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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think voting for the Green Party is a wasted vote?

172 replies

Rebecca2014 · 16/01/2015 07:39

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30829222

For one thing you will be giving a greater chance of the Tories and UKIP winning the election due to the fact votes are being taken from Labour and the Lib Dems. You are not taking votes from UKIP, you are taking votes from Labour the party more likely to win the election.

Second my family live in Brighton and the Green Party have been awful there, the rubbish collections...the roads, do not talk about what they done for the motorist in that town.

If you are voting for the Greens, why???

OP posts:
GatoradeMeBitch · 16/01/2015 20:48

Fair point well made LurkingHusband...

ddubsgirl77 · 16/01/2015 20:50

I live in hove & brighton green party are destroying the city!

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 16/01/2015 21:06

To be fair, the Greens in Brighton are a minority administration, and I would hazard a guess that the Tories/Red Tories take a certain amount of pleasure in voting against them at every possible opportunity.

Dawndonnaagain · 16/01/2015 22:02

I have many friends in Brighton, nobody seems particularly upset with the Greens.

ddubsgirl77 · 16/01/2015 22:05

All the cycle lanes put in wasted funds car parking prices going up again! Services cut, rubbish not collected more cycle lanes!

ddubsgirl77 · 16/01/2015 22:08

20mph zones that dont work making pollution go up, my dh works for the council and their budget has been cut so much its a joke!

livingzuid · 16/01/2015 22:10

I have voted Green in the last few elections and will continue to do so. I was so proud to be part of the constituency that voted Caroline Lucas in. And an MP is not the same as the council elections. Brighton was always a nightmare for driving and parking anyway. I had to wait a year for my parking permit and that was before a green-controlled council Grin

I hate this expression of 'wasted vote` - no vote is ever wasted and certainly in the last election I felt my vote make a difference. I have watched seats change and be hotly contested over the years in the part of England I call home. Certainly that has not stayed the same.

Imagine if everyone turned out to vote; there would be no such thing as a safe seat. Now that would be an interesting election!

ddubsgirl77 · 16/01/2015 22:14

Yes parking is a pain but the greens want a price hike again so its cheaper to shop out of town, so busy putting in cycle lanes that are dangerous, taking months to finish and causing jams due to all the roadworks, edward st still isnt finished!

Strictlyison · 16/01/2015 22:18

I almost always vote 'strategically' ie vote against the party I really least want to see in power (Conservatives last elections; ukip in the next). I vote for the party who is most likely to win against the two named parties above. I wish I would get over this and vote for a party I really believe in, but I don't believe in any parties really. But some parties are just damaging and I don't want them in power. \clearly my vote hasn't worked in the last elections!

TooMuchRain · 16/01/2015 22:20

I hate it when people talk about wasted votes, there is no such thing. Every vote is a valid expression of political preference.
And i might vote Green because they look like the only party willing to stand up to Ukip and promote the liberal values I think are essential for civilised society (but I have to see all the manifestoes first)

VoyageOfDad · 16/01/2015 22:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TtipParty · 16/01/2015 22:29

Anyone who wants to vote Green, but doesn't know if they're fielding a candidate - contact your local branch and find out. they're a grassroots party - the reason their policies are so amazing is that they're not beholden to big business interests so they rely on membership for funding. Hopefully the surge in membership will help them to stand more candidates.

LurkingHusband · 16/01/2015 23:35

MrsHathaway

Better generation Y than Y not Smile

TheNewStatesman · 16/01/2015 23:43

scatteroflight, what do you mean when you say the GP wants to curb free speech? (not necessarily disagreeing with you--I just don't know enough about the issue)

maddy68 · 16/01/2015 23:46

I have always been a labour supporter. Last election I voted green because I agree with their policies. I still agree with. Them. I will vote green in the next election too. That's not a wasted vote. That's how I feel

TheNewStatesman · 16/01/2015 23:53

Voters don't tend to vote for the party whose policies they agree with the most (even if we had a PR system). They vote for the party that they trust most with the economy. Few people trust the Greens with the economy, so they will not get in.

OldLadyKnows · 17/01/2015 02:12

Sorry to go back as far as 15.02.57 yesterday afternoon, but I am baffled by muminhants assertion that the Scottish indyref was not "carried out on a FPTP basis", and see no-one else has queried this. There was one question, with two answers; yes, or no. That's pretty clear, what alternative voting system could have been used? Confused

Unless, of course, you mean a properly-explained devo-whatever/home rule as a third option on the ballot, which I'm pretty sure would have swept the board, but I don't think that's the same as a "No" vote. Still Confused

MrsHathaway · 17/01/2015 07:30

Grin Lurking

When I was 18, and had my first ever polling card, I was living with a couple in their early thirties (that is, my age now). He drummed into me the absolute importance of engaging in the process: my responsibility not only to turn out to vote, but also to take the time beforehand to find out about the candidates and make an informed choice.

It has never left me. I really ought to write and thank him.

Skatingfastonthinice · 17/01/2015 08:48

'so busy putting in cycle lanes that are dangerous, taking months to finish and causing jams due to all the roadworks, edward st still isnt finished!'

I work in Crawley and in Brighton on a regular basis and the traffic jams in both places are tedious. But at least in Brighton, the works will come to an end and more people will be cycling safely to their destinations. Unlike Crawley.

WidowWadman · 17/01/2015 08:53

The main argument against voting green seems to be the "wasted," vote. Would be interesting to see what the outcome was if everyone who would vote green if they didn't think it was a wasted vote actually voted green.

I certainly don't think Labour which currently tries to out-ukip the Tories too woo disgruntled right wingers over are an option.

WidowWadman · 17/01/2015 09:14

scatteroflight - the green party's stance on Europe and immigration is by the way exactly the reason why I intend to vote for them and I don't think I'm the only one. Those policies aren't "hidden".

WhistlingPot · 17/01/2015 11:27

I no longer live in Brighton but still visit friends and was really sceptical about all the changes. My favourite route avoiding traffic now takes much longer so I go another way. BUT I now feel glad for the 20mph limits for making me a better and more aware driver, even if there's 5-10mins on my journey time. I also don't miss all the flowers tied to lamp posts I used to see so often on the Lewes Rd.

ItsAllGoingToBeFine · 17/01/2015 12:49

Sorry to go back as far as 15.02.57 yesterday afternoon, but I am baffled by muminhants assertion that the Scottish indyref was not "carried out on a FPTP basis", and see no-one else has queried this

I missed this post, but I'm guessing that in the context of this thread she maybe meant that every vote actually counted, as opposed to being done by constituency.

LikeIcan · 17/01/2015 12:51

YANBU - they're crap anyway.

OldLadyKnows · 17/01/2015 13:20

Itsall, muminhants said of the indyref, (and by the way, if that had been carried out on a FPTP basis, the no vote would have been much stronger - it just shows how bad the FPTP system is.) Which confuses me, as it suggests it was carried out on some other, perhaps transferrable vote system; but I see what you mean by each vote actually counting rather than doing it by constituency. That clears up my confusion, thanks! Flowers

I'd like all elections to be done on an Single Transferrable Vote basis, I think that's fairest. Anyone else?