Who should I vote for? My views seem to be all over the place.

Based on that, who can I vote for?

Everybody considers different things when they vote.
Some people think about the country generally or about their own personal lives. Immigration is an example of this: some people think that we need to halt immigration because immigration has affected their own personal job prospects or their children's chances of getting into a certain school. Or any number of reasons which could be personal or general.
So entires the things that people consider affect both themselves on a personal level but also the wider population.

The things that concern me and will be important to me when I decide to vote are:
Education - in particularly university fees and loan arrangements. My children are far from university at the moment but I do have concerns about poorer students not going to university due to the worry about student debt. It is something that I would consider at a general public level.
Health - I worry that waiting lists are getting longer and that public spending on heath needs to increase / be better targeted. I don't currently have any personal reasons to be concerned about waiting lists, I just think we need an efficient and comprehensive health system.
Welfare benefits - I will be swayed towards the party that I think will protect the most vulnerable and needy in society and not punish people for situations beyond their control (the sick and disabled and carers). I have personal reasons for this, but I am also concerned about the number of deaths that gave been reported as a result of unfair benefit sanctions and assessments.
Social care - we need a comprehensive social care system that helps the most vulnerable and adequately supports families.
The economy - this is definitely a general thing. I want to hear about how public spending can be managed well whilst still delivering services to the mot vulnerable in society. I also want to know how we can make work pay to ensure that nobody is worse off by working ( especially with childcare). I dont use any childcare, but I do think it is a main concern of families with young children and nobody should be forced to be childless due to not being able to afford childcare.
I have more, but I am rambling on so will stop there

I'm really not fussed what happens with education as it doesn't affect us one little bit, but would I be wrong to not think of what other people would like.
This is what confuses me, do people vote selfishly for their own family because it is supposed to be a personal vote, or do they think of others with their vote?
Thank you Impatient

Morethan - I will probably do something similar.
I will have the definite 'not a chance list',
the 'I would if I didn't feel it was a wasted vote list'
and then the 'possible list'.
I will then carefully go through the manifestos and make my decision based on the one that I agree with the most from my possible list.

bearing in mind that no party will represent all of your views is it just not a case of finding the nearest fit.
I'm not sure who to vote for but I'm going to compile a list of what is important to me and look for the party who offers the right solution to me.
is this too simple? Should I be looking at other things.

*truly

Oh right! No, UKIP would not get my vote.

I think my main choices are Labour and Lib Dem. I'm just annoyed that there isn't a party that truest represents the left. [grumpy]

Oh sorry, I had mixed you up with someone else talking about leftist libertarian who said they were considering voting for UKIP.

I'm the same in that there isn't a party that really represents the majority of my views. There are parties which don't represent any of my views at all so I can pretty much rule them out and concentrate on the remainders.

Oh no, I couldn't imagine voting for UKIP!

Interesting, I agree I don't think Lib Dem are liberal enough.

I was watching a TV programme the other day and they were talking about a People's Party made up of Head Teachers, Lawyers, Social Workers etc and I love that idea.

I just don't feel that any of the major political parties match my views.

I suppose traditionally it would be lib dem, but I'm not convinced that they are left enough or liberal enough to fit the role now, so I'm not sure which party it would be. I'm certain it wouldn't be UKIP though.

Would Lib Dem be a good match, Impatient?

Left libertarian is a mix of approaches which combines individual freedom and social justice with ideas that we shouldnt have hierarchies or beuracracy. If you are left libertarian then UKIP is probably not for you.

No, I've read it wrong. I'm a left libertarian.

I still don't know what it means...

Apparently I'm a Social Libertarian/Authoritarian what does that even mean?!

Funny, I thought I was conservative

Who do I vote for?! someone please tell me

In reposne to the Pension Credit point made upthread: I think the whole idea of the single-rate pension was to encourage people into additional saving. I agree, there would be little possibility of getting people to save (especially on lower wages) if any benefit was means tested.

Apparently I'm a leftist libertarian

Still considering voting UKIP though...

I was also further left than Ghandi on that chart!

I wont vote for any of them,im an anarchist!

When I did the 'who should I vote for' test I came out 100% Green the political compass had me more left wing libertarian than the Dalai Lama!!! Call me Mother Theresa

Oh dear - I've done the test and and I am almost smack bang in the middle! Did notice that there wasn't much difference between David Cameron and Ed Milliband - and that there is no party that sits where I am!!! Maybe why I have no idea who to vote for ...
I agree some of the questions I was a bit about ...didn't really agree or disagree - more of 'well it depends'...

The trouble with these policy tests is that they don't weight which policies you think are important. You might want more windfarms, but how much more than voting out a party that wanted to introduce biometric ID cards and DNA databases? You might want a law to ban smoking in cars carrying children, but how much more than wanting a party that will increase the tax threshold and take low-paid people out of taxation or a party that will allow pensioners to draw out their pensions rather than forcing them to buy annuities or a party that scrapped the Liverpool Care Pathway?

It is really the big picture and the big things that count and you need to weigh up what is most important to you and choose the party that matches those criteria rather than the party which promises to introduce more ASBOs etc

I don't know - guess more information now but when I first looked into it (from employers POV) it took me a while to find out there was an option to opt out !

Agree about pensions though - my mum paid into one for years when she worked first PT, then when we were older FT. She is now precisely £5 pw better off for doing it but maybe when we are old we might really need it ...
I'm skeptical about saving for old age etc all together .. my great aunt (no DCs) worked and lived frugally all her life. She had been doing okish and then had a fall - social services (? - I think - whatever agency responsible) had her in a home super quick - because she could pay and it was cheaper for the council for her to be there (if she couldn't, they would have struggled to find a place and they would have been less keen - it would be the expensive option)...
She would have been better with support at home - or in sheltered accommodation. (She was fiercely independent and private - a month or so before she'd been up a ladder cleaning the gutters - she did lose a lot of her spirit and mentally declined rapidly)
She was there for years and years, then a care home, cost thousands and thousands of pounds - meanwhile someone sitting next to her who had been more extravagant in their life got the same level of care but funded by the tax payer...I know you can't take it with you - but it does seem unfair.

I am in favour of no cap on immigration providing they have a job in the UK before emigrating.

Immigrate is coming in...........emigrate is going out (just so you know in future tobybox).

impatient-

I agree with that. A lot of small businesses would go under if the living wage became the minimum wage or if the minimum wage rose significantly. I also think that lots of employers would employ younger staff to benefit from the lower rate minimum wage.
I think that the minimum wage should be the same rate for everybody.

The solution to this is to make a living wage mandatory for all large businesses, defined as employing over X employees. This would facilitate small business growth, but ensure that big businesses, who can afford to pay higher wages, do so.

I also think that VAT should be lowered.

I agree with this. VAT is a very regressive tax, and it hurts the poorest the most.

I think that there should be more govt financial help for low paid workers, rather than continually pushing up NMW or small businesses should get more help when NMW goes up. The help with childcare should go back to being 80%. There are things that can be done to help low paid workers without putting small businesses under increasing pressure.

I know you have the best intention, but that's similar to the situation we have now. The government already massively subsidizes businesses because they refuse to pay workers a decent wage. In fact, the majority of benefits are claimed by people who are in work. The problem is work doesn't pay - at least, not nearly enough. Not enough to keep up with the cost of living. Not enough to bring up a family.

We need to make sure that businesses pay their fair share.

But people will opt out, most people are not so thick that they won't realise that they can opt out. People who are already struggling financially will opt out.
Lots of women who are pensioners already are not financially better off for having saved into a pension. People will look at that and decide that there is no point going without food now in order to be no better off in retirement.