

And has Blair done anything to abate the decline in all his years in power? I'm not defending the Conservatives, I am indeed old enough to remember well the Thatcher years, but Balair's antpathy toward British heavy industry has equally not gone un-noticed.

[Skii]

Well I won't be voting for anyone now, as it turns out I'm not on the electoral register. Amazingly my efficient local council still manage to send me a regular Council Tax bill though. Glad to see they have their priorities worked out.

[iranu]

Dont blame Labour for the engineering decline, because that despotic bitch thatcher got rid of all our assets in this country, engineering,coal,docks,oil,steel and once the that has gone you are left with a barren widerness so how anybody can vote conservative is totally beyond me ans as soon as this election is over and god forbid the cons (good name for them) will ditch their so called leader and they have admitted this, so how can you vote for a non entity with no leader and who would take on a rabble of liars like them?.

Engineering: Will always be in decline in the west as it's cheaper to make things in the far east. Only specialist high value engineering will survive.

Coal: Paying people to dig it out the ground when no-one wants to buy it is the road to ruin. Painful as it was it had to be done. Newly discovered North sea oil and gas was cheaper (AND PRODUCES LESS GREENHOUSE GAS)

Docks: Felixstowe is Europe's largest container port. More goods are brought into the EU via Britain than any other country.

If you mean ship building then that goes to the cheapest constructor. Most ships are built to a very high standard in the far east where labour and regulation costs are less.

Oil: Ummm BP and Shell contribute massively to tax revenue in this country. They are able to compete globally because they are not nationalised. I.e they have access to markets that they wouldn't otherwise have if they were nationalised.

Steel: Once again why produce steel in UK when there is no market for it. Steel prices have been low for 20 years because of over production. Only recently have we seen steel prices rise - due to demand from China. Even still it is still cheaper to produce it in the far east. Specialist steel products at the high end of the market are still produced here.

Non of the above are "assets" they are simply industries. I would rather have a man working in the services sector than working down a mine. Think about it.

You cannot stop the global market and competition from other countries. Subsidising inefficient industries is the way to ruin.

Maggie Thatcher did more to ensue this country is in the position it is today than anyone else. 4th richest in GDP in the world. Some Barren Wilderness, eh?

I suggest anyone who disputes this does some research into the 70's. The 3 day week and 20% interest rates are a good place to start.

Despotic? She was elected 3 times and is Britain's longest serving (11 years) and only woman PM. Bitch? As soon as you use those terms you lose respect for your argument.

"Some people regard private enterprise as a predatory tiger to be shot. Others look on it as a cow they can milk. Not enough people see it as a healthy horse, pulling a sturdy wagon." Winston Churchill.