To wonder why if the tories are so unpopular, they always get in?

[maggiethemagpie]

Are there a lot of secret Tory voters who won't admit it? They have won most elections since the second world war, so they must be doing something right (in terms of appealing to the electorate to continuously vote for them) yet I see a lot of Tory bashing threads on here and I don't know anyone in my own life who'd admit to voting Tory.

I'm not particularly a leftie, I'm a centrist if anything and believe a balance of left and right leaning politics is optimal, but it seems like it is very 'right on' to admit to a socialist view and wanting to do more for society's vulnerable or poor, but to admit to admiring conservative views is not acceptable. You hear of 'Tory Scum' but never 'Labour Scum'.

So who are all these people voting for the conservatives? Because they always seem to get in, and the Blair years when they did not, people say Blair was a red Tory anyway!

Or are people just afraid to admit what their political views are if it does not sound socially acceptable?

Being blunt, I think people feel that certain things are deemed socially unacceptable so they don't voice their opinions. But it doesn't stop them thinking them. And voting on them.

So on FB and MN, where the prevailing wind is to the left, Tories won't bother commenting. As previous posters have said, they probably don't want the headache.

What the aftermath of the referendum seems to have flagged up is that racism, and undoubtedly homophobia is still alive and well in the uk. People can't say anything that may be perceived as being racist or homophobic but they may still think it. The referendum result seems to have legitimised these opinions momentarily, hence the recent verbal and written attacks.

My personal experience is that those on the left tend to be more self-rightous and therefore more prone to slinging mud at those who disagree with them.

*self-righteous

I'm a floating voter. I votedLab in '97 (my first GE) because I was foolishly enamoured by Blair, although I will say that many of his ministers turned out to be very good. I voted Cons in 2010 and 2015 because I trusted them more with the economy, as a pp implied. I'm socially very liberal and financially conservative so this lot suits me well enough - the Tories of the 1980s definitely wouldn't have, and I recall instinctively disliking people like Tebbit as a kid.

Right now I don't feel any political party represents my views adequately - but the Tory party are nasty. I always think they are voted in by the "I'm alright jacks", so I don't think it's surprising when they're a bit embarrassed to admit it.

There is some complicated rationale that I can't be arsed to go into about the left appearing to have the moral highground (see self righteous above) and can virtue signal to their hearts' content, whereas as the right is perceived as being more business minded and money orientated.

And mn is very left wing.

scarlets good luck with that social liberalism when Cameron's successor is declared. Some nasty pieces of work being put forward...

so I don't think it's surprising when they're a bit embarrassed to admit it.

why do you assume they aren't vocal due to embarrassment?

I am not embarrassed at all, but neither do I fill mn with my voting views or my Facebook page.

I find it is even deemed wrong to state a position on the centre left than the left left now, look at what is happening with Corbyn. Its really trendy to say you're a Corbynite and hasn't everyone been horrible to him because they're all secret red tory Blairites

Ironically I work in a job where we need to 'exploit' (as the far left would see it) labour to make a profit, yet that profit is completely used to support the needy and vulnerable in society as it is a charity. So not all capitalist ventures are evil, some people can have difficulty understanding that. We're exactly the kind of society serving enterprise that a conservative government would enable, albeit not intentionally.

Ha no one can ever again say Labour fucked up the economy after the mess the referendum will leave it in!

( sorry only read part of the thread )

branofthemist -I was talking about anonymous polls that have failed to predict actual voting behaviour. Why wouldn't someone be honest in an anonymous poll?

Where in my post have I called anyone names? I speculated a reason people might keep quiet, based on the Tory voters I know. And my point, perhaps badly expressed, was that I don't think most people, Tories included, actually do want the NHS to disappear. Or there to be no safety net for the poorest. Or for disabled children to have their funding or respite for their parents, taken away. I am sure if you put it like that, the vast majority of people would say "of course I Don't want that".

However, that does not mean they have not voted for it, with this particular government.

I was talking about anonymous polls that have failed to predict actual voting behaviour. Why wouldn't someone be honest in an anonymous poll?

who says they aren't being honest?

It depends on where the poll is done and when the poll is done. Some people may have changed their minds between doing a poll and voting, try may have asked in an area that is heavily labour or another party.

No one I know has ever been involved in a poll. It's clear these polls don't work or reflect what's actually happening on voting day. That's not necessarily down to people being dishonest.

"Our FPTP electoral system skews the result' tories got approx one third of votes but over half the seats."

It's skewed against the Tories: www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/percentvote.htm

"If PR were in place it would be much more representative of public opinion."

Yes, and UKIP would be the current beneficiaries.

The night of the referendum when it was suggested remain would win, the pound went up and some people made a lot of money.

The sceptic in me wonders if the polls are skewed on purpose as it benefits some very wealthy people.

In that case, bran, the pollsters aren't doing a very good job at all seeing as their job is to predict the outcome. Yet a few times now they have got it wrong.

This is interesting.

[[http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/uktable.htm]

One thing I noticed is the massive reduction in turnout from 83% in 1950 to a low of 59% in 2001 to 66% in 2015.

No party has ever got more than 50% of the vote.

The 60s was mainly Labour and so was the 70s. (with a break in between).

Then we had a long long time of Thatcher and Major.

Click link

www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/uktable.htm

I vote conservative , as do all my peers and family , couldn't imagine voting for any other party

In that case, bran, the pollsters aren't doing a very good job at all seeing as their job is to predict the outcome. Yet a few times now they have got it wrong.

yes that could be the case.

The night of the general election there was a pollster on the election programme we watched. He predicted, from the exit polls, a very different result to what was previously predicted from polls done before voting day.

This led Paddy Ashdown to say he would eat his hat if it was right. And it was right, or rather far more accurate.

So I would suggest there is a problem with the polls and pollsters rather than people lying. Or that many people are undecided when earlier polls are done. Because the exit polls were fairly accurate, from what I remember.

Sorry if that doesn't make sense. I have spent most of the night at hospital. My brain isn't at its best

I vote Tory and I helped my friend who is now my MP to win in 2015 - she has been an excellent constituency MP. But I rarely talk about politics with other friends and definitely not on Facebook.

Incidentally I think the FPTP system is somewhat responsible for the outcome of the referendum. People are so used to protest voting having no impact that they forgot that in a referendum every vote has equal weight. I would not change the system though - stable government is essential.

If I have counted up correctly, the score since ww2 is 8 labour governments, 10 Tory and one coalition.

'Always' get in?

How do they get in? Well the first past the post system helps. Labour and Libdem arent that far left of center, so the central left voters have 2 to choose from than center right voters, who just have tory.

Also labour used to do a lot better in wales and scotland, but the nationalist parties now have some of those seats.

If you look at the MEPs that represent the uk you get a better idea of how people actually vote because its done by proportional reprentation. Although you should bear in mind that the turn out is lower for eu elections.

bohemon that is a vry good point about fptp and protest voting!

I know a few Tory voters, but I would guess fewer than ten. The rest are a mix of labour, green and predominantly (at least until the last election) Lib Dem. I also know only two people who out voted Leave.

Like attracts like. Your friends tend to be people who share your way of thinking. That's why nobody ever thinks people vote for the "other" side.