General election 2010

[naraht]

Anyone following the general election news? Expecting a hung parliament? Hoping for a hung parliament? I thought it might be nice to have a discussion thread...

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UK Polling Report
Electoral Calculus

Comments

[cesy]

Hoping for the Lib Dems to do well - I've been following miss_s_b's discussions on the subject.

[hivesofactivity]

I'm starting to get that rather sick kind of feeling when we don't know what Friday morning might bring - I just daren't allow myself to be too hopeful about anything at this stage. (I'm looking forward to the C4 election night coverage, though.)

[laitaine]

There are two things I want from this election:

1) for people to GO AND VOTE!
Democracy is important and we are so lucky that we do get to have a say, it should not be taken lightly or brushed off as unimportant. And it's really not that long since women fought and fought and fought (and died) so I could have my vote - I'm damn well going to use it.

2) for people to NOT vote for the BNP.
Don't think this one really needs explaining!

[scifisentai]

Agreed. I think low turnouts really don't help except to give extremist parties more of a foothold. :(

[hivesofactivity]

Absolutely - and of course, the two are linked. It's really important - extra important, if that's possible - that people turn out to vote in areas where the BNP is showing support, in order not just to keep them out of office, but to show how proportionately small their real support is.

(I'm really, horribly worried about Barking.)

[laitaine]

Barking terrifies me. I was appalled when we got BNP MEPs and I'm hoping against hope that we won't add BNP MPs to that list.

And yes, the two are very firmly linked. I am of the opinion that if someone doesn't vote, they're saying I don't care who gets in. It says "I don't care if it's Labour or the Lib Dems or the Tories that win", which is possibly the point they are trying to make by not voting. It also says "I don't care if it's the BNP", which I am not cool with.

I get people feeling frustrated with the choices they have but, for me, not voting at all sends the wrong message.

[susanreads]

Yes, definitely!

I'm hoping for a hung parliament. In the interests of which, I should vote for my LibDem incumbent MP, but he's been pissing me off lately and there's a candidate whose policies I actually agree with, so Green it is. Probably.

[scifisentai]

I'm ignoring it all right now because I'm tired of hearing about it. That said, I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing tomorrow, because while I know who I want to vote for in the local election, I don't want her party to win the GE as I don't think any one of them will be better than the other two.

I do think there'll be a big turnout, though, because a lot of people seem tired of Labour and want a change. Whether that will turn into a hung Parliament, I don't know.

It does amuse me, however, that in my area it's being portrayed as Labour versus the Tories when the Lib Dems are probably doing better than they ever have before. I think, even if Parliament's hung, the Lib Dems will do better than they have in past GEs, if for no other reason than because people are tired of the other two parties.

And, um, that was a long ramble that I'm not even sure makes sense. Sorry. >.>

[laitaine]

I think, even if Parliament's hung, the Lib Dems will do better than they have in past GEs, if for no other reason than because people are tired of the other two parties.

Yeah, and I think we need this - it'll be good to have three main parties, rather than two with a third that's trying hard to be taken seriously.

[scifisentai]

Agreed. I'm undecided if PR would be a better system than the one we have now, but a choice between two parties that aren't really that different isn't much of a choice anyway. A bit of diversity would be nice. :)

[hivesofactivity]

I'm no fan of the current Labour administration, believe me, but if you really think that there's not much difference between them and the Tories, then you are in for a bit of a nasty surprise if the Tories get a majority tomorrow.

[scifisentai]

Hm, perhaps I phrased that badly. From what I've seen of the campaigning - admittedly not much - a lot of the rhetoric seems the same, cracking down on immigration, being tough on terrorism and so on and so forth and I also think the Labour Party is a lot more conservative than it used to be, which is what informed that comment.

Thinking back on what I have seen around, that comment was probably not as well-thought as it could have been.

[aphenine]

I'm hoping the Lib Dems will do well. I'm hoping for a hung parliament.

I can't see the Conservatives being good for the country because they're using policies that are a bit neoliberal. I thought the whole point of the Credit Crunch was that it was one big exercise in proving why neoliberalism doesn't work. I'm not sure that artificially stimulating the economy with another bubble is the way to get out of a recession, especially when you're cutting the public sector to do it.

I can't see Labour being good for the country because they seem to be dead set on perpetuating their policies. They seem to want to keep control of the public sector with massive bureaucracy and seem hell bent on artificially inflating the economy with public spending rather than creating an artificial bubble like the Tories. It still won't work.

In the end, the Lib Dems represent the middle path to me. They say that you can cut bureaucracy without going right-wing and wiping away the social, health and environmental controls that keep business from turning cancerous while at the same time insisting on some discipline with public spending to avoid the worst of left-wing extremes.

I'm only annoyed that they are still trying to be competitive in their policies with the other two, which means that like the Tories and Labour, we're being lied to, although not to the same degree as the other parties. It kind of makes me want to take the advice of the UKIP poster I got through the door, with the title "Sod the Lot". It makes a lot of sense that, when all the main electable parties are lying to you and you can't trust any of them, to give none of them an outright majority and give the swing vote to the most trustworthy.

I'm also getting heartily sick of the election. I wish it were over by now. None of the parties are saying anything new or interesting, and all they're doing is drilling their messages home. I switch on the news and feel I'm being brainwashed... Also, my father's a Lib Dem councillor and a good politician, so I feel obliged to help him get elected and deliver leaflets... :( So... many... leaflets... *sobs*

[draigwen]

One of my best mates is a big Conservative supporter. I'm heavily involved in our union and it's always difficult discussing political subjects with her! Fortunately I've avoided political subjects in the run up to the election. I'm not sure she'd appreciate me fan-girling Nick Clegg. :D

[fizzyblogic]

I'm crossing everything for the Lib Dems to get in. It's the first time in my life that my party might actually do well! COME ON LIB DEMS! They might not take away my livelihood! Really, though I'm holding out all my hope for the Lib Dems, I just want a government who won't screw over the long-term disabled like me who need benefits to survive. :/ :/ :/