[Politics] If there were a General Election tomorrow poll

[Thunder Bolt]

Sunk does come across quite well most of the time and you may well be right. He certainly didn't go into politics to enrich himself. But, as you say, out of his depth.

Election night will hopefully be just as much fun as 97. Not stayed up so late and downed so much wine in one sitting since

It will take a lot to fix things. Not sure Starmer has the mesmeric empathetic charisma of Blair, but maybe we need something different now. No dithering, and ruthlessly dealing with distractions. I expect Angie to be trebuchetted (the new defenestration) if it transpires there is a gun at the end of her smoke. And so on.

Check out his wife and father in law’s companies.

 

[Ethelwulf]

An MP has lost the Conservative Party whip while newspaper claims about alleged misuse of campaign funds are investigated.

Mark Menzies, the MP for Fylde, disputes the allegations reported by The Times but the Conservative Party is looking into the claims.

A spokesperson for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: "Following a call with the Chief Whip, Mark Menzies has agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation."

Losing the whip means Mr Menzies is no longer a member of the Conservative parliamentary party and will sit as an independent MP, rather than a Tory MP, in the House of Commons chamber.


Another pig caught in the trof

 

[Giraffe]

Terrifying for future generations. It can’t continue, nature will see to that, even if it is man made nature!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

An MP has lost the Conservative Party whip while newspaper claims about alleged misuse of campaign funds are investigated.

Mark Menzies, the MP for Fylde, disputes the allegations reported by The Times but the Conservative Party is looking into the claims.

A spokesperson for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: "Following a call with the Chief Whip, Mark Menzies has agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation."

Losing the whip means Mr Menzies is no longer a member of the Conservative parliamentary party and will sit as an independent MP, rather than a Tory MP, in the House of Commons chamber.


Another pig caught in the trof

We won’t need a general election soon. The majority is whittling down fast.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Check out his wife and father in law’s companies.

Yeah....I was trying to be charitable.

I could have said he's a typical modern day entitled shyster tory MP on the make, but that would be a bit...

Sod it. It would be absolutely accurate.

As you were. I'll get my coat.

 

[Weststander]

The sad reality is it probably doesn’t matter who is in power. The challenges are massive, and the options to resolve them are very limited. I’m increasingly of the view that our politicians don’t run the country, the civil service do, and therefore it doesn’t matter who is in power the end result will be the same anyway.

Population is too high
NHS is too large and too wasteful to function properly.
Aged population
Mass economic emigration across the world
Climate change
Increasing likelihood of pandemics due to over population of the world
Increased risk of wars due to over population of the world.

No politicians have the answers to the above, they’re just pedalling along pretending they do.

Yep. Labour will see no picnic from 24 to 29. With the added complication of Owen Jones, Abbott, Coogan, the Bitter Left on social media et al trying to ruin it all from the beginning.

I’m just hoping for tunnel vision with clear policies to make the UK a fairer and more civil place to live in, rising above the aforementioned maelstrom. In a media and social media age, it’s going to be a tough job.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

You need a "Not intending to vote" option.

 

[Pinkie Brown]

An MP has lost the Conservative Party whip while newspaper claims about alleged misuse of campaign funds are investigated.

Mark Menzies, the MP for Fylde, disputes the allegations reported by The Times but the Conservative Party is looking into the claims.

A spokesperson for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: "Following a call with the Chief Whip, Mark Menzies has agreed to relinquish the Conservative whip, pending the outcome of an investigation."

Losing the whip means Mr Menzies is no longer a member of the Conservative parliamentary party and will sit as an independent MP, rather than a Tory MP, in the House of Commons chamber.


Another pig caught in the trof

Oh dear. I hope he put his bins out on the correct day.....

 

[Forster's Armband]

You need a "Not intending to vote" option.

If you don't vote you don't get to comment. Spoil the ballot paper but don't not vote.

 

[Colonel Mustard]

If you don't vote you don't get to comment. Spoil the ballot paper but don't not vote.

Deciding not to vote is an action in keeping with the democratic process. Why would someone not be allowed to comment along those lines? Second, I’m not saying here that I will not vote. But if the question is posed: how will you vote?, then you have to cater for those who plan not to. And as it happens, I think spoiling a ballot paper is totally pointless. If there was a "None of the above" option, fair enough.

Incidentally, how do people actually spoil their ballot? Draw a throbbing penis on it? Scrawl something about the Deep State, or perhaps something that starts with the words "Come the revolution, you'll all…" I’ve often wondered.

 

[alanfp]

I wouldn't vote 'tactically'.

If we all vote for our favourite* option then eventually we stand more chance of getting what we want, as more voters realise that voting for a minority party is NOT a wasted vote. True, it could take many years, but the Greens eventually managed to get an MP elected ahead of the three large parties.

* (or least unfavourite)

 

[Bakero]

woke means (as in what it actually means rather than what the media label stuff as) being aware, especially of social problems such as racism and inequality

I'm not sure how you can be a more fair, but less woke society?!

Woke means banning St George's Day and force feeding us gender-neutral, vegan scones. Wake up!

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Deciding not to vote is an action in keeping with the democratic process. Why would someone not be allowed to comment along those lines? Second, I’m not saying here that I will not vote. But if the question is posed: how will you vote?, then you have to cater for those who plan not to. And as it happens, I think spoiling a ballot paper is totally pointless. If there was a "None of the above" option, fair enough.

Incidentally, how do people actually spoil their ballot? Draw a throbbing penis on it? Scrawl something about the Deep State, or perhaps something that starts with the words "Come the revolution, you'll all…" I’ve often wondered.

I’ve mentioned this already but spoilt papers are observed by every candidate to see if they can be allocated to one of them. The Returning Officer collects them together for that purpose.
A spoilt paper can be instead of a X, yes a penis, or a giant X right across the paper.
I did write ‘None of the above are fit to serve’ on a local council ballot paper because I knew all three candidates personally.

So, all the candidates can see your message, write whatever you want. On May 2nd, I intend to write I DONT AGREE WITH HAVING A POLICE COMMISSIONER.

 

[Official Old Man]

If you don't want to vote Labour or Tory but want to make your vote felt, why not look at the independent candidates and see if any of them offer something?

Maybe you would do that if there was any sort of point. It's the problem with our crappy FPTP voting system, rigged to ensure the arrogant large parties can forever take our votes for granted.

Re 'spoiling my paper'.
I have voted LD in local council elections. But as you say, in a general election, voting LD or even Loony Party is a wasted vote. That said, Greens get in so something must work. With a non FPTP system I wonder how many MP's the green party would have?

 

[nwgull]

The sad reality is it probably doesn’t matter who is in power. The challenges are massive, and the options to resolve them are very limited. I’m increasingly of the view that our politicians don’t run the country, the civil service do, and therefore it doesn’t matter who is in power the end result will be the same anyway.

Bullshit. You just don't want to accept that the Brexit peddled by the current government was a nostalgia-fuelled fantasy.

 

[nicko31]

Reform for me. It would be a right laugh to have Farage in charge of the country!

Yeah..

 

[nwgull]

Incidentally, how do people actually spoil their ballot? Draw a throbbing penis on it? Scrawl something about the Deep State, or perhaps something that starts with the words "Come the revolution, you'll all…" I’ve often wondered.

The correct answer.

 

[WATFORD zero]

The sad reality is it probably doesn’t matter who is in power. The challenges are massive, and the options to resolve them are very limited. I’m increasingly of the view that our politicians don’t run the country, the civil service do, and therefore it doesn’t matter who is in power the end result will be the same anyway.

Population is too high
NHS is too large and too wasteful to function properly.
Aged population
Mass economic emigration across the world
Climate change
Increasing likelihood of pandemics due to over population of the world
Increased risk of wars due to over population of the world.

No politicians have the answers to the above, they’re just pedalling along pretending they do.

So you've now reverted to the 'they're all the same' position that seems to be becoming increasingly popular amongst certain sections of the electorate ?

Although extra points for including the cracker 'I’m increasingly of the view that our politicians don’t run the country, the civil service do'

You've even got me starting to wonder if I'm being whooshed

 

[WATFORD zero]

The correct answer.

Not always, as I pointed out earlier in the thread

Reminded me of this, where the voter drew a penis next to a candidate, and because the penis was within the box, the candidate claimed it (successfully) as a vote

https://metro.co.uk/2015/05/09/vote...gets-counted-and-helps-elect-tory-mp-5188845/

 

[nwgull]

So you've now reverted to the 'they're all the same' position that seems to be becoming increasingly popular amongst certain sections of the electorate ?

Although extra points for including the cracker 'I’m increasingly of the view that our politicians don’t run the country, the civil service do'

You've even got me starting to wonder if I'm being whooshed

It's a good one, isn't it? The current government have made such a f*** up of running the country since 2019 that they're trying to blame the civil service for their decisions and incompetence.