General election for dummies

[worrywilma]

I'm a complete political novice and have no idea who I'll be voting for. But have any of them spoke about the cost of living and mortgage rates? Or is that more of a world wide issue that one government can't fix in their own country?

I'll say again, I'm pretty thick when it comes to politics!

I'm too scared to post this in the GE board 😂

If you’re unsure how to vote (as in how to choose a party, rather than the actual physical process of voting on July 4th), there are various impartial sites which ask a range of questions and analyse your responses to see which party’s policies are the best fit for you.

I’ve just tried this one: https://uk.isidewith.com/ (the image that goes with the link is very out of date! Almost all of those faces are no longer party leaders… But the ideologies of the parties remain broadly the same at the moment.)

There are others but some are waiting for more policy information before their questions go live.

Please don’t feel that you’re thick - you’re just not fully informed yet! The fact that you want to be engaged is great; too many people switch off from politics (and then complain when things don’t go their way).

voteforpolicies.org.uk/ is also useful. Asks a series of questions and then explains how they match to the parties.

Both parties want to deal with the cost of living crisis.

It is worldwide problem which is at least partially due to Covid and the war in Ukraine. Some people think Brexit has made it worse in the U.K. than in other places and therefore blame the conservatives as they were the party that got Brexit done.

The reason it isn't being talked about is because both sides agree it needs to be dealt with, so it would be a very short conversation.

Instead they are talking about the things that are different about their party.

Take a look at Simple Politics on Facebook & listen to And The Rest is Politics podcast

That’s the one I wanted to link, but it’s not ready yet (they say they’re waiting for more info on policies).

Well done for researching this. A lot just wouldn't vote so thank you for looking into this more.

You can check individual voting records on sitting MPs via They Work For You. Also quite useful on general political information, and you can search via postcode to check your constituency and candidates etc.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/

Oh thank you for the links and info!

I'm sure there will be others on here who don't know their arse from their elbow when it come to politics, so it's great to get some help.

Nobody is born knowing these things @worrywilma you have to start somewhere.

Exactly. The News Agents is another informative podcast, easy to listen to.

Someone here once recommended that newsround often do brief, easy to understand explainers so I'd look there too

The Newsagents Podcast is also very informative and good for explaining things simply but not patronisingly. The presenters are Emily Mathis, Jon Sopel and Lewis Goodall. I'd say that it's Left-leaning but not supportive of one particular political party. They also interview various interesting politicians and guests from across the political spectrum.

That above is their YouTube Channel that has some exclusive content, but the podcast is available on Apple Podcasts and the other podcast providers. It comes out every weekday about 5pm and until the

Posted too soon!

I was saying that it drops every week day at 5pm and until the election they're doing a special Sunday edition too.

These sites and links are ABSOLUTELY NOT impartial, the questions are poorly written and leading and will not give you a good bias on which to make a decision.

If you're rich and don't care about others, vote Tory,

Otherwise whoever in your area is most likely to beat the Tories.

Really?

We're recommending Facebook after what happened in the last of elections?

Simple Politics isn't a Facebook group and you can access it via other social media as well as its webpage if you wish

https://www.simplepolitics.co.uk/

If you want general explainers on British politics, you could also look at things like bbc bitesize - pretty sure they'll have a level politics material

I mean, yes, both sides in theory want to sort out the cost of living crisis. However one of those parties has been in power throughout the crisis and done nothing to make it better (and plenty to make it worse).

I think that podcast is a bit advanced for a beginner, it assumes a lot of pre existing knowledge.
Op, I'm not negative about politics and don't go along with 'they're all the same' (they aren't). But, honestly, no uk political party can do anything about the cost of living. None will cut taxes, and inflation is caused by factors outside their control, so ignore any promises on that front.
Well done for trying to get informed, the sites others have suggested for helping you find the party that suits your beliefs are good, impartial and easy to use.

It's surprising how much a beginner can pick up from it though, they put things in context & are pretty balanced

To be honest (and I'm a politics graduate) much of the day to day life things that concern us is unfortunately outside of the government control eg interest rates are world wide, whilst government policies affect them, the big driving force isn't a labour/conservative thing.

What parties do influence is spending priorities eg nhs, schools, defence, older people - you can see already that the cons are trying to appeal to my mothers' generation with the triple lock plus pension.

You also need to consider your constituency - some mps are better than others in helping people locally.

I would suggest reading a summary of policies nearer the election date as it's only soundbites currently.

Personally I think we desperately need a change because Brexit was such a huge mistake but I don't see any parties saying they will reverse it

@mitogoshi completely agree with you re Brexit & funnily enough they were discussing their surprise that its not an election topic on The Rest is Politics this week.

My take on it - and I am & have always been an ardent remainer- is that it's the right strategic decision not to put it front & centre right now. Its had a stranglehold on our politics for several years & we need, collectively, a bit of emotional distance before we can move forward on it. If it were part of the election campaign then the election would be yet another Brexit election & that hasn't worked - for anyone (except those only in politics to line their pockets). What's done is done and we need to remove the heat (and hugely inflammatory rhetoric) from the debate by letting the dust settle. The issue is too divisive to ensure a change of party.

In Labour's shoes, I would make laying the ground work for a return to the EU a priority once in power - rejoining the customs union would be a good first step. Addressing domestic issues will also help to take the heat out of anti-foreigner & racist rhetoric which will help position the country socially for what I hope will be a full return to the EU.

I don't think rejoining the EU will happen in the short to medium term and it can really only happen by democratic mandate: via a referendum or a general election run on that premise.