This country is doomed

Nail on the head. The Green party by-election winner gave a brilliant winner's speech about the plight of workers. Absolutely nailed it. Labour and Tories have shafted the workers in different ways over the past 20-30 years and the workers are finally hitting back and have had enough of it.

"if you're a Labour voter, vote Labour"..no consideration of manifestos, strategic direction, etc..just raw tribalism. lol

This infuriates me. He is the leader of a political party which is growing in popularity and despite the many problems the country faces he has decided that legalising drugs is a priority. What is even worse is that he goes not appear to understand there is a difference between decriminalising drugs and legalising them. There is only evidence for harm reduction with decriminalisation. It's worthy of debate.

If we "legalise" drugs then the drug traffickers become black marketers along side a legal, and therefore regulated and taxed, drug market. Who will produce the legal drugs? Pharmaceutical companies? Will there be limits on where they can advertise crack cocaine? Will pharmacies sell drugs? I'm sure being beholden to share holders won't make pharmaceutical companies try to increase their consumer base to boost profits.

I feel sure he meant decriminalise but the fact that he used the word legalise could mean he thinks the words are interchangeable and that raises questions about his competence to comment on the topic at all.

I personally never vote tactically. I vote for the party I'm a member of. Some people do need to vote tactically if they live in areas where someone has a huge majority - they might vote for the candidate most likely to beat them rather than the party they support

How is that an ‘Islamophobic’ generalisation? Many high profile Muslims are very proud of their faith and use its rather conservative values to inform their politics.

Our own Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said as much. You’re not claiming that followers of Islam are at the progressive end of the spectrum are you?

And prioritising Gaza issues over and above the long list of issues in this country is not good.

There are already 4 ‘Gaza’ /Islamic MPs in parliament, I think that’s enough.

Incidentally one of those Gaza MPs won his seat after the female Labour candidate was bullied, intimidated and threatened with beheading.

The two main political parties are a product of a world that doesn’t exist any longer - the landed gentry and the organised urban working class. It reflects the society of 100 years ago, not 2025. Traditional political allegiances no longer apply.

Which of the greens policies concern you?

Wondering if the posters here who voted Green in the past and still support them, actually understand what they represent now.

Maybe people have just had enough of Labour and it's showing in the vote (I don't vote Green, Labour or Reform)

Or maybe Starmer made a mistake when he barred Burnham from standing. This should be a wake up call to Labour - not sure it will be though

lol another intellectual without a single GCSE commenting..

Hannah is a Christian and Zack is Jewish..so where your evidence dear Amber that people are voting along religious lines??

Their policies are not fully costed because no one's is this long before an election. But I think many of their policies are financially viable, for example they are in favour of more devolution and giving more funding to local councils to meet the specific needs of their local area. This has been shown to be a more effective use of public money, as the local councils have the best knowledge of what the local area needs.

I agree with the other poster - this likely won’t be played out in a GE.
However, It would be worrying because there is (IMO) a lack of any credible centrist option that hasn’t already been sullied by the mistakes of the past.
I could NEVER get on board with either the Green Party (who I think are bonkers) or reform (who I think are racist).

I didn't even get on the the truly depressing stuff. The sun will destroy earth and solar system, the universe is heading to heat death, so nothing you do matters in the end.

But on the more positive note, as nothing matters in the end, what really matters is what you do right here, right now. Make your contribution a positive one.

Absolutely this, with bells on.

This doesn't even make sense. If you are a Labour voter, vote Labour.

You're a little ray of sunshine on a rainy day 😁(Also right about overpopulation. My local green bod tells me it's racist to bring it up even though competition for resources and the lure of already developed economies with welfare safety nets is a big driver for migration. Hungry, energetic arrivals meet complacent indigenes...what could possibly go wrong? Still, it will only be a problem for those at the bottom of the heap right?)

I'm surprised anybody thinks their policies are desirable and credible. I'm wondering if they're ok.

How have you satisfied yourself that their policies are costed and economically viable?

Me too, cabbages, string beans, broccoli particuarly

Why is that worrying? The end of the two party system would be the definition of democracy.

Its a by election. The results are always outside of what usually happens at a general election.

It’s hugely worrying. if this indicates voter preference nationally it would point to a completely polarised electorate. The top two parties being extreme left wing vs the extreme right.
In the UK the population is generally regarded as quite centrist - I can only hope we remain there. But then the two main parties have so utterly and completely f**ked it that there isn’t much left to choose…🤦‍♀️

Let's be honest, the majority of anti-green posters here today are bigoted deformers. This wasn't a Gaza vote - those people left Labour in 2024 (just Google the opinion polls)

People voted Green (and Reform) , perhaps in protest, because they have had enough of the status quo, and particularly Labours missteps over past 18 months which impact the socio-economic demographic in the boroughs (donors gifts, winter fuel payments, 2 child benefit cap, Mandleson, etc)..

If it had been seen by the polling station staff they would and should have intervened. Coercion is covered in ALL polling station training and is illegal. It may therefore not have been visible from the table where poll staff sit, and is an issue for polling station layout to make sure all the booths can be clearly seen.

That's your view. I agree those things are important, but I also think international affairs and how the UK handles them are very important too. People's votes are swayed for all sorts of things.

Curious though, who do you think can provide the things you want? What way ought the "muslims" vote if they could just stop caring so much about genocide.

I’m actually in my 60s so thst pretty hilarious, almost as bad as a self-hating Jew but not quite. But You do you. If insults work for you. Sorry you guys are shitting a brick but nice to see everyone is a bit rattled. We need a shake up.