Election Quandry.

[Lampman]

With the General Election being pencilled in for May,I find myself in a quandary;as a lifelong Labour voter, I now find myself a little disillusioned with Mr.Blair and co.
What do I do, vote for the Party regardless or not vote(I am reluctant to do this.)
I cannot vote Tory and the other shower would be a wasted vote.
Or is that the answer,register my protest by voting LIbDem?

[Doug]

Lampman a wasted vote occurs when someone say's it’s a wasted vote if I vote for the other lot. A vote is a vote, its not a case of who you’ve vote for, but the fact you voted. The only time a vote is wasted is when you don’t vote at all. Vote in line with your beliefs and make your vote count.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I am like Lampman......I cannot see that any of the main political parties has our interests at heart. I do not believe a word that they utter.......and already the 'sucks ya boo' stuff has started.....using Mrs Dixon (the lady who had her shoulder op cancelled a number of times) to illustrate a point is scurrilous......and today Labour releases the figures for MRSA infections in hospitals......are we to believe these figures or have the Labour Party found a way of burying some of the statistics.
They are all a shower of s****!

[wayneyboy1942]

I'd never tell anyone who they should vote for.I'll be voting Labour.People died and went to prison so that we can get the vote so in my veiw even if you spoil the ballot paper you should vote,I've alway's said that a box should read "none of them" and I'd bet that they would get a lot of votes,so make an effort!

[Margaret Pilkington]

Oh I'm not saying that I won't use my vote.....only that I can't put a stick between the parties......I am thoroughly disillusioned with the mob that are in power at the moment......and as for Teflon Tony......I could knock his grinning teeth so far down his throat......I'd better not say anymore! You never know there might be someone at the door any minute to lock me up.

[Doug]

This shouldn’t be allowed to slip into an election party broadcast for any particular party, but it would be nice to see how the wide spectrum of folks on here feel about today’s parties. HBC aside Labour have had the opportunity of two terms and I don’t believe they’ve enough to justify a third term. I don’t like Michael Howard and I’m not too sure about the Lib Dems, The idiots that are on the fringe may well find themselves in the ascendant and that I find disturbing, and it’s that that worries me about the main stream; they have failed to recognise the threat on the fringes and as a result they have, in my opinion, belittled British politics and undermined the hearts of a Nation.

[entwisi]

What would be nice is a ' None of the above is fit to govern' box. Let the politicians see what we really think. If they are so confidant that they are doing a good job the option above should hold no fear for them. If however it was available and >50% voted for it them it should be clear that we have had enough of the current crop of spongers and it was time for people who stood up for their constituents to come to the fore.

My 2p anyway

[WillowTheWhisp]

I too feel disillusioned and doubt that anyone is worth voting for. It will have to be a case of "the best of a bad lot"

I do agree that we should vote because we are lucky to live in a country where we have the freedom to do so but it's not easy to know how to vote these days.

From what we've been told about local government on here too i'm even more disillusioned there.

[grannyclaret]

i have always voted labour ,but found we were better off with the index linked pay ,i think that was tory ,but then they look after the rich and dont care about the poor ,and i wont say what i thought about maggie ,but i reckon it will be a long time before we get another woman prime minister ,then i think about the fox hunting debate and reckon if the tory,s get in ,it will never be completely banned ,its so cruel ,,,so i will have to have a good long think about it ,i will probably vote labour again .old habbits die hard ,may be i will regret it ,i dont know .

[Acrylic-bob]

I'm with entwisis on this one, It would indeed be interesting to see how many votes a candidate called "None of the Above" would poll. Anyone got a couple of grand spare to sponsor me with?

Seriously though, If you are disillusioned with the available choices, there is always the option of writing the word "ABSTAIN" across your ballot paper. It would have to be recorded as a spoiled ballot. Imagine the shock to our political masters should the number of spoiled ballots exceed the number of ballots properly cast.

As wayneyboy says, People died to earn us the right to vote, it would seem churlish and ungrateful, not to exercise that right.

Given that the election has yet to be called and the election campaigns have yet to begin in ernest, and considering what has been said so far, I think that we are about to be treated to one of the most vicious mud slinging fests that we have seen for quite some time.

A thing to remember through all the performance and hoo ha to come is that we are being asked to select one person to represent us in Parliament. Will it be Greg Pope, who, by his own admission, cannot work out a train timetable and appears more concerned about the welfare of goldfish than anything else, or will it be someone else. We should be considering which of the prospective candidates can best put forward the case for the borough in the new Parliament.

[park381]

Originally Posted by Acrylic-bob

A thing to remember through all the performance and hoo ha to come is that we are being asked to select one person to represent us in Parliament. Will it be Greg Pope, who, by his own admission, cannot work out a train timetable and appears more concerned about the welfare of goldfish than anything else, or will it be someone else. We should be considering which of the prospective candidates can best put forward the case for the borough in the new Parliament.

I think we should all see ourselves as lucky, lucky that PB's name will not be on the ballot sheet, as it was in previous elections, may be that's why we have an MP that can't work out a train time table yes entwisis's idea is a good one

[Acrylic-bob]

Or look at it another way: if you were interviewing someone for a job which paid £178,000 a year in salary and expenses, wouldn't you want to ask a few pointed questions of the candidates?

Wouldn't you want to choose someone who could actually do the job and produce quantifiable results?

Would you be likley to choose someone solely on the basis of what clubs he or she may be a member of?

I know what I would do!

[Lampman]

Well a varied response,nice to see I am not the only one pondering.Yes of course it is our earned right to vote,my parent's generation would be appalled at anyone not wishing to.
I will just have to keep an open mind until the day,perhaps the answer would be for Tony to join Cherie on the lecture circuit and leave someone who has a renewed interest in leading the party(and the country).
On the rare occasion I see televised Parliament,I shudder to see the howling masses who represent us.
At the end of the day it all boils down to jobs for the boys(and girls) anyone with a genuine interest in bettering our lot is soon corrupted into Whitehall speak.
Perhaps one day we will see a change,but from which direction will it come?

[vorlon24]

I will never ever vote for Labour - it looks like previous votes have been justified (except the last one when I didn't vote!)

Lib Dem are looking quite good at the moment - scrap Council Tax and introduce a local income tax, based on affordability. They always seems to mention that.

It would be interesting to see how they would manage at the top, but I can't see it happening somehow

[WillowTheWhisp]

Originally Posted by Lampman

Perhaps one day we will see a change,but from which direction will it come?

We could have done worse than have Lord Sutch as PM - at least he admitted to being a Monster Raving Loony.