To ask who you're voting for next May?

[NickiFury]

Me, Labour.

Mr Sheen were you horrified by Tony Benn's will?

OK, I've changed my mind, can I vote for MrSheen please?

I've pontificated on this before, but the skills needed to get elected are completely and utterly different from those required to run a country competently.
Which is why we end up with a load of tv-friendly, soundbite-spouting MPs whose only interests are pandering to every knee-jerk whim of tabloid readers and flogging off bits of the country cheaply to their mates.

We should do televised job interviews on the candidates in each constituency.

"So, Mr... Osborne, is it? What skills would you bring to this role?"
"Well, my degree in history, and many years as a speechwriter and special adviser have thoroughly prepared me for steering the economy through a global recession, of course..."
"OK.. I see..."

Bored waiting for a delivery so had a quick count up to where the thread got derailed by the lefties

Labour 53
Conservative 36
SNP 30
Green 22
Lib Dem 8
UKIP 8
Other 4

And a shitload of undecideds

That's really interesting bearing in mind snp are only an option for a small percentage of the UK.

Maybe the SNP should field some candidates in England.

Wonder what the regional split of voters on the thread is? I was also wondering whether the turnout of MNers is higher than national average. I am shocked at low turnout countrywide in recent elections, but very rarely does anyone comment on threads about not voting (although obviously commenting on a politics thread is pretty self-selecting, and people who join in are likely to be those intending to vote).

Bored waiting for a delivery so had a quick count up to where the thread got derailed by the lefties

It's interesting, isn't it. If anybody, even slightly left of centre dares to question the assertions of another, they are derailing. If they ask for evidence, they are derailing. If they produce facts, they are derailing, and they 'lefties' is used as an insult.
Sorry, but I'm proud to be left of centre, it demonstrates that I have a strong inclination to assist my fellow human being.

On the principle that my ideal political party would be a 'pick-and-mix' (a bit like how I do religion!), I am likely to go into the polling booth with the aim of spoiling my ballot paper, because it is becoming increasingly difficult to compromise.

Tory will win, on the basis of the fact I'd never vote Labour! LibDem - Clegg

I like democracy in action, of NF's UKIP exposing the travesty that is Europe, warts-and-all, but my conscience will probably stop me from voting for them, as my ancestors were immigrants 2 generations ago, so I don't feel I can 100% trust UKIP not to move further and further towards the far right of the political spectrum, the more power they get.

I feel in my gut, that UKIP is the thin end of a very pointy wedge. And they don't have a good succession plan, its just a "one-personality" party - although NF has survived cancer, a plane crash etc, and seems pretty bomb-proof, if he weren't around, where's his heir-apparent?

oops meant to finish my sentence

LibDem - Clegg is good on Nick Ferrari's breakfast program, comes across as a reasonably sensible person, and more in touch than Tory, but as a leader he is a dead loss.

Tory... because here it is a 2 horse race - Tory/Lib-dem and who wants another coalition?

Why do so few want to vote lib-dem? Is the tuition fees issue really a big enough thing to wipe out their vote? They had to compromise on their manifesto, because that is how coalition government works. I think they have had a mostly sensible and modifying effect on the conservatives, which surely is a good thing.

It's interesting, isn't it. If anybody, even slightly left of centre dares to question the assertions of another, they are derailing. If they ask for evidence, they are derailing. If they produce facts, they are derailing, and they 'lefties' is used as an insult. Sorry, but I'm proud to be left of centre, it demonstrates that I have a strong inclination to assist my fellow human being.

Yes you can pretty much see the sneer with which they say it, safe in their knowledge that they have the superior intellect. It's very similar to the same sneering tone directed at those who actually care about the environment to and to take some actual action to try and look after it. However, to listen to them, such people are deluded, hypocritical and generally lacking in intellect.

I think they have had a mostly sensible and modifying effect on the conservatives, which surely is a good thing.

I think they abandoned all their principles and promises in return for pretend power...

"Sorry, but I'm proud to be left of centre, it demonstrates that I have a strong inclination to assist my fellow human being."

'cos only those left of centre care.....

We all want the same things in life. We want freedom; we want the chance for prosperity; we want as few people suffering as possible; we want healthy children; we want to have crime-free streets. The argument is how to achieve them…

Actually I don't think that's true. There seems to be plenty of evidence to show that lots of people aren't bothered by people suffering, as long as it isn't them.

And there are many people who would add that they want a safe and healthy environment for all life in the world, not just human to that list. Though again, the people described above don't give a shit about that either, as long as it doesn't affect them personally.

I and a heck of a lot of the UK population got sick of the "only the left cares" message before the last election....

It drove us to actually vote.

I like the politicalcompass.org way to assess your political leanings as left and right is too blunt an instrument.

I agree re the Lib Dems ItsAll. I think it was obvious they would be very junior partners in the coalition, but whilst it was all being discussed they should surely have wrung more concessions out of the Tories. The tuition fees policy was always going to have a major impact on their reputation, because they made such a big deal out of it pre-election. If they knew they were giving up on it, they should surely have bargained for more in return.

And I have no idea why they settled for the AV referendum. Lots of very pro-PR people I know totally reject AV. Obviously I don't know what other PR systems they considered for the referendum, but they must have known they weren't going to get AV endorsed.

ha ha ha BreakingDad - I came out slap bang between Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama as a left wing libertarian - and I vote Tory

I think it's a bit off to complain about right-wing sneering on MN, as though MN is rife with frothing Tories all waiting to pounce on and bully the few beleaguered lefties. A count on this thread suggests that somewhere around twice as many MNers are politically left-of-centre as right-of-centre. (I'm counting SNP as a lefty party, as it's basically hoovering up the Scottish Labour vote.)

Equally I find the insults that are levelled at politically more conservative MNers often pretty robust and IMO considerably more prevalent than the other way round.

Personally I wish it were possible to discuss politics without it descending to sneering and insults. I am politically definitely centre-right, but have had some great thought-provoking discussions on MN with people often of very different political stances. It's great when it works, but really depressing when it just becomes tribal.

I think the problem is Manatee that people who post on political threads are more likely to be those who feel very strongly - and if you get lots of people with strong feelings voicing opinions then it can get heated very quickly.

I think it's a bit off to complain about right-wing sneering on MN, as though MN is rife with frothing Tories all waiting to pounce on and bully the few beleaguered lefties. A count on this thread suggests that somewhere around twice as many MNers are politically left-of-centre as right-of-centre. (I'm counting SNP as a lefty party, as it's basically hoovering up the Scottish Labour vote.)

Equally I find the insults that are levelled at politically more conservative MNers often pretty robust and IMO considerably more prevalent than the other way round. Personally I find the 'only the left cares about other humans' one particularly irritating as it's so reductive, and so misguided. With very few exceptions, the right-of-centre people I know care deeply about other humans - they just have quite different views about the best way to ensure the good society.

Personally I wish it were possible more often to discuss politics without it descending to sneering and insults. I am politically definitely centre-right, but have had some great thought-provoking discussions on MN with people often of very different political stances. It's great when it works, and I learn a lot and feel like my understanding of different viewpoints is enhanced. Overall I think this thread has been really enjoyable as a non-partisan and fairly open discussion between MNers with quite different views, without collapsing into name-calling between factions. Can it go back to that please?

oops - sorry - posted twice - it didn't show up the first time. Apols.

I was as about as left as Nelson Mandela, but slightly more libertarian. But I guess when manifestos are published, then there will be a specific version of that test for the 2015 election.

It was an observation rather than a complaint.

Justa I'm damned sure there are some Tories who care, but as someone who looks after three people at home with disabilities and who has a disabled son at university, I haven't come across many in recent times. They all want to cut the welfare bill without thinking what that actually means for a great many people. Osbourne is putting out his new tax leaflet, it's a misleading piece of propaganda which shows public pensions as part of the welfare bill that so desperately needs cutting, so no, I don't reckon there are many 'caring' tories, and if they did care, they wouldn't be voting for this government again.