Urgh! I will still live in a tory seat, how to make peace with that?

[BusyCM]

150 years of Conservatives here, no chance of Labour getting in. Closest competitor is Lib Dems but still a huge gap. Though we do have Lib dem councillors in now which was a shock last year so maybe I should put my vote there?

And no I can't move house!

Maybe understand that people have different views and be grateful that we live in a democracy?

You make peace with it because you decided to live there 🤷🏻‍♀️

If you can't move house then you can campaign for an alternative party, do round handing out flyers, support your local candidates, get involved in local town / village meetings where political issues get raised etc. You can do more than simply vote if it means so much to you?

Same here, absolutely no chance of getting the Tory toff unseated 🤬

Actually not everyone gets to choose where they live and our version of democracy is shit. The voting system in this country is terrible, meaning most people can vote against a party but they can still have enough seats to win.

Why can't you choose where you live?

Constituency MPs don’t have that much influence over anything though - it’s not as though you’re going to be disadvantaged in terms of policy.

Are you in Lincolnshire? I mean, it’s fine. Labour will get in and you’ll have a Labour government.

Tell.me you have privilege without telling me you have privilege. 🙄

All you can do is vote lib dem

Sometimes if the local MP sees their majority reduce dramatically they attempt to spring into action and it's the ventral government who sets the tone, budget and direction.

Don't give up hope.

Not Lincolnshire. It's just disheartening to know your vote is pointless. I will still vote though, of course.

Maidenhead ?

If it is, depends who they have standing given Theresa May won't be.

@BusyCM "tell me you have privilege without telling me you have privilege"

I'm sorry, you came on here with a complaint and people tried helping you. If you hate it so much I'd suggest moving, even if it takes you ten years.. You seem to dislike other people having different political opinions than you so much that it upsets you so why not put a lot of effort in to move? Or alternatively a lot of effort into making peace with it. Either way would be better wouldn't it?

I really hope you can feel better soon about your situation or can get the recourses to move one day!

It's tedious living in a safe seat where you know it'll take a swing of xx,xxx to make a difference, and 2 miles away xx can change the political direction.

The other problem of a safe seat is that the other parties don't bother putting resources into campaining where they feel there's no chance of a swing.

Not that any party is looking coherent and enticing as a path of positive change.

If you live in an overwhelmingly Tory safe seat then it will almost certainly be a decent place to live. Do you really want to live in an area that isn't, just so you can boast that your MP is Labour? Each to their own I suppose.

How is this any different that a lifelong Conservative voter living in a Labour stronghold area? We live in a democracy and people are allowed to have different opinions (thankfully). I’ve lived in 3 different areas in my life. The first would flip between Labour and Conservative, the second was Labour, regardless of anything else. The current is likely to remain Conservative this time. It’s called a democracy.

It's not pointless this is how some seats seem "safe" because many don't bother voting because what's the point.

I have no idea why people are trying to guess where you live - there are loads of safe seats!

I love my home and my neighbours and our local schools. I detest our out of touch, right of centre, old-glory-Tory MP who bleats on about the macro economic benefits of Brexit regardless the vast majority of his constituents voted Remain. He’s too scared to come down my street and discuss his unwillingness to address local issues. He refuses to engage in debate with constituents because he is too grand for the likes of us. He doesn’t even TRY to represent the majority view in his constituency, it’s like he’s proud of making most of us hate him!

I don’t make my peace with it. I vote against him. I tell everyone who is interested what a dreadful MP he is.

But people vote him in because most people here are on the older, middle class side and they vote with what they perceive as their vested interests. Among my friends and acquaintances I don’t understand why - they moan about Brexit, they fret about the NHS/ schools funding and teacher shortages, they act horrified at the cost and quality of public transport and utilities, they shake their heads in distress at the cost of living crisis, and they lose sleep over the environment we are going to leave to our privileged children.

So I can’t control how other people vote, but I try and present the case for a change.

And I don’t want to be at peace, because that means I’ve given up.

It's likely we'll get a Tory MP again, I wouldn't mind as much if they weren't self-serving, greasy pole, climbing idiot. On a good day we have enough Lib Dems and Labour voters to get them out but unfortunately, the two parties have not colluded and the progressive vote is split. The way the electoral system works in this country - it feels like our vote is wasted.

Actually you're not wrong.here.

Thinking further, I think my actual issue is how truly awful our MP is, I've never seen him do a single thing! At all. No replies to a single email even! He isn't standing again thank goodness so maybe I will still have the opportunity for chnage.

Not Theresa May, she's actually a decent local MP, very pro active to her Maidenhead constituents.

I get it. My relatives were complaining about having activists come and canvass for their votes in election years and all I could think was 'how wonderful it must be to live in a marginal constituency and feel like your vote counts toward a determining the outcome of the election'. In a safe seat, whatever party, you feel like you don't get much of a say because that's how our system works. If it was a safe seat of the party you preferred you'd feel represented by them. I don't feel represented by my MP. Other people think he is great but personally I have written to him a number of times and never even had a response, so the only way I will ever vote for him is if the only alternative is whatever Nigel Farage's new party is.

You can campaign for proportional representation https://makevotesmatter.org.uk/ and explain to people what it means. It is a real shame that the opportunity was missed with the referendum under the coalition. Many people don't understand what proportional representation is.

I also have a shit Tory MP (Chloe Smith - happy to name and shame her as she’s utterly awful) so I feel your pain.

She’s stepping down this election thank god, and our Labour candidate has a v good chance of winning so I’m keeping everything crossed as she is totally fab and really involved in the community.

Same where I live. People here would vote for a turnip in a blue rosette.
The New Forest constituency was divided into east and west in 1997 and we have Desmond Swayne for west and Julian Lewis for east.
Check out Desmond Swayne on wikipedia. Racist, sexist old dinosaur. Most people who vote for him have probably never bothered to find out anything about him.
Julian Lewis is the only mp in the country who refuses to use email despite having been warned by parliament that he cannot do this.

You are correct our electoral system is rotten. It belongs in the dustbin of history.

The way to deal with this is to focus your energy on something you can control - go to the nearest marginal seat and help out, or support the local councillors from the party you do like.

That was a vote on 'alternative preference' which is a scam. It gives the illusion of being able to vote for minor parties, but actually entrenches the main parties via the 2nd preference votes.

We need Swiss style 'direct democracy'.