British General Election 2010

[Adam]

So the election campaign started early really... How are you intending to vote?

UK is pretty fucked right now and will have a harder time (imo) than the states and rest of europe picking the pieces up after this recession. I couldn't vote Tory or Labour - even tho Nick Clegg, the Lib Dem leader is from sheffield, where I am from and I think they are the closest party with an outside chance of winning, the principle of tactical voting sits wrong with me and I've always voted Green since I've been able to vote (11 years).

But, something about me says I may just vote Lib Dems because a Conservative government scares me too much.

[paul jones]

the UK is fucked up enough for me to care who keeps on fucking it up further

[Adam]

But don't you feel slightly guilty that that sort of attitude brings in a tory government?

Honestly, Cameron scares me more than Thatcher.

[rirv]

Last election (in 2005) I voted Lib Dem. My constituency was Southwark in London which was Lib Dem already so it wasn't the classic "wasted vote" (which is a ridiculous concept anyway, and one which is blocking real multi-party politics).

This time around, I'm seriously thinking about the Green Party, although I need to read up more about them.

Personally, I think Labour - and Gordon Brown in particular - are getting a worse rap than they should be. Brown is a very clever man, he just lacks the charisma of a Tony Blair or the iron image of Lady Thatcher. His current situation is largely inherited from the worldwide economic mess and the leftovers of Blair and his pallying with Bush. I really hate all this "Brown's Broken Britain" shit that the Daily Fail perpetrates.

The Conservatives however are ridiculous. I can't see how anyone would want to vote for a party led by David Cameron. He has zero substance to him and is one big media image. I really, really don't like him. I believe that Labour have more of the brains at the moment, especially since Mandelson has returned, but have lost their way recently and are far too centre/right of centre for my liking.

The Lib Dems have fallen too far off the radar and are making no noise at the moment.

Thus, I'm looking to the Greens perhaps.

[HAL 9000]

I feel that the three main parties are so left-centralist that there is no significant difference between them. In the US, the two politics seems more interesting because the ideological differences between conservatives and liberals are quite extreme. In the UK, all parties seem pretty similar (I suspect all three main parties are further to the left than the Democrats in the US) – it just feels like a vote for personalities so I feel quite indifferent.

Except the Tories say they will shut down my place of work so I hope they don’t win (but I am not worried that they will actually do it). On the other hand, it is probably good for the government to turn over every now and then. I don’t suppose that the outcome will make a noticeable impact on people’s lives – no party is going to shut down major industries or do something extreme with tax or the NHS. If you were to go into a coma for a few years and wake up in 2012, I doubt you could tell who the government was without looking it up.

I think this is probably a fairly healthy sign – it means that the parties are moulding themselves to the democratic wants of the electorate whereas (say in the States) the parties (and their financial backers) more actively try to mould the electorate to their ideologies and wants.

[camo]

I'm a lost and disillusioned Labour voter.

Lib Dems for me then.

[Freebasser]

I will continue to vote Lib Dem.

[Adam]

You know Lib Dem dropped their policy to legalise pot a few years back?

I still dunno, I'd feel bad straying from Green since they are stronger than ever, but if Lib Dem had a chance of winning I should ... Lib Dems are gonna get Sheffield anyway so I suppose my vote might not make a difference in that sense.

[Adam]

Today I actually signed up to become a member of the green party. The main issue for me is the environment and even though they won't ever get in - I think every vote counts when trying to protect the earth.

And that the vote for the 4th party is between Green and BNP, it becomes a no brainer for me. Anything that pushes BNP further back can only be a good thing really.

[Guy Incognito]

round our way there is a real prospect that bnp get in so i have to vote and labour has to be the option but i would rather vote lib dem. last time i did that though the bnp got some seats on our council.
the sad fact is that if everyone who voted on the x factor voted on the election then we might get a better representation of the country

[saz]

old labour needs to come back.