General Election 2017

[Triggaaar]

Having conversations with yourself on an online forum...not cool.

I disagree.

 

[Victor Chandler]

Not much of choice is it? I can't recall a time with such a dearth of political talent and lack of inspirational vision in any party.

I have always voted, happily and decisively, but for the first time ever I am a total loss as to what to do.

Only 4 candidates standing in my constituency: Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and UKIP.

Labour I discount immediately. I wouldn't be adverse to voting Labour under different circumstances, but I can't endorse Corbyn and McDonnell. Similarly, no way will I vote Lib Dem or UKIP. So that leaves the Conservatives.

Again, I wouldn't be adverse to voting Conservative - it is probably the natural home for my vote. But they have run an appalling campaign in a totally unnecessary election called purely for Mrs May's benefit and not the country's. Put simply, I don't believe they deserve my vote this time so why should I give it to them.

I can't NOT vote, so hence my being at a total loss. I still believe a 'spoilt' ballot 'is the best way I can register my complete exasperation with this whole sorry state of affairs. And for me, that is a crying shame.

Maybe I'll have a moment of clarity on my way to the polling station tomorrow morning and find myself able to make a positive choice, but time is running out...

Well said. Excellent post. I agree with every word. In Mid Sussex we have a wider choice of candidates. I’m tempted to vote for Baron Von Thunderclap (Monster Raving Loony Party) but will probably just spoil the paper. I’ve met the Baron. He’s a nice bloke.

 

[Triggaaar]

Useful link to find the impact of voting for different parties on your local school (just type in postcode or school name):
http://www.schoolcuts.org.uk/#!/

So I've found a party that says it's going to spend more on absolutely everything, but they have no idea where all the money is going to come from. Is it still ok to vote for them?

 

[HantsSeagull]

**Splutter** ...... he's a GREEN. Just look at all the times someone criticises the Greens ( especially the disaster of a Green council we had ) and see who ALWAYS comes to their defence.

thanks for the heads up - its why i normally stay away from these threads. more trouble than they are worth. I agree constituency voting is what it should be BUT my problem with Kyle is that he is so far removed from the party he is representing (by his own admission) that he is misrepresenting himself and should be standing as an independent. I expect him to win Hove however.

 

[JC Footy Genius]

Could be a bit of a "shy Corbyn" effect this time ?

They get round that by saying their voting for the team not the manager or tactical voting.

 

[Triggaaar]

Just the government that continues to snuggle up to Saudi Arabia, a suppressed government report supposedly indicating they are the biggest funders of terrorist organizations - and we're giving them all their arms. A lot safer.

It's a sad state of affairs, but if we don't sell them arms, someone else will. Of course it's morally crap, but do we want money in our economy or not? Sure, we could change, we could all be hippies - in with hate, out with love - but you won't like the poor country we end up with.

 

[BBassic]

I'm up in Kemptown and voting Labour. It's the first time in my voting life that there's a chance I'll be on the winning side which is refreshing.

 

[GT49er]

Well said. Excellent post. I agree with every word. In Mid Sussex we have a wider choice of candidates. I’m tempted to vote for Baron Von Thunderclap (Monster Raving Loony Party) but will probably just spoil the paper. I’ve met the Baron. He’s a nice bloke.

If that's the way you feel, I would strongly advocate voting for Baron Von Thunderclap - if enough people feel like you it will save his deposit. Saving him his deposit would at least in a small way be a positive outcome.

 

[Triggaaar]

Did a little bit of research which suggested that leaving a ballot blank is a better option as if you make a mark, the candidates can argue over whether the mark is an indication of having voted for them.

I'd like to write my reasons for not voting for the candidates on my ballot paper.

 

[Ernest]

I shall be going to WWE at the Brighton Centre this evening first, then buy a MASSIVE kebab on the way home and hopefully in front of the BBC coverage before the first result comes in

 

[Triggaaar]

Who's planning to go through the night, or most of it, and what is your plan of attack?

I trust the exit polls, so I expect we'll have a good idea of the result quite quickly. Wifey is planning on staying up fairly late though, so I guess I won't be sleeping until late.

 

[darkwolf666]

Not really, given that the quiz is biased.

Most people don't vote Tory out of self interest, they do so because they believe the Tories will do a better job of running the country which will benefit the many. It's amazing how many people still don't get that.

As long as the many doesn't include anyone who might get ill, might suffer from dementia, might need to find a house to rent, might fall upon hard times... you get the drift!

 

[Triggaaar]

As long as the many doesn't include anyone who might get ill, might suffer from dementia, might need to find a house to rent, might fall upon hard times... you get the drift!

Yes I get the drift, and I disagree. There are Tory policies I don't like, they cut too much IMO, but like most other people, I trust them more with the economy than I do Labour. And it's always about the economy (stupid).

 

[Machiavelli]

But the "shy Tory" effect can apply just as much to an exit poll as to a regular opinion poll, surely? Also as exit polls are face-to-face rather than telephone or online (like most of the others), people might be even more reluctant to confess in person to having just committed a deeply anti-social act.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They do address this indirectly, and indicate that voters are forthcoming when coming out of polling booths.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

It's a sad state of affairs, but if we don't sell them arms, someone else will. Of course it's morally crap, but do we want money in our economy or not? Sure, we could change, we could all be hippies - in with hate, out with love - but you won't like the poor country we end up with.

You don't think there's a (human and financial) cost further down the road, to pay, for (indirectly) arming people that want to kill us?

 

[Machiavelli]

Interesting link - thanks. The predictions of number of seats are based on sampling 100-200 voters at each of 100 polling stations - so, on 10k-20k people. A much smaller number than I had expected. They aspire to getting the winning majority to +/- 20 seats, and consider +/- 10 seats as "exceptionally" accurate. No wonder they've been pleased with themselves the last couple of GE then!

I'm not at all surprised by what you're pointing to. First, anything more than 20k would make logistics increasingly difficult, especially as they're pointing to a certain quality in those prising information out of those that had voted; this is also 10x the size of the largest opinion polls. Second, and perhaps more importantly, they explain that the key is the information provided from prior elections, which is their base data.
Here's a(n extremely tentative) prediction: their model won't be as successful in this election as the last two. They've obviously refined it, improving its accuracy with the last two elections, but -- and here's my problem with the statistical/positivist approach to politics -- it can't take account changing factors sufficiently well. Brexit being one which, for me, is part of a wider dissatisfaction with neoliberalism (which also may well feed into this election), but also an increased younger vote will also appear with this election.

 

[swindonseagull]

Of course they rely on people telling the truth when asked.

 

[GOM]

Usually stay up but forgot to book tomorrow off ! I am gonna be tired at work tomorrow

 

[Chicken Run]

I would never vote Labour, after the Conservative campaign locally, I was planning not to vote, however this morning I have decided to vote for Kristy Adams reluctantly!

 

[Chicken Run]

I'm up in Kemptown and voting Labour. It's the first time in my voting life that there's a chance I'll be on the winning side which is refreshing.

Where were you in 2015 then?