Why are the Tories so great?!

[WildFlowerBees]

Answers such as 'there's no one better' or 'would you prefer Kier or Nigel' aren't answers.

I see no benefits at all to having the current government we have, all I see is a bunch of self serving elitist willy waving boys who care only about the wealthy.

How are they voted in over and over and why has no one else stepped up that has morals and can actually do something good?

Because the media is powerful and convinced people Corbyn was dangerous.

Because people want to protect their wealth rather than caring about education, NHS etc.

Because people think ‘clapping for the NHS’ negates the underfunding.

This. And I'd add the ongoing misconception of most voters that the Conservatives are economically competent. Despite their current track record of spaffing public money to their mates.

Worth noting the only good bit of the covid response (vaccines) was run by the public sector experts in the NHS rather than some privatised outfit.

I also think rightly or wrongly many people equate labour activists with extremism. All those social justice warriors agressively attacking people relentlessly and just think no thanks. Angela Raynor scum comments upset my dad who always votes Labour. He thinks it lacks decorum and is unintelligent to speak in that way about others.

@Gettingthereslowly2020

Well they are great if you're wealthy and lack a moral compass

The 'lack of a moral compass' /'Tory scum' attitude, is why Labour can't win elections. You need previous Tory voters to switch or non-voters to engage.

They don't have momentum waiting until he wings.
They aren't in constant conflict with themselves.
They don't have that strange uncomfortable relationship with the unions.

Plus they accept that I'm a woman not a person with a cervix.

I don't really understand it - can't trust a word Boris says for starters. At least David Cameron was believable, even if he did sell us down the river on the Brexit question.

Labour were unelectable with Corbyn as leader although they seemed not to realise.

@Poetrypatty

Does anyone think they're great I doubt it. People didn't like Corbyn because he seemed worse. I think the next election things will look different, given all of the corruption and all the wasted money on PPE contracts and things like low pay and the Universal Credit cut. Voters will only take so much before they'll consider switching sides, especially as Labour are moving to the centre now and Tories towards the far right.

You can hope, but compared to the Thatcher years, Boris's Tory Government is actually quite left wing in economic terms and progressive on social issues. Lots of commenters in the Telegraph bemoan this all the time. I can't imagine that Thatcher would have funded furlough etc. given that one of the first things she did when elected in 1979 was remove earnings-related unemployment benefit.

Lots of people agree with them.
Lots of people think Boris is funny.
I am from a working class community that have completely abandoned after decades. It is embarrassing to vote Labour now and they are seen as Champagne Socialists, 'loony left' and reward non workers. When you have pulled yourself up by your boot straps and graft hard you don't want your taxes to go to people who don't work, very much like the USA.

You might not like it but “there’s no one better” is an answer to why so many voted for them

They win because they do effective research into what voters want and then act on it rather than just assuming all right minded people will vote for them as a matter of course and anyone who doesn’t is either stupid or selfish.

I wish Labour would try this because they might actually win if they did.

@stairway

They win because the wealthy , those who want to be wealthy and pensioners vote them in as they believe they will protect their assets. Younger generations don’t bother voting.

Well if you are retired and drawing your pension (the one from your former job, not the state one which you might not be eligible for until you are 67, the last thing you want is for capitalism to implode, leaving you with no money. Eventually you have too much to lose, to risk a 'Corbyn-type' Government.

@stairway

They win because the wealthy , those who want to be wealthy and pensioners vote them in as they believe they will protect their assets. Younger generations don’t bother voting.

Pretty much this. Though it's not necessarily restricted to voters.

Those that are in the age groups that have higher percentage of voters in it tend to be older age groups. The older a person is the chances are they'll have gathered assets.

So that young person without asests who didn't vote or spolit their vote, in a few years could end up voting Tory because they now have assets and want then protected.

@Theunamedcat

Because we don't have compulsory voting (with a none of the above box)

Because we don't have a credible opposition

Because people prefer to spoil there ballots

Because they have always voted that way why should they change

Because despite the fact that they don't really respect or protect women Labour/libdems/greens don't respect or protect women more

People don’t always vote the same way. Blair won 3 times which proves Labour can win with the right leader and policies.

@RepentBirthingPersonFucker why do labour hate the working class ? Seems to be something oft repeated but never quantified.
@x2boys how are they contemptuous ? Surely the shenanigans in parliament proves otherwise ? Demonstrates the the tory party's absolute contempt for the electorate ? The removing of the UC uplift for the poorest yet another example. And they are allowed to oppose the governing party aren't they ? They aren't actually contemptuous of the electorate.

Emily Thornbury was pretty scathing
The antics and bullying of momentum which are never addressed
The stupid woman who lectured those flooded in Carlisle about global warming- time and place!
How they treat women. No members of WPUK or LGBA allowed
I'm moving onto women now
The Lily Madigan fiasco. Kicking women out of party conference because LM felt unsafe
Heather Peto

Despite being labour all my life, a union steward and LP member, I would never vote for them, or any other party, that puts a male into a women's officer role
That doesn't mean I would vote Tory of course

It's the voters in the middle who will swing it, just like how Thatcher was eventually toppled. Most people want the centre ground, not extremes either way. PR would see LibDems and Greens doing much better.

@MintJulia

They don't have momentum waiting until he wings. They aren't in constant conflict with themselves. They don't have that strange uncomfortable relationship with the unions.

That doesn’t say the Tories are great. It says that you dint like the others which is different.

• Failure by Labour to offer a viable alternative.
• Very good communications, premised on the fact that most people are not very interested in politics and so need simple, clear messages, repeated regularly. Nuance doesn't really cut through.
• The willingness to put aside internal differences in order to win elections.

The Conservatives know very well that their number one job is to win elections and that everything else is secondary. Labour (apart from under Blair) seem incapable of grasping this, unfortunately.

A few years ago I moved from a big city to a small, close-knit 'middle England' town that is steadfastly Tory. These are my observations:

The longstanding tory MP is a good bloke who works hard for his constituents. He packs shopping in Tesco with the scouts.

People are traditionally working class/lower middle class and aspire to home ownership. They value hard work and don't like benefit scroungers.

Some of the left-wing agenda on race, sex and so on has perceived limited relevance here.

Schools here are generally good. The town is nice. People are nice.

They dislike lefty sneering attitudes of 'you're too stupid to know what you're voting for'.

Older people remember economic chaos under previous labour governments.

@Gettingthereslowly2020

Jeremy Corbyn did step up but people preferred Boris because he has funny hair

Yes, the public are just so thick aren't they, they can't see past a politicians hair, unlike you, the oh so enlightened one who knew that JC was the true path to salvation....

@sashagabadon

I also think rightly or wrongly many people equate labour activists with extremism. All those social justice warriors agressively attacking people relentlessly and just think no thanks. Angela Raynor scum comments upset my dad who always votes Labour. He thinks it lacks decorum and is unintelligent to speak in that way about others.

yet people find Johnson's 'pickaninny' comments amusing. Perhaps casual racism appeals to the 'red wall' that facilitated Johnsons win? It was also heavily connected to the ongoing farce that is Brexit. I don't think party politics has been this divided and knee jerky for decades. Weird times we live in!

And true, the 'red wall' certainly don't give a fuck about women's rights or progressive values. Experts are redundant, remember?
It is a shame we can't have more eligible parties to choose from. Something more centre focused, which would enable progressive yet level headed policies (prioritising nhs AND business interests) that appease the average voter across the board.

Current divisive politics are like a cesspool of grotesquerie. Wildly facilitated by the gutter press, too.

They value hard work and don't like benefit scroungers.

That's bloody nasty.

And would somebody please define a benefit scrounger?

Are you aware how many of them are disabled people with no safety net? When did such dialogue become so toxic? Whislt there are those who take advantage of the system, it seems people are happy to throw the most vulnerable into the pit with them.

Many women, for example, would find themselves up the spout if their marriage broke down. Trapped and dependent upon men. Often, using benefits as a bridge can help vulnerable women move on from abuse.

So how bad does the country have to get before the electorate opts for a labour government ?
All the positive aspects of the conservatives basically revolve round decent PR (catchy slogans but no substance), willingness to pull together and quell internal discord (hence many mps voting for something they are morally opposed to) and a worrying ability to lie then hope the electorate are daft enough to forget. Tragic really. More trouble on the way anyhow regarding article 16 so let's see how they deal with that.