To think that we should all vote either Lab or Con?

[yolofish]

All the pre-election speculation seems to be about horse-trading between Labour and Conservative and which party might help propel them into power if the result is no majority.

Whatever your opinions about the two big parties (and I can see positives for both and trust neither), wouldnt it be better for the country to have a result where there is a true mandate? therefore that party actually gets a proper chance to put its plans into action, rather than everyone playing games and trading points off each other for their own little pet projects. With a mandate we could then judge them on their actual record while in office.

Everything I read says we'll never get a majority govt again.

Well there's nothing down for the lib dems after them forming an alliance with the conservatives. He Nick Clegg had everyone kidded making out he was for the poor and promising to abolish tuition fees, so we know about his pie crust promiseses, dont we. People voted lib dems because they wanted them in. If they wanted Tories on they'd have voted Cameron. So he (Nick Clegg) has lost the trust of all of his voterswhich is a shame because in himself he seems like a nice guy, but he's brought it on himself. The Btitish Public don't forgive easily, and they most certainly don't forget.!
Now on to UKIP. For a politician to tell a women to go on the corner whilst breastfeeding, clearly gives indication that he knows very little about a women's right to breAstfeed where she likes, and did I have the most terrible dream or is he planning to get rid of the NHS, In that case anyone who feels he's the right Man to run the country needs their bumps feelings, but what do I have to say that as we're all entitled to our vote aren't we.
Cameron has done some very unforgivable things. Bed room tax, the number of people who have died or taken their own lives because of cruel cuts and benefit sanctions. I think people want him out, However for some it's a case of better the devil you know.
Ed milliband seems like a nice gentle and for a politician very compassionate. He has promised to get rid of the bedroom tax if he gets in, so let's see if he's the first and probably last polictician to keep to his promise.
Oh btw. Ynbu.

Don't be too frightened of the SNP. Scotland has always had the same number of MPs working in her interests so nothing should really change.
If you are concerned that the interests of your area aren't going to be heard then do a bit of research and vote for a party who will look after you.
There are very few elections in a FPTP system that actually make a difference but this is shaping up to be one of them.

I have no worries about the SNP is Scotland if that is what their constituents vote for. But the shouting about how they are going to control things in the UK as a whole is really galling - one rule for them (we want independence) and one rule for us (we want to control how you do things).

Just not right. But that is how we may well find things, whilst people are voting for the smaller parties who are unlikely to have huge influence.

Although I respect everyone's right to decide.....

I have no intention of voting for EITHER of them OP. So you would take away my democratic right to vote how I wish?

I am Scotland's only Tory voter and I would naturally hope for a clear Conservative victory, but I will admit to finding this election absolutely fascinating! The thought of a Labour govt informally propped up by the SNP is mind boggling to me. It's not quite fascinating enough for me to wish it to happen but oh my- it's fascinating!

YABVU, 2 party systems need to be abolished along with significant majorities. I want to see political parties who put the needs of the people first, and not just the needs of the people with the most money and that's never going to happen if we give only 1 of 2 parties the chance of forming a large majority government.

Every political party should feel insecure even in power. I'd love to see decisions made that have been arrived at by consensus with other parties. Careful negotiations with all points considered - and not this - let's rush in, do as much damage as we can before the clock runs out.

The problem with having lots of minority parties is that it is impossible to keep a stable government that can make long-term or even just medium-term plans.
Italy is a perfect example of what happens. Ever since the end of WW2 they have had an average of one new government per year, and the main function of each government has been to argue about who will form the next one. It allows corruption to flourish. You may dislike Cameron or Miliband, but would you want to replace them with a Berlusconi?
We are better off with a major party - Labour or Tory according to taste - with a slim majority that keeps them on their toes and stops them from going to extremes.

For the first time ever I may not vote. My first choice is probably Conservative but in my neck of the woods that's a wasted vote. I could use my vote tactically and vote Labour as the party most likely to keep out the SNP in this area but the thought of the country's economy being in the hands of Ed Miliband/Balls is terrifying. I'm completely lost as to what to do....

Around here there is no point at all voting for anything except Con or Lab.

My preference would not be for either of them.

But I have to do my bit to reduce the Tory vote as I'm really scared about what's going to happen if they get a majority. I simply cannot believe they are targeting the disabled and carers next What kind of a country are we to take out our financial problems on these groups of people. It's truly, truly abhorrent

The SNP want independence for Scotland, so what frightens me is how they will manipulate UK wide economic policy to try to achieve this. I think they will want to invest in Scotland and achieve this by taxing rUK. Great for their constituents of course.

UKIP would be a disaster. I don't trust them at all. So it's one of the main parties for me.

Nick Clegg is my MP. The Labour candidate here looks pretty good and he's a nice enough bloke. I'll vote Labour, but Cleggy will get it again I suspect.

I can't wait for the Tory candidate to come around here narrows eyes and try to win my vote. Cold day in hell, and all that.

Sadly I live in a constituency with such a big majority that our MP has never lived here or done anything for the area (doubt he's heard of half the places here are)- no surgeries for us. He lives and works in London and has nothing to do with us, but he will be reelected.

Conservatives look slightly more likely to get slightly more seats but neither party will have enough for a majority. The only party that will be big enough to join with one of them and give them a majority will be the SNP. UKIP Might get a lot of votes but not nearly enough seats to help the conservatives and it looks highly Unlikely that the lib dems will be left with many seats this time either, so they will be no use to anyone.

On my calculations, labour-snp partnership looks the most likely scenario.

Can someone who knows about these things explain to me please.....apparently if Labour and Conservative won an equal number of seats, the Conservatives would have had to win tens of thousands more votes?

Is that right, and if so, why don't they kick up a fuss about it?

For people living in WAles and Scotland it really isn't that simple and the way things go in those countries will influence the outcome.

YABU
i will vote anyway i wish

Well the Labour party don't have a candidate standing in my constituency so, er, YABU

I am one of the many, many people in Scotland who voted No and will be doing anything I can to ensure the SNP area defeated by whatever Unionist party looks most likely. For me that is Lib Dems. I hate with a passion the fact that the SNP are ignoring the clear majority who voted No.

I'm voting SNP. I used to vote Labour just because my parents did and I wouldn't vote Tory if you paid me.

All this tactical voting really depresses me, it just means that we're never going to get the government that we actually want! I do the admin within the politics department of a university and some of the stuff the academics have said about it all makes me wonder why we bother.

Roseformeplease

There were also many, many of us who voted yes. It wasn't quite the landslide no vote that they predicted so no need to emphasise it like that!

We rarely do get the Govt. we want. Pretty soul destroying for you Rose.

In a way I agree with you. No overall majority would make a weak Government and therefore a lack of confidence in it, and ultimately the country. Creating uncertainty at home and abroad.

ajandjjmum It's about vote distribution.

Imagine the voting population was 40 people, that there were only 2 parties, only 8 seats, and each seat had only 5 voters, and both the Labour and Tories got 20 votes in total each.

If you put Labour votes first, and Tory votes second, you could imagine a vote distribution like
Seat 1: 3 2
Seat 2: 3 2
Seat 3: 3 2
Seat 4: 3 2
Seat 5: 2 3
Seat 6: 2 3
Seat 7: 2 3
Seat 8: 2 3

In that case both Labour and Tories would get 4 seats each.

But you could also have a distribution like

Seat 1: 3 2
Seat 2: 3 2
Seat 3: 3 2
Seat 4: 3 2
Seat 5: 3 2
Seat 6: 3 2
Seat 7: 1 4
Seat 8: 1 4

in which case Labour would have 6 seats, and the Tories 2, even though both still get 20 votes in total.

This is because the Tories are piling up 'extra' votes in seats 7 and 8, where they don't need them. In theory, winning by more than 1 vote is wasteful, in the sense the other votes could be better used elsewhere. And getting any votes in a seat you lose is wasteful, because those votes would be better in a marginal. Of course, in practice, MPs don't like winning by 1 vote very much...

Labour's vote is traditionally more efficient than the Tories, in a way similar to this example. I think this advantage will be slightly reduced this time round, partly because many Labour votes in Scotland will be wasted - and because UKIP will take some useless votes in very safe Tory seats.

In recent history, the biggest losers from this wasted votes syndrome were the Lib Dems, but this time round, first-past-the-post will ironically save them many seats, because they will only really get any votes where they have a sitting MP. Their vote distribution is likely to be very efficient in 2015.

On top of the above wasted votes syndrome, there is a second element in the current voting system which works against the Tories. The sizes of constituencies are not all equal. If all the constituencies had an equal number of eligible voters, the Tories would gain about 20 seats. But this legislation wasn't enacted, despite being in the coalition agreement. You can take your pick as to whether it was betrayal by the LDs, who got their AV referendum to which it was tied in the coalition agreement, or principle by the LDs, who did not get their House of Lords reform, though it was not linked in the coalition agreement, or self-interest by the LDs, who would have lost seats to the Tories if it were enacted. I personally regard it as a mix of the three, but mainly betrayal and self-interest.

Thank you for taking the time to explain that so thoroughly longfingernails - even I understand it!

Someone suggested to me recently that all parties should be banned, and MPs elected as true independents from whichever constituency they fought. When I said 'what about foreign policy and making economic decisions etc?', it was pointed out that most of that is done by civil servants anyway. I thought that was an interesting thought.

As you can probably see though, my knowledge of politics is pretty limited!

The problem with having lots of minority parties is that it is impossible to keep a stable government that can make long-term or even just medium-term plans.

Impossible unless we had a vision statement for the country.

Roseformeplease, the SNP stated yesterday that independence wasn't on the agenda at this election and wouldn't be again until the people of Scotland asked for an other referendum. That sounds quite a lot like they are respecting the outcome of the referendum.