to ask you why you would vote Tory?

[Dromedary]

I have a nasty feeling that if an election were held now the Tories might get in again.
Lots of you out there support the Tories.
Some of the rest of us find that very hard to understand.
Can you explain your reasoning for us? I for one promise not to bash you for your views on this thread (but may do so on other threads).

This is stupid - as if everyone who votes Conservative is some kind of evil bastard and all Labour voters are angels sent from above.

Give me strength.

No, wildirishrose, it isn't any more.

Well I used to vote for them because I thought that you could get by in life as long as you work hard and aren't a skiving scrounger. (Views very much influenced by my parents growing up).

I've since learned a lot more about politics, my views have changed (for the better I think!), and they simply aren't compatible with Tory politics.

Because they waste less of my money than the only other viable alternative.

What is funny is people feel they have no other choice but to vote for one of the big 3. There are other parties you know.. PLEASE not UKIP or BNP. Green party though, I vote them. If more people stopped viewing the more independent parties as a 'wasted vote' and voted for them they might have a chance.

If I ever stooped to vote tory I would know my life was over and would expect DH to shoot me. Extreme but I am NOT a righty.. Just no (doesn't seem correct to go into reasons why..but just no).

Because... negatively.... I've seen quite a few governments come and go and the one thing every left-wing government has had in common is that their well-meant ideologies leave the place in a massive mess that the incoming administration has to then clean up. Puts the new team in the role of the publican telling everyone the party's over and it's time to go home... not popular but necessary.

And... positively... because I'm from a working class background and I believe everyone should be given the opportunities to advance through a secure society with a good education system and a lively commercial environment rather than be trapped by heavy-handed state intervention into staying put where they start out. The left is far too keen to keep everyone down.

I had lot of respect for Gordon Brown too. He just couldn't handle that politics is now a media circus. He's better off out of it.

Lots of voters feel disenfranchised now. Those of the right of the Tory party and those of the left of the Labour party - its all a bit of mish mash now.

Startail said it all in one on the first page.

Self Interest.

That's why people vote for Tories.

I'm hardly going to vote for them when i work for a council they hate, and having just come out of a lot of massive Cuts where many had to reapply for their own jobs, we now face a 1 in 8 chance of losing our jobs in the new year.
But never mind Osbourne has a magic wand and is going to miraculously find all the 'scroungers' full time work along with all the people being made redundant.

'How about the fact that they at least pay lip service to the idea of personal responsibility, hard work, morals and the importance of family, and these things are important to those of us who were brought up with those values? ' - what a load of bloody bollocks. And Socialists don't acre about any of those things then? Of course they do. I was brought up with all those things. How incredibly sneery and patronising.
Tories just don't give a shit about anyone else. If you work your arse off for low pay and struggle to keep your head above water or you've fallen on hard times sod you. I'm alright Jack.

I sincerely hope some of you W.I. women in your leafy idyllic villages in middle England who vote Tory don't suddenly have a husband who loses his well paid job and have to face the prospect of finding a job yourself! Then maybe you'll face reality.

I'm ranting now

I agree with Cogito.

This is the sort of thing I've tried to explain on similar threads in the past -- that things are complicated, well-intentioned initiatives can often have unintended effects, and the nice fluffy lets-help-the-poor-people policies are not necessarily always the best thing for society (or indeed for the people they're intended to help) in the long term. Even if they make the left-wing voter feel better about themselves.

And voting Conservative or having right-wing leanings does not mean that a person is selfish, or that they don't care about others, or about the importance of a fair and just society for all. It just means they disagree with the leftist/socialist ways of getting there.

Scottish independence may scare you then.

Scottish independence scares me ... fractionally less than remaining under Tory rule though.

i look at greece and other countries where the gov has spent beyond its means and shudder at what they are now having to put up with. And i thank the fact that we now have a government thats trying to sort our finances out and live within our means.

i think if people can work they should try and work and find a job. Not expect me to cough up money so they can do nothing (I know all unemployed people aren't workshy - but some are)

i disliked the hypocracy of the last gov - encouraging imigration because it meant more votes. buying votes with handouts and making people reliant on the state.

i disliked the fact that schools didn't improve during the last gov.

Anyone who thinks voting Labour next time will roll back any of the changes the Conservatives have implemented are sadly deluded. Labour have made it quite clear that they're delighted the Conservatives are doing all the hard work and getting the country back on track. They've made no commitment to reinstate benefits or change the policies back, because they know as well as anyone that this country cannot afford to have a whole section of society who believe that a life lived on benefits is their right.

Fortunately, there are many people out there who believe that the vast majority of people of working age and able body should be self-supporting most of the time. The welfare state should be there to catch people if they fall, but it should be a bridge back into work and self-sufficiency, not a lifestyle choice to opt out and be supported by other, working people.

No idea who I would vote for.

Some of the Tory policies terrify me, some i think are harsh but necessary.

Lib Dems seem totally ineffective and clueless and i have no confidence in Labour.

Because all the parties are shitheads, but our local MP is actually pretty good, works hard for the community and always makes time to listen and respond (even if sometimes he doesn't agree with your point of view). He just happens to be Tory.

Our old Labour MP was a complete waste of space.

'I believe everyone should be given the opportunities to advance through a secure society with a good education system ' - so do I.

But they are making it increasingly hard for bright working class kids to do that aren't they? Many are now scared off by the prospect of crippling debt before they have even stepped a rung on the Housing ladder.

I could never vote Tory on Education, even if i could be persuaded on other policies.

The tories have brainwashed people to think that everyone on benefits is lazy and leaves the curtains shut while the strivers go out to work. And it's worked - some people believe this and there is evidence of it upthread.

In reality nobody on benefits is getting enough money to cover more than they really need. And some people have had rubbish opportunities and therefore cannot get a job even if they wanted to.

The propaganda they peddle is shameful. And people like David Cameron have no idea what it is like to really strive for something, I'll bet. Ironic really.

I think letsgomaths has it about right! Politicians generally are self serving and short sighted.

I don't feel any political party in the UK represents my views. I have voted labour 3x and tory 1x and each time it was mainly a negative vote - i.e. because I disliked the others more. I have considered voting green but after reading their blurb it struck me as wildly unrealistic.

The main thing that puts me off labour is their inability to run the economy without going bankrupt.
The main thing that puts me off the tories are their right wing social policies.

I wonder if the US democrats are closer to where I would be?

I'm not a fan of any of them these days. But I think the main problem is that people expect too much of government in general. It's so easy to point out what any gvt is doing wrong, but considerably harder to say exactly how it could be done better.

Is there any time or place, geographically or historically, where the government were really good, and the citizens were all happy with their lot?

I have no idea who I will vote for as I have no confidence in Labour.

All I know is I would not vote for UKIP/BNP

Here is the current state affairs:

This country hands out more in benefits than it collects in taxes.

....so something has to give right?

I agree with Cogito. The Tories end up as the nasty party because every time Labour get into power they spend all the money and leave behind them a huge mess. Kind of like the dad who spends all the family's money then vanishes leaving mum to pick up the pieces.

Those who are now moaning should really be asking themselves how after 13 years of Labour rule, most of which was a big economic boom that all they left us with was a small note saying there was no money left?

As I've said before, this is akin to the kids blaming mum for trying to fix the financial mess that dad got them all into by overspending on the credit cards. And crying because they no longer can have xbox games each month and have to eat Tesco value instead of Waitrose.

Labour have said they would not be able to reverse the changes.I don't think that is the point. The main difference is that the labour party have never tried to be divisive and peddle a notion that poor and disabled people are scroungers.

Because Labour have shown they aren't responsible enough to run the country as each time in power they spent more than there was.

As I agree with Conservative concept of personal responsibility.

Ephiny is right.

I also get the impression the Tories are growing in popularity.