Changing my mind on politics

[FOOTSKI]

Since i was 18 i have always been keen on politics and have always voted for the same mainsteam party, but now i am coming upto 40 ,having seen how all three mainstream parties have performed i am seriously thinking about changing to a less popular party.

Am i wasting my time or are there more of you out there thats had enough and thinking of a change?

 

[Goldstone Rapper]

Oh, do tell. Which party did you support?

 

[BadFish]

I don't see the point of voting for any major party.

They are all compromised by their alliances and they do not represent those who vote for them.

For what I can see there is now very little difference between their outlooks.

 

[Medwayseagull]

Minority parties will always have the odd result where they do well but if you look at politics over a period of time nothing has really changed dramatically since the growth of the Labour Party in the early part of the last century and the resultant demise of the old Liberal Party. Most of the minority parties are perceived as having too narrow a focus to ever have a long term breakthrough to compete with the mainsteam parties eg UKIP and the Greens. In the latter case although they have done well locally in recent times you then look at their performance at somewhere like Oxford and it supports my view about sustainability - the BNP and Respect are similar. UKIP do relatively well in Euro elections but have little else to show for it.
In general terms people use minority parties to protest about the mainstream parties rather than vote for them as a long term statement of intent.
I guess it is up to you to decide what your real motivation is for changing and whether you will stick with it regardless of outcome over a period of time.

 

[Seagull on the wing]

I always voted for one party,my Dad used to vote for the other mainstream party,but now changed my allegiance to UKIP,we need a party who will stop us being ruled by Europe,most of the other parties promised us an refendrum then changed their mind once they had power.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

I have now come to the conclusion they are all self serving c*nts who do not give a toss about the UK public. I am going to vote UKIP at the council elections.

 

[Stat Brother]

I have now come to the conclusion they are all self serving c*nts who do not give a toss about the UK public.

There's me thinking you were old enough to have worked that out, twenty years ago.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

There's me thinking you were old enough to have worked that out, twenty years ago.

True.

 

[brakespear]

Having been brought up to be a Labour voter and socialist I'm now considering switching my support (such as it is) to the Greens. The decision is a moot point however, as I live in Worthing and the Tories will be voted in whoever I choose.

 

[Stat Brother]

Having been brought up to be a Labour voter and socialist I'm now considering switching my support (such as it is) to the Greens. The decision is a moot point however, as I live in Worthing and the Tories will be voted in whoever I choose.

Sounds like you are keener on the Liberals, Proportional Representation.
Being further along the coast, I suffer with the same problem.

Which does always make me wonder what the result would be if you HAD to vote, by law.

 

[tubaman]

I have now come to the conclusion they are all self serving c*nts who do not give a toss about the UK public. I am going to vote UKIP at the council elections.

That's what winds me up about local elections - they shouldn't be based on party politics. You should be able to vote for the person who will serve your local community best regardless of what political party they shoe horn thems into.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Since i was 18 i have always been keen on politics and have always voted for the same mainsteam party, but now i am coming upto 40 ,having seen how all three mainstream parties have performed i am seriously thinking about changing to a less popular party.

Am i wasting my time or are there more of you out there thats had enough and thinking of a change?

You're not wasting your time if you're voting for a party that you believe represents your point of view or has policies you agree with. Voting for the same party all the time "because you always have / my Dad voted for them" IS a wasted vote. Blindly following a certain party regardless is just daft.

I voted Green last local elections and I guess you could claim it's made a change ( with hindsight not necessarily for the better ). UKIP and the Greens are good examples where a few years ago people might have called a vote for them wasted - as people switch to these parties it has a snowball effect - hence UKIP are now strong in the Euros ( and could well make a break through next local elections ) and the Greens now have a foothold locally and in parliament. That wouldn't have happened if some people weren't prepared to allegedly "waste" their vote.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

That's what winds me up about local elections - they shouldn't be based on party politics. You should be able to vote for the person who will serve your local community best regardless of what political party they shoe horn thems into.

But you can vote for the person who "will serve your local community best regardless of what political party" they belong to - what's stopping you ?

That said, I agree, political parties aren't needed at local level.

 

[FOOTSKI]

Having been brought up to be a Labour voter and socialist I'm now considering switching my support (such as it is) to the Greens. The decision is a moot point however, as I live in Worthing and the Tories will be voted in whoever I choose.

I guess thats why i started this thread, it seems to me alot of people are voting against who we don't want in rather than voting for who we feel suits us.

 

[JBizzle]

I think a large amount of people support political parties like they do their football teams ie. "I support Tory. I'd rather die than vote Labour" or vice versa. As a result, the country is ruled by historical voting patterns and only major "election breakers" like a new and highly popular leader or a thoroughly unliked leader or a massive outbust of popular opinion swing the election result.

The problem with the major parties to me is two fold though: 1) they are all fairly similar in their approach now abd therefore don't offer any real hope of change and 2) the opposition party seems to only have a "nomatter what they say, we'll disagree" policy, which again is narrow minded and self serving.

My final point is that right now, there is not a single party leader or MP that I respect enough to vote for. I trust none of them and as a result am totally disengaged from modern politics.

 

[BadFish]

You're not wasting your time if you're voting for a party that you believe represents your point of view or has policies you agree with. Voting for the same party all the time "because you always have / my Dad voted for them" IS a wasted vote. Blindly following a certain party regardless is just daft.

I voted Green last local elections and I guess you could claim it's made a change ( with hindsight not necessarily for the better ). UKIP and the Greens are good examples where a few years ago people might have called a vote for them wasted - as people switch to these parties it has a snowball effect - hence UKIP are now strong in the Euros ( and could well make a break through next local elections ) and the Greens now have a foothold locally and in parliament. That wouldn't have happened if some people weren't prepared to allegedly "waste" their vote.

I often wonder how many people decide not to 'waste' their vote and stick with the traditional parties. How much difference short and long term would it make if we all voted for who we agreed with most? I agree with the snowball effect, only when parties get more votes are they regarded as more realistic and proper parties. I say vote for what you think and who you think represents you best. Tactical voting is just more political bullshit....and god knows we don't need any more than that.

 

[Brovion]

But you can vote for the person who "will serve your local community best regardless of what political party" they belong to - what's stopping you ?

That said, I agree, political parties aren't needed at local level.

I think the point he was making was that people treat local elections as way of voicing their disapproval with Westminster rather than voting on local issues or for the best councillor. If (when?) the Tories lose shedloads of seats in the next local election it will be portrayed as a 'massive blow to Cameron and the Coalition'. Local issues won't even be mentioned, it will be seen solely in a national context.

 

[spongy]

In my reasonably short voting career I've been a labour voter, but they ruined everything, and I don't trust Ed Miliband, there's something about him which I really don't like so I voted for another party, I thought the Tories ideas and solutions to our national debt were better than Labour. But I think the Tories have shot themselves in the oft with this latest budget, and showing their true colours again.

I find its not about voting who you think is best now, it's voting for who you think is least damaging

 

[withdeanwombat]

A football analogy,of a sort,if you like : you follow the same old team and they win nothing,year in,year out.Do you change to another team ?

 

[Mutts Nuts]

Since i was 18 i have always been keen on politics and have always voted for the same mainsteam party, but now i am coming upto 40 ,having seen how all three mainstream parties have performed i am seriously thinking about changing to a less popular party.

Am i wasting my time or are there more of you out there thats had enough and thinking of a change?

Midlife crisis ?