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?

Errol Yes of course.

This is what I am trying to understand

....and I am trying to understand exactly where the funding for all these things is going to come from?
General comments like 'I would pay more tax' don't mean much if no one else wants to pay more tax, or make big business pay if you don't have a plan for how to make big business pay.
The SNP in Scotland finally, after decades of whinging about the UK parliament, got the right to raise taxes - and what did they do - nothing, absolutely nothing. They decided that high tax payers would leave the country so there was no point raising the higher rate.
So what would your answer be??

I'm wondering if there can be a capitalist-socialist approach, using businesses to generate money for socialist endeavours. Before anyone accuses me of losing the plot, this is what the business I work for currently does. It's a business that supports a charity. It's run very much on capitalist, make as much profit as you can with a cost base as low as possible grounds. ie it's run as a business. But every penny after costs and salaries (which are median to low) goes towards the charity it supports. It's a healthcare oriented charity providing a service to people with serious illnesses.

Maybe there could be more encouragement for this type of enterprise if the Tories are going to make direct cuts to so many public services.

This is the kind of radical centre politics i think we should all be looking at now rather than the usual left v right discussions which just seem to go round in the same old circles.

Maggie - a capitalist-socialist approach, using businesses to generate money for socialist endeavours

I think you'll find it's already widespread. It's called 'taxation'.

That's different, that's enforced taxation on businesses run for profit. I'm talking about businesses set up to generate profit that's then spent on the needy and vulnerable in society. AKA charities. I'm thinking if the Tories are going to make cuts to public services they encourage/incentivise charities a lot more than currently. This would relieve the burden on the NHS for example.

It's no different really. Taxation is there to fund the needs of society as a whole. How that tax money is spent is a collective decision made via Parliamentary elections. And plenty of people who receive money out of businesses (whether as employees or shareholders) pass that money to charities. And mostly spend it on goods and services that keep other people employed - which prevents them from becoming needy and also increases the nation's tax income so there's money to spend on services...

Well collect the unpaid tax and put a stop to tax evasion. It's a criminal offence. And look at the rules on tax avoidance. Although they would never get new legislation through the lords. That would be around 25 billion back in the pot.

And your first point is at the crux of the problem. People who don't have as much need for these services, or who can afford to get help privately if they need it, generally are not happy to pay more tax. They are likely to be Tory voters. And so we go round in circles.

We are actually the 5th (well 6th now thanks to our government) richest economy. It's shameful anyone is relying on food banks when the country is wealthy.

Maggie sounds like an interesting idea. It's creative thinking that is needed.

I fear some people have misunderstood my post.

Yes, it is an opinion of mine that if you don't agree with compassion then you are callous. And that if you don't agree with equality then you are likely a bigot. And that if you have a problem with diversity then you are highly likely to be racist. But these are widely accepted opinions that also tally rather nearly with various dictionary definitions. So I didn't say anything wildly controversial when I said that people who disagree with these values actually deserve disapproval.

This is why people are scornful of Tories. Tory supporters want to have their cake and eat it; they want to vote for cuts that will impoverish other people and then cry about suffering 'abuse' when people tell them what they think of them.

Which is why many don't admit to voting Tory.

All those 'Tory and proud' people on here are being a tad disingenuous. Proud to identify as a tory on an anonymous forum? Oh, well done!

To some extent the Wellcome Trust worked on that basis until they sold their shares in Glaxo Wellcome. It was a public company but owned by a charity. They are still the one of the largest medical research funders in the world with a fund of around £18bn invested widely.

Merchant - in case you hadn't noticed, everyone is anonymous here. So your comment is rather disingenuous

Shy Tories exist because people like to Tory bash. The shy Tory tends to get them in by a tiny majority.

Socialism doesn't financially work, the problem with socialism is as well know quote states "you run out of everyone else's money"

Socialist are vocal about being socialists and helping people out, Tory voters prefer to keep quiet through fear of attack from the left.

The majority actually trust a Tory government with the economy.

That's how I figure it out.

I wonder if they will still trust them if Osborne's prediction of higher tax and more cuts comes true.

I think "shy tories" are a bit of a media invention.

The polls were rubbish, that does not mean people "lied" (out of shyness ), it just means the pollsters did not have a representative group to start with...ergo, the pollsters did a crap job.

Twice now.

Yes twofalls - if the Tory ethos is to make as much money as you can off the back of cheap labour and worship the silvery dollar, and the labour ethos is to help the needy by redistributing wealth then this may be the very middle ground that is needed.

I do think we need a slap bang in the middle of the centre party, which new labour possibly was but is no more.

I know about ten in my office, they say they vote lib dem but they don't haha.

It's a thing, especially in Labour heartlands where I am.

Pangalactic re election rigging what about some of the ballot papers that went mysteriously missing for a few hours

Tory.

I always admit it. Some of my younger colleagues at work seem genuinely shocked when they ask (& I tell them). Apart from me I dont think they actually know one.

I know a handful of Tory voters. I usually vote Labour. This is something I thought I would never say, but I could be tempted to vote Tory, depending on what happens to the Labour Party and Lib Dem before the next GE.

Do people who voted Tory in the last GE feel this year has gone well?
Do you feel affected by the cuts at all?

They won't come back to tell you. Lots of posters have said they are proud to vote Tory but have not come back to articulate what exactly they are proud of.

Mysteries Do you know what disingenuous means?

I know it's a totally anonymous forum, yes - but the point people have been making is that it's only Tory voters who don't own up to their allegiance. So for loads of them to turn up here and ^anonymously* say how proud they are is rather ridiculous.

People tend to admit voting Labour or LibDem in real life.

Yes twofalls - I'd be intrigued to know what Tory voters are so proud of too!

Remember the note from Liam Byrne when he left the Treasury
Then the Milliband carry on, now we have Jeremy C.
Really, labour don't do themselves many favours.

OK if you're talking about the "carry on" of politicians in an attempt to present the Conservatives in a comparatively good light, you should give up now!

I do think we need a slap bang in the middle of the centre party

Aren't we supposed to have one?