Strategic voting, democracy and change

[Markymark]

I vote for the person who will most reflect my views in Westminster.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

If you've got no interest in politics vote for Labour.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I vote for the person who will most reflect my views in Westminster.

You voting for Roger Melly again then?

 

[Drago]

Vote for the candidate that you think will best represent your interests. Don't be like those chumps (I'm sure you're not) who think they're voting for Cameron/Milliband/the dull bloke, even they they don't actually live in their constituency.

 

[ComedyPilot]

If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've already got.

To get change you first have to change

 

[Hitchington]

I eat my ballot paper in protest.

In an electoral roll?

 

[Gravity Aided]

Trouble is Monty, you might seriously agree with one party or another on ONE thing or another in particular, but find yourself unable to accept a lot of the other stuff that that party backs..i know I do all the time.

What REALLY gets my goat is cheap political promises when an election is looming, they're all doing it and seriously expect voters to be swayed by piffling promises that are just window dressing in the scheme of things.

I gotta say, when the Lib Dems got in, I had high hopes that something might really change, away from the big two...bit naïve eh .
Personally I like the idea of a coalition, keep them in check a bit so's to speak, all this lurching from one ideology to another every 4 to 8 years is bad for the country. All the major institutions (education, NHS. armed services etc) suffer because everything the previous government put in place gets torn up and they start have to all over again..no wonder we still have kids leaving school unable to read etc etc. Christ, they've been on about it for my 40 years as an adult, you'd think we could have got just that right wouldn't you ?

We all need government to represent our unity, rather than our divisions. My own government is most guilty of this, trying to keep people down by playing on what separates them, rather than what unites them. In America, few want to go to any more trouble than turning on the telly and getting Mr. Merdehocks twisted vision of what the ultra-right wants people to have, and the left is too apathetic and arrogant to do anything about it. If we can just get people to get out on bicycles and meet other people and learn their views, perhaps we can find out that the other fellow is not quite so different as we might imagine. I will now yield the floor.

 

[Markymark]

You voting for Roger Melly again then?

B*llocks.

 

[MontyVeda]

I vote for the person who will most reflect my views in Westminster.

Vote for the candidate that you think will best represent your interests. Don't be like those chumps (I'm sure you're not) who think they're voting for Cameron/Milliband/the dull bloke, even they they don't actually live in their constituency.

That's what i'm hoping to do... but supposing the 'purple' party have a sudden upsurge in popularity and have a real chance of getting into downing Street, would my green, yellow or monster raving loony vote help or hinder the purple party?*

*Imaginary scenario and rhetorical question

 

[vernon]

In an electoral roll?

No. I'm on a diet.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Glorious Revolution. You British folk think of everything.

 

[srw]

Not sure who to vote for this time round... all i know is i won't be voting UKIP and am very much tempted to vote against them, which i think they call strategic or tactical voting. but being a bit dim, where would a vote against UKIP best be cast?

I have a general distrust of politicians and often abstain from voting, but that's not going to change anything. How can democracy bring about change when all we can do is vote for politicians?

Here's the constituency stats for Lancaster and Fleetwood, which I assume is where you are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancaster_and_Fleetwood_(UK_Parliament_constituency)

UKIP are most likely to have influence by propping up David Cameron and his silver-spoon Tories, so since Labour was a close second last time I suggest you vote Labour. For most people in the country, a Labour vote is also the one that will give them the best personal outcome - because there's a hairsbreadth between the economic policies of the only two parties with a credible chance of forming a government, but Labour is marginally more likely to enact economic policies that support most of the country, and is also less likely to implement stupidly divisive social policies.

 

[Gravity Aided]

No. I'm on a diet.

Municipal elections have half the calories.

 

[Dave the Smeghead]

For a long time I have said that voting should be compulsory for all eligible, but that there must also be a "none of the above" box included on the ballot paper.
If the "none of the above" gets the majority in any constituency then the election in that constituency must be re-run in 6 weeks with all new candidates. In this way, after a period of turmoil no doubt, we would end up with the people that are actually wanted, and we might start to get politicians that stand by their promises and do their best for their constituents rather than this self serving bunch of no marks that we currently have.
Just don't get me started on the "expenses scandal" (call it what it was the theft of public money by public employees which in any other walk of life would've meant losing your job and possibly lengthy jail time). Every single politician that was sitting through that period should have been removed from post and banned from standing for public office ever again.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

I eat my ballot paper in protest.

In an electoral roll?

No. I'm on a diet.

Has Patrick got a low cal recipe for that?