In the coming general election will you base your vote on …

[Katharinablumwasinnocent]

State of the country, economic performance, moral rectitude of the government or lack of..
So if you are unhappy with the way the country has been governed, general conduct of the Conservatives, you’ll presumably not vote for them. They’ve had 13 years to improve things. 13 years to level up (Not just Johnson’s plan but Northern Powerhouse before that etc too) and very little has been achieved.
Or
Tradition, how you’ve always voted. Don’t trust the other side however bad your ‘team’ are. Even though your team may have been corrupt, deceptive, inept (Truss, Johnson) or wish washy, indecisive, uncharismatic (Corbyn, Starmer) you’ll still vote for the same party.
I’m interested in tribal politics. The next GE will be fascinating to see if the Red wall continues to crumble and the Home Counties drop their loyalty to the Conservatives….. What does it take to change your allegiance ?

I don't vote for a party I vote for the local candidate and what they do. In my area the Conservative candidate relies entirely on the party to get votes. Does barely anything of note in the community - it's a swing seat so has previously worked out OK for them.

The incumbent Labour candidate is very visible - their voting record doesn't support what they promised in the last election though so it'll be interesting to see if they retain previous support.

The Plaid candidate is very visible, a very active campaigner and deeply involved in local issues.

The Lib Dem candidate is invisible much like the Conservative one, but they aren't part of the swing seat so don't know why they even try in our constituency. Likewise for the Green candidate.

The two candidates that ran as independents last time are also heavily involved in the local community and are vocal about what their beliefs/policies are.

It'll be interesting to see if:
a) The very active candidates are the same ones selected for the next GE
b) If the inactive candidates wake up to the possibility they could change something if they could be bothered
c) If we can break the swing seat pendulum

As to how I'll vote, I'm pay close attention to what's happening locally and I'll attend the hustings. I'll make my decision based on that.

Basing my decision on the head of a political party that may change according to the whims of the members of the party would be daft, so I'm focusing on who I'd like to represent my area in Parliament. It's a shame more people don't vote this way to be honest.

I keep reading that people can’t vote labour because of all the TWAW stuff. But surely that’s like blaming labour for how Brexit has turned out. The current state of affairs re gender has happened under the tories. Men in women’s prisons, men in domestic violence refuges Starmer has belatedly started to change his tone. Sunak only joined in because he thinks it’s a vote winner. Many of the Tory austerity policies hit women and family the hardest.

I’ll vote for the best party to get the tories out. In my area that’s Lib Dem.

My view is that the tories have had over a decade to turn this country around but it has got worse.

If I’m still
in this country (which I am
not to be) I will be spoiling my ballot.

I consider myself left of centre. I've mainly voted Labour but have once voted Conservative. This time around it'll be a tactical vote from me to get our Conservative MP out which means I'll be voting Lib Dem.

I don't have an awful lot of faith in Starmer but I can't support the a party who have driven the NHS and schools to breaking point. My kids have had up to 35 pupils in a class and we've been on the waiting list for an operation for 18 months and counting. I have never known it to be so bad.

Anything but Tory. They have almost ruined our lovely country, but maybe a fresh pair of hands can salvage it! Single sex facilities and services were all fine under Labour, by the way.

I will vote for whoever is most likely to oust the most corrupt, greedy self-serving, incompetent government in history. I cannot believe that anyone can look at the state of the country and their own circumstances and the ruins surrounding us and think voting Tory is a good idea. We will not recover from the damage they have caused in my lifetime. It staggers me that anyone who is not rich or selfish would be so stupid as to vote for them. They aren't even trying to hide their agenda anymore. The fact people cite women's issues as a reason not to vote against them is laughable, given their track record on women's rights and the fact that the whole trans issue shitshow has happened on their watch.

@suggestionsplease1

Is that data based on sex or self identified gender? If it's the latter that's just really depressing- it's surely no co-incidence that the gender pay gap is less if you include men, however they identify, in the women's data set. And on a wider view, is that what it takes to improve things for women- let "women" include men?

Won't vote Tory, can't vote Labour currently. Will have to look at the remaining candidates and make a judgement call.

The rich twits south of London are a bunch of Tory zombies. Tories look after their own unfortunately.
When do they ever stick to what you voted for.

Be glad you don't live in Northern Ireland like me. If you think Conservative Labour etc are bad ours are much worse. When I lived in England I voted Labour and Lib Dem. Vowed Id never vote Tory

I won’t be voting. My conservative MP is shit, and the party needs to stop pissing about

Labour are led by someone who can’t identify what a woman is, and the last Labour Government lied to us, took us into war illegally, crapped on pensions , sold the gold and broke the country, and Wales who have a Labour government are up shit creek

LibDems records speaks for itself Clegg happy to lie about what they would do, hence the state they are in now

the rest are small people who are not going to get in

No party cares about this country, most are made up of people who have never held down a proper job, have no idea how people in this country tick, and don’t care

I don’t think Nick Clegg is in the Lib Dems any more.

No I don't.

My main personal concerns in life are
The NHS and social care and adequate staffing levels
Pensions
Suitable and affordable housing without losing our countryside
Local transport
Safety in schools.
I guess what I am really saying is that I want it all to be stored and affordable.

Who the hell do I trust to sort it all out?
More importantly who do I Not trust????

I'm not proud of this but for the first time ever I don't think I will be voting. My conscience won't allow me to vote with any of what's on offer right now.

But you see this is soooooo regional. Lots of family members have had great care from NHS recently. We have no problem accessing GP either. We have a really good local trust. We have specialist centres for all sort of things, and recently DH and I have had mammograms, cervical screening, bowel screening, and prostate screening.

What does it take to change your allegiance ?

I don't have any allegiances and I vote as I always do on a mix of polices, local candidate, data ie who are the big parties locally what majorities they have (lived in various locations) and more nebulous how competent they appear as a party ie would day to day run smoothly with them.

Local candidate was big factor last time - we used to have a really good Labour MP and they always got my vote current one I have real concerns about and they have a small majority - much reduce from previous.

I will vote but no idea who for yet.

A lot of thing like education and NHS I really care about because it impacts day to day life are devolved.

So there national policy which will affect us in less direct ways often financial - stuff that will affect family in England and stuff that's directedly affected in a different election not the general election.

Interesting question. Unfortunately I can't base my vote on either of those things.

The state of the country is dire and the Tories have thoroughly fucked it. Fixing it, however, will require radical action and vision not just tinkering around the edges. As Starmer's commitment to such vision in order to gain the Labour leadership has turned out to be a pack of lies, and Labour have committed themselves to a complete program of Tory 2.0 to avoid scaring the horses, there is simply no reason to believe that the country under them will be any better.

Tribally, I have voted Labour all my life. Even under Blair. But the current "Labour" party is simply not labour in anything but name. The option is no longer available.

We now live in an American-style system where you have the choice of two right wing parties with slightly different cultural emphases, both entirely committed to preserving the status quo. Most people just haven't realised it yet.

newnamesix

Again, my comment is that MOST people will vote for what is best for them however there will always be exceptions. I’m happy to believe that you and divingforlove are different and vote the way you because you believe that it will help others and is for the greater good.

I do find it interesting however that all I have says is that I will vote for the party I perceive to be the best for me and my family - I’m afraid like most of the population I don’t hold such lofty ideals as you - however I haven’t said which party that is although it seems you and diving have made an assumption as to which party that is which is!

A change to Labour would be very disruptive as they would be learning how to do things. They have less experience of government.
That's a vicious circle, though.

I feel pretty politically homeless in that I will not vote Tory, but the others seem to be queuing up to lob women's rights out the window.
Realistically and pragmatically, though, Labour look the most likely to win (or at least win enough to have a hung parliament or some sort of coalition), and so I'll vote for them.

Totally agree. This all day long.

To all those saying they won't vote. Can I just say this. There are vast swathes of 'polite' British people, especially aged 60+ who are often pillars of the community, keep their gardens neat, smile at everyone, don't engage in political discussions with anyone... and go out every damn time and quietly put an X in the Tory box. Nothing, nothing, nothing will stop them. Ever. And in an ageing population, this number will rise. Fair enough. That's democracy. But if you don't vote AT ALL, because Labour seem flakey and LDs will 'never win', and you'd prefer another option that just doesn't exist yet... just remember that by NOT VOTING AT ALL, you are giving way to the party that has caused actual destruction to this country in the last 13 years. And you'll be giving them another go. I agree, Labour are doing my head in and LDs might be great locally but have little presence nationally... but by NOT VOTING, you are letting the Tories back in. Because Tory voters don't advertise it - they just go and doggedly put that X in the box regardless of the policies to make, the rich richer, the batshit Uturns, the embarrassing lack of a cohesive vision or plan. So please, please vote.

This absolutely. Not voting is a vote for the status quo and the shitshow that that is.
The private school tax issue annoys me as well- people not happy about paying extra there whilst not caring about how much this government have already taken out of their pockets in other data due to their disastrous handling of the economy and enabling blatant profiteering. Anyone who can afford to send their children to private school is far detached from the reality of the abject poverty vast swathes of the population have been thrown into. Trotting out the "we make sacrifices and scrimp and save to pay for private education and aren't rich" trope doesn't wash either. People literally cannot afford to eat. If you can find thousands of pounds a year to pay for schooling - you are well off compared to a huge chunk of the population living in dire circumstances thanks to the policies of these greedy bastards protecting the interests of the rich at the cost of the poorest in society.