Just, why???

I think there’s a subset of society that are bumbling on okay (and I’m part of that)
and who might recognise different decisions might have a better wider impact but are not affected enough to say they’re “dissatisfied”.

I’m early 30s, higher earner, mortgage already on a 3% fix that ends next year (so not facing the 1% to 6% jump that some are), have just remortgaged my buy to let at 4% which felt reasonable (I always expected rates to go up, and have savings accounts at better rates than both my mortgages), have private healthcare, have an NHS dentist but no dental issues so just regular check ups, no kids. This government has sorted cladding issues on my BTL (previously my home and now BTL as property was unmortgageable until recently), I wasn’t negatively impacted by covid - in fact my life improved, I have solar panels so the amount I pay for energy hasn’t actually increased over the last 2 years (other than the outlay on solar).

I’m usually a Tory voter, but I’m undecided for the next election. On the whole I don’t think the Tory government have done themselves any favours, but my local Conservative MP has been great and has raised relevant local issues in debates and voted the way I have asked on issues I’ve raised with him.

If I had the choice, I’d vote him in as my
local MP but choose a different overall government.

I’m not sure I can bring myself to vote Labour though and so I am truly torn for the next election…

But I might not have answered in a survey that I was “dissatisfied” with government, I’m more in the neutral box rather than “satisfied” though.

(Also I get all the nuances around how difficult life is at the minute for broader society and that is why I would choose a different government to lead overall were it not for my ‘loyalty’ to my current MP).

I’m not in a safe seat though so suspect my seat will go to a Labour MP regardless of my vote!

I love my DM but I cannot discuss politics with her anymore because she is adamant that Brexit was a good idea and will come good in then end, and even though she has changed her mind a bit, she was one of the people who always said "Boris is a nice guy". She thinks things will be as bad/worse under Labour and can't admit how much of a complete balls up the Tories are making of everything. The hilarious thing is one of the reasons she voted for Brexit is because she thought she would get a GP appt more easily as all the EU folk would have gone home and freed up all the appointments. Now she can't get a GP appt for weeks on end but still doesn't see how she got it so wrong!!
In all other respects we get on great, she is a lovely person, working class but has done fairly ok by working hard. Not rich, comfortable but still having to work until 67 before she can afford to retire.

I also think some people genuinely like their local Tory MP who may not be Satan themselves, but they basically stand by and let the other Satan's run wild!!

@IveShaggedSomeMingers Because cars traditionally are considered female. And they're older models. Hence older ladies cars. As opposed to 'older ladies' cars'

@Ariela, but why the term 'old ladies'. Sexist and ageist.

@IveShaggedSomeMingers Old ladies cars are typically Corsas, Hyundai i10, etc. Low milage, small engines. Cheap to buy. Often come with FSH and are fine, some just have worn out clutches. Come with various scratches and dinks. All need MOTs because they've owned them for 10 years till they have to give up driving.

@Ariela , ...but suffer a constant passing through of cheaper old ladies cars.

What exactly are old ladies cars?

I’m older and have no mortgage. My savings are minimal and my final salary pension is worth less and less. We don’t have dependents, but have funded them to get on the property ladder.

I’ve never voted Tory and never will. I can find no justification for the chaos that has been the last few years and the mess we’re in now. I feel disenfranchised because I don’t have the confidence that any of the politicians, of any colour can get us out of this mess.

I can’t get an NHS dentist, had to pay for private eye treatment because the waiting list was over two years and there would have been no point then.

Things have never been and never will be perfect, unless you have the money to buy whatever services you need, but at least you could expect the emergency services to support you in years past. It’s a shit show and I don’t understand how anyone can accept that the current regime have done anything useful.

Well that perfectly describes me and many of the posters on this thread who are absolutely raging at the Tories for what they've visited on this country over the past 13 years.

I keep hearing the phrase "13 years of failure" and I agree. The abject failure over the last 13 years of the Labour party to win an election is staggering, especially considering the bad job the Tories have been constantly doing throughout that period.

It is very rare for the UK public to be satisfied with the job their government is doing. Since 2000, through Labour and Tory governments, approval ratings have only gone over 50% for two very short periods (May-Oct 2010 and Mar-Apr 2020), and the current low approval was only surpassed in Oct 2022 during the Truss KamiKwasi debacle.

@AsIfIWish Can you ask your mother which Labour government ran the country into the ground, and how she thinks they did it?! I remember every government since the 70s and I don't believe she's remembering correctly. For me the worst times were the Thatcher / Major years, and Cameron onwards.

Labour would have locked down sooner (when people would have been even MORE resistant to the idea as it was still "that thing over there") and harder.
We probably still would have ended up in the same position too since nearly every country with a lock down was, regardless of what they did.

Not that I think the Tories have covered themselves in glory either

The people who have no mortgage and savings that are finally beginning to pay.

That's a bit like asking who the 2% are who believe a poster is being unreasonable for not wanting their neighbour to waltz in and help themselves to a bath before having a nap in the posters bed...

if they can’t wipe the floor

I’m surprised it’s so many tbh. I know a lot of people who have said they would definitely still vote Tory if there was an election tomorrow. Probably because there isn’t an alternative option atm. Labour have a lot to answer to for failing their voters and not stepping up. If they can’t we the floor with the current Tory party , then they should just turn off the lights and shut up shop. I honestly can’t see Labour getting into power for the foreseeable.

I think they all live in rural Surrey near me. Some parts of Surrey would vote a Box in if was Conservative. Always makes me laugh in our very very posh village when someone draws devil horns and a goatie on Mr Hunts poster.

If your outright own your country mansion of course your happy.

Some people feel a need to validate their voting decisions by insisting they are happy with current living standards. Even though their vote is anonymous, and polls are anonymous, they stick with their position.

've been around the block long enough to remember politics from the 1970s. Things were definitely better under the last Labour government - better investment in public services, more police, more nurses, better health care, more investment in education changes in the law to promote equality a better environment and less cruelty to animals.

Things weren't perfect, but ordinary day to day life was much better and more secure and full of optimism for the average person in the street.

Absolutely agree with @BunnyBettChetwynnd!

I've come to the conclusion that people are just thick op.

Chatting to someone the other day who tried to explain to me why their massively tory-voting-brexit-supporting area, where levels of deprivation are sky high, and life is definitely not better in any way after brexit, will likely still vote for the fuckers. "Because the labour candidate is annoying "

Fucking turkeys voting for fucking xmas! 🍗🎄

I'm one of them, but I have never, in my life, voted Conservative, and never will.

What they have done to the country over the past few years is criminal, and don't get me started on that total waste of space that led them for the past few years.

They're probably old enough to know this goes in cycles...

But those who have been frugal still use all the systems and services provided by the government. Even people covering all their outgoings must wonder why they can't get an NHS dentist, why they have to wait for medical treatment, why the police force has dwindled, the schools are struggling, that mental health services have been run into the ground, rivers and the sea are being pumped with sewage, libraries are closing - mustn't they?

Just because within the walls of you're home you are financially ok, doesn't mean the world around you is as good as it was. Surely people notice this and link it to the government and their policies.

I usually do walk away from people like that, she had me cornered by some books I was looking at though. I think I didn’t feel threatened as she was an old woman.

And the people that have not over-stretched themselves, just in case interest rates take a turn towards the historic average higher rates than we've enjoyed recently, and have played safe in case inflation rears its head. Those that have a house and a mortgage, but settled for a smaller house rather than max out at 6 x joint salary or whatever the top limit was. That didn't instantly rip out the perfectly functional kitchen and get a £20k loan for a new one. That don't get a brand new car on PHP, but suffer a constant passing through of cheaper old ladies cars. That don't stick it on a credit card but save till they CAN pay for it. That don't holiday in the hot countries but are happy with The Sun £10 holiday . Etc. These are the people that can afford current times.