Has anyone else been forced to become Conservative after all of this?

@Needmoresleep well done with your listening and research. It will stand you in good stead next time. Hardly anyone wins the first seat they contest.

Like you, I would like to see the main parties competing on centre ground. When Labour etc get captured by their latest lunatic fringe it leaves an open goal for the Tories (and their loonies in turn).

@Needmoresleep I know you’re too busy to answer this now but how do we make political change? Women have been thrown out of all the other parties for trying to get them to listen to women.

The conservatives haven’t always been awful, is this time we should try and influence them to be better for society as a whole?

Can you imagine Layla 'I can see into people's souls' Moran in the Cabinet?

And Wera Hobhouse. She's like Lisa Nandy in an orange rosette.

The Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper used to be excellent - smart, switched-on, proper feminist, caring, effective - but I suspect she'll have to go along with the extreme gender shit just like Ed Davey does, as it's Lib Dem party policy determined at their batty conferences by the younger 'progressive' activists.

And let's just say some of older male Lib Dem stalwarts have no reason to object to a breaking down of certain boundaries ...

Agree anyolddinosaur

The issue for the next election is if Labour are the largest party (highly likely) but without a majority (quite possible). The logical step would be a coalition with the Lib Dems and that would be disastrous for women’s rights as the LDs are gender ideologists and could wag the Labour dog (at a time it is starting to slowly come to its senses) in the same way as the Greens did to the SNP on this issue.

Not voting labour at the next election to the extent that it forces a coalition could be the worst of all worlds.

Can you imagine Layla 'I can see into people's souls' Moran in the Cabinet?

I could never vote for a party that so despises women they tell any woman who won’t repeat the mantra TWAW to get out of the party there don't want her vote.

I don’t know why we’re debating whether we could bring ourselves to vote Labour, LibDem or Green - they all told us loud and clear they don’t want our votes.

A lot of politicians at local level try to distance themselves from national political decisions. However it is important to discuss with any who will listen about the actual problems that will arise. Eg changing rooms in leisure centres, olde or disabled women and girls forced to accept intimate care from males who self id. Sports competitions. Schools.
I was speaking to some of the “left “ local party ( not in Uk) and they seemed not to have thought about the issues much despite the National party having pushed self identity laws through. One gay man doctor, did go on about living as a woman or a man, but he denied he knew much about the issues but promised to investigate further. For this group it is crucial to be seen as united, but they won’t take responsibility for what has happened nationally. It is only by detailing the conflicts that will inevitably happen that the issue will be considered at all. I do know individuals and I have to say the response to my comments was polite and a few pennies dropped I think.

I am politically homeless now. I spoiled my ballot.

I wrote a message and made sure it all looked ambiguous enough around the boxes to be discussed by ‘the huddle’ of candidates and agents, and not just noted.

It was actually quite close in my ward. The number of spoiled ballots increased from last year.

He tried to tell me that gender ID is a Westminster thing and that I should vote locally for Lib Dems because gender ID isn’t relevant at this level…..

My 'go to' for this is swimming pools, the Lib Dem / Labour policy allows any man who says he is a woman into women's only swimming and women's changing rooms.

Oh also, I read an interesting comment from someone.

They pointed out that the Tories don’t actually care about women’s rights - they just want to preserve the status quo which puts rich men in control and keeps women in their place.

I think there’s a lot of truth in this. They’ve become the “party protecting women” but that’s just a side product of the fact they’re trying to protect their own advantages and privilege.

I find myself politically lost too. Traditionally I’m a left of centre Labour voter. Generally I actually really like Keir Starmer - I think he’s an intelligent, decent man and he’d be the best PM we’d had in a very, very long time…..other than the gender issue.

Gutted and furious that I can’t vote for Labour because I think Starmer is a departure from the back-slapping sneery politics that most engage in. I think he’s less focussed on being snide and more about cutting to the heart of the issue. He shreds Tories with his intellect in the HoC.

And yet, he’s fucked things up by trying to be “kind and inclusive”. Not realising that it’s not kind and inclusive to women.

The Lib Dem’s canvassed me and I told the very bemused man why I would not vote for them. He didn’t even know the Lib Dem policy on gender ID. I’m sure he regrets asking me now because I was very clear about the issues! He tried to tell me that gender ID is a Westminster thing and that I should vote locally for Lib Dems because gender ID isn’t relevant at this level….. I told him I would not be doing anything that could be interpreted to mean endorsement of Lib Dem’s policies on sex and gender. Poor bloke was bewildered but said he’d report my comments back.

I’ve never been a Tory voter but historically they’ve not always been horrific - we just differed on opinion. This government- and the government under Boris make a mockery of our constituency. They lie when they feel like it, pay off their pals, tried to prorogue Parliament to push through a law they wanted……they’ve been laughing in our faces and don’t even care that we know it. Not to mention deeply unpleasant dog whistling re immigration etc.

Gah!! What a nightmare. This is a single issue vote for me too so Lab/Lib Dens/Green are a no-go.

Spoilt vote I guess but will they really care or notice?! I doubt it.

Rubbish

Could never vote for a party that seeks to increase wealth disparity. Could never vote for a party that has fucked over education and the nhs while usually going private on both counts.

As for me having a go, I'll give that a miss. I don't really like politicians.

We go to the polls in 2 weeks. It will be interesting to see what happens. We are not doing well due to enormous budget cuts and the the EU funding ending. People are really pissed off with the DUP. NI has become much more diverse over the past few years, particularly my ward.

I am hoping to speak to as many parties as I can. I think I will give them my views on the trans mess before I ask theirs. We have not been as impacted by it as you have, so I hope we can stop the rot early. However it will not be a big issue here.

Thanks. It is right that we all have different views, as long as we communicate. We really don't want silo politics where the only combination is insult.

When canvassing there were only two women whose antipathy stayed me . Normally Labour supporters were good humoured as they told be I would never get their vote. Both were American. One was arrogantly stated she was ABC (anyone but Conservative) and acted as if I was a piece of dirt. A second screamed at me "We don't vote for Tory Terfs. Get out", after her husband had asked why, since we agreed on local issues, I was not standing for a party he could vote for.

The nastiness was not necessary. Small sample but I wondered if US politics are generally so tribal, hostile and divided.

A large part of being a ward Councillor will not be political. The big big issue as I saw it, is that the overlap between those who need Council services and those that don't use the Internet is huge. Some of those residents could do with someone to represent them. Nothing to do with party politics.

It was a huge experience. Really hard work but rewarding. By the end I wanted to win simply because I wanted to support some of the people I met.

So TooBig. You have a go?

Politically homeless here.

i will never vote Conservative, it is a vote to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The others are unacceptable too. There’s no way I could vote for anyone supporting genderwoo.

I would vote for an individual candidate of integrity, if such were to be found in my constituency.

anyolddinosaur
a coalition of libs and labour would be worse than labour..

This would be the worst of all possible outcomes for women

local elections are always a great time to either sit on your hands or make a protest vote. Typically the turnout is well under half that of a general election. Turnout this time looks to be around a third of the electorate.

Although Labour is happily going to claim this means they will be in power soon Kier isnt quite as big an idiot as he acts. He's well aware the greens are still unlikely to take seats and labour might end up the biggest party but have to govern in coalition. His biggest hope is, ironically, that voters in Scotland are so pissed off that they abandon the SNP. He really cant afford to piss off Scottish women, even if he thinks he can afford to do so in the rest of the country.

If the tories reform the equality act I might have to consider a vote for them instead of a spoilt ballot paper because a coalition of libs and labour would be worse than labour..

Thank you for standing Nomore. I don't agree with your politics, but I admire you for standing and your determination and energy.

Hope you have a well deserved rest after the Coronation.

@TooBigForMyBoots

I lost. Not surprising as last time each independent got double the number of votes that each Conservative got. This time the margin was smaller and we increased our share of the vote by 5%, despite there being more candidates, and running on the back of a pretty shocking Tory administration.

We were the only ward in the large town where Tories increased their vote share. Elsewhere it was pretty much annihilation.

It is considered a safe Tory constituency but I assume the sitting MP is now a bit worried. He asked me last week and I said it would be a bloodbath. I may have been the only one who called it, but then two of us knocked on 3,000 doors,so we're practically our own political research outfit.

The MP will be fine. Plenty of people told me that they planned to protest vote this time out but would return for the General Election. Plenty also said, despite always having voted, that they would skip this time, so the low turnout. But there are longer term issues. Young adults are more "be kind", and have a much more uncertain future. There are no dentists. Rents are rising fast. There is both a job and a worker shortage, the Town Centre is dying and anti social behaviour, probably fueled by country lines, is rising.

Will the Conservative Party be able to morph into a listening party, as well as a party capable of good cost effective government, that can appeal to the many undecided voters. Is Labour able to? Or do we keep looking for the least wost alternative between a right wing bubble and a left wing bubble. And if so will knowing what a woman is, be a deciding factor.

I was called a LibDem in blue clothing by someone on the local party group chat. I don't know who he is though my colleague thinks he is ex UKIP. Should I be proud?

Agree.
I voted Conservative first time,
Dh voted labour and told me I was not thinking of other people. ( just 51% of the population not enough for him)
My 3 sons all came home and said they’d voted Conservative in support of Womens rights
Husband having a gin in the garden.
I just hope other parties sit up and think. Maybe spoiling the vote would have been better as councillors would have read why… Who knows.
Just need this madness to end

This.

That’s what I thought but Labour are suppressing our ability to speak, redefining the word women to centre males, we cannot trust them to not do worse to women’s rights.

Well done, all protest is worth it