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

When hell freezes over!

I feel for you, but also appreciate the reminder that this is a global issue and we need to show solidarity. And that how we vote has wider repercussions.

Whilst there are some here that don’t think this is such a major issue, my oh is convinced it is so ridiculous it will pass soon - the luxury of a being a male, the safe ways of pushing back are primarily voting and funding legal cases. And of course talking amongst ourselves so we know there is more support than the tras would have us believe.

This thread has been useful for me. I am more left leaning than many in the UK Labour Party but that reminder that the impact of how we approach voting on this and the sneering bullying attempts to convince left leaning women they should vote anyone but conservative has convinced me.

LibDem has a chance of unseating the frankly repugnant local Conservative MP out next election. Spoiling my vote would be irresponsible when there’s a chance of a swing seat so I’ll be voting Conservative next election as I’m terrified of the impact a Labour government would have on women’s rights and each lost conservative seat makes that a little more likely.

Thanks for asking.

I did not attend as I am volunteering during the Coronation, and was on my feet yesterday from 7.00am till 7.00pm when it started pouring with rain. No result yet but turnout in the ward is down from around 33% to 28%.

Hence my argument that gender etc has left people not knowing who to vote for if they don't want to vote Conservative. (And at a Council level Private Eye provided several good reasons not to vote Conservative. Difficult to ask people to trust me that I would be different.)

Are you at the count Needmore? How's it looking where you are?

Voter turnout was down where I was standing.

Fits in with the people I met on the doorstep who said "I usually vote, but won't bother this time. I don't like any of them". Last time round the ward I was standing in was taken by independents, who did not particularly impress. This time the Conservatives were let down by people who said they would vote Tory in a GE but this time out planned to vote independent as a protest . (Mainly anti-Boris but unfortunately likely to be interpreted as anti Rishi and his more centrist policies.)

To be fair peaches isn't specifically advocating a Labour vote.
I also voted tactically peaches and so voted Green.

As an American, a Native woman with a deep, everlasting love for our precious national parks and wildland, who believes in reproductive rights, and wants public services for our young and vulnerable to stop being so negligent... no, I'm nowhere near conservative, in my country there's a sense of self-preservation keeping me from siding with the people who've been the most open about shitting on my community. But now I feel like I have to choose between these things, and the safety of myself and other women, of vulnerable gnc, autistic, or other neurodivergent people, and the survival of the gay community. There are no SaNe, middle ground, sensible people in our public life. The left is misogynistic and deeply homophobic. The right is misogynistic and deeply homophobic.

I think many of us disillusioned in the US are looking to y'all for how you vote. You've been at the forefront of trans issues, then trans takeover, and now a mass peaking. The ladies of Terf Island have shown us how to fight back, and now that the more optimistic among us are thinking about rebuilding, we're looking to you as you navigate that process.

These are shower thoughts I've had about this thread, and after hitting the bong as one does before work in the am.

They have said it is the main issue for them, as individuals, which is entirely different from expecting it to be the main issue for most of the electorate.

Most have also said that they are not prepared to vote Tory, so they will not be reflected in yesterday's results, except perhaps as spoiled ballots.

A number of posters on here have said that it is. It really really isn't though.

Both greens and LibDems have been unashamedly pro-trans so it doesn't really make sense for those pissed off with labour's ambiguous stance to shift their vote to them if it was such a deciding factor.

Maybe some of the heat can be taken out of this debate now. Maybe, maybe not.

It means only the one who was on the ballot paper was up for re-election.
The other 2 councillors will still be in place.
The other names on the ballot paper were the other parties candidates so the one named as elected is the Councillor.

I just didn't vote at all, I couldn't bring myself to give any of them my support.

I'm historically a floating voter as I have never had any faith in any of them although did view lib dem for a while.

I don't think anyone has ever thought that GC concerns would be the major issue for most voters. That said, it is unknowable how many more votes Labour might have attracted if it had not pissed off so many women.

Election results showing great gains for LibDems and Greens, good for Labour and disaster for Tories.

So people weren't voting on toilets and penis's after all.

Yup. See also Brexit - weirdly blamed on those older voters who voted for it, and not the younger ones who opposed it, but couldn't be arsed to walk to a polling booth.

First insult of the day by accusing anyone who has previously voted Conservative of being 'selfish'. Do you not realise that to win a majority at the General Election, floating voters have to switch to Labour?

OK question to those who understand this better.

Yesterday my ward had 3 councilors, including the Jerk, the results now show 1 elected and then 2 names (different parties) where it says 'not elected'. Does that mean I now only have one councilor?

I canvassed several older women living in council block, who gave me a version of “my mothers generation fought for the vote. I intend to use it.”

I was shocked how many of their younger neighbours were not even registered.

That’s interesting. My journey was also prompted by both KJK and the travails of women in the Green Party. If I did not get involved, Ihad no right to complain about politicians.

Being a candidate was really interesting. I did a lot of canvassing, and met a lot of good people. The local party was a bit of a culture shock, but equally there are some good, grounded and hard working people. It was not too hard to get a GC message across. Most of the blokes never doubted that people with penises were men. It was more that they never realised that this was an issue.

One well informed person I canvassed said she would like to see more compassion in the local Conservative party. I canvassed quite a lot of social housing, and did not disagree.

More grounded women injecting compassion into the Conservative party, or reality into the Labour Party. That would be a result.

That’s really not how it works at election counts.

I voted tactically according to the Stop the Tories website.

I am not short sighted or selfish enough to think that a party's "definition of a woman" is the only thing I should take into consideration.

If you have 100 votes cast but only 50 for the actual candidates then someone is going to think 'hmm'.

The returning officer has to examine them. The RO has to decide if a vote is valid or spoiled so, in one case, a detailed drawing of a penis was counted as a vote.

The candidates can ask to look at them too.

https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf_file/UKPE-doubtfuls-booklet.pdf

https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/spoil-ballot-paper-how-why-vote-2021-uk-local-elections-counted-988149

Some people report candidates looking at spoilt ballot papers. I dont care if one person looks at it or many. Maybe that one person will be encouraged to research or speak up. The people who think one person cant make a difference never ate an undercooked bat.

I don't get the point of spoiling ballot papers, let alone by writing messages on them. The hard-pressed vote counters will barely register that there is anything written, let alone read it, and they certainly won't be reporting back on it. The only thing they will report back is X spoilt papers, and no-one will know whether that is because of the voters' views on gender equality or because they resent the fact that no extreme right- or left-wing party has a candidate or because they just don't understand how to vote.

Spoilt ballot paper for me, OH didnt vote. IF tories reform the equality act I might have to vote for them, until then I wont because I dont trust them not to backtrack if re-elected. Cant vote for people living in a fantasy world.

Too early to read the result yet but labour lead in the polls doesnt look to be translating into the same increase in seats. Obviously they are making big gains but possibly not as big as the polls would have suggested.

Just to add something that happened yesterday.

A male friend called and asked what he could put to spoil his ballot.

I suggested, "respect my sex if you want my X" he said he isn't female, but I thought that although women are more impacted than men, men are still affected eg when he needs his prostate checking he would like to chose a male Dr/nurse.