AIBU to join the Lib-Dems?

[GoLightlyHollie]

For as long as I have been able to vote, I've voted Tory. No matter which candidate they threw at me, crap or otherwise; at a high level, I believed in the party and never considered an alternative. Until now. I'm disillusioned after Brexit. Suddenly the whole party, many of whom were vociferously anti-Brexit, are getting behind Theresa May. I understand that there is an element of having to present a somewhat united front and toe the party line. But surely there is an element of being a voice for the people? My own borough voted Remain by a margin of 3:1 which was one of the highest margins in the Remain camp in the UK. Yet my Tory MP is suddenly hiding behind Theresa May's rhetoric and sprouting that we need to listen to "The People". Surely her "people" are her constituents of whom 75% voted to remain and she needs to be the voice of the majority of those constituents. If all tories roll over and concede defeat then the voice of the 48% doesn't really get heard in the negotiations.
Labour too is a shambles at the moment, they need to sort out their internal politics not to mention their disastrous leader (I think if David Milliband was leader, things might be looking very different in that camp, but that's a different thread) before they can begin to be a credible threat to the government.
Is it to be the Lib-Dems for a disillusioned Conservative voter?

Not unreasonable at all. The tories have gambled with the future of the country to try and silence a few fringe pitas in their party - and sleepwalked us into disaster.

Yanbu, I'm hoping the lib dems will do well out of this debacle!

Certainly that's traditionally been where the LibDems get most of their votes from I don't think it's ever unreasonable to join whichever party you feel best represents your position and the country's best interests.

I think you would be incredibly unreasonable if you were to vote based on what anyone on mumsnet tells you

Missing the point but are you in Wandsworth OP?

Stripy The Act to have the referendum was passed by the HoC by 544 votes. Only the SNP voted against it. All MP's 'gambled' with the future.

Iwantausername

I mainly asked to know if anyone else feels similarly..

roarityroar
I might be..!

I don't agree with them on Europe but I like a lot of their policies. Free school meals for example has made a pretty big saving in terms of time and money for a lot of families.

LibDems are a closer fit to the Tories (they'd deny it) if you know your history. They aren't massively committed to socialism, and don't have a chip on their shoulder about class.

The main problem people will have with them is they are terribly keen on evidence based policy which doesn't fit well with British voters. But we live in interesting times ...

Hi Hollie - I think we may live in the same constituency (does it begin with a B?). I am coming at this from the other side, I've always voted Labour - with varying degrees of enthusiasm - but feel abandoned by the party when I most need it. I would vote LD in an instant next time (I helped them in the Richmond campaign a couple of months ago which was hugely satisfying), especially if I thought that there were enough disgruntled Tories to join me in (a) getting the Remain message out (b) unseating our Tory MP who jumped on the Brexit bandwagon quicker than you can say "recently promoted" .

YABU

If you want to vote for a wet and ineffectual party - LibDem's the one for you. I prefer to continue to support the Conservatives - but then I voted Leave and trust Theresa May to get us out of the EU

This is out of date a bit as they only do it for the elections, but maybe this will help you choose?

voteforpolicies.org.uk/

It takes you through what each party stands for without telling you who is who, so might be an eye opener.

That said, it doesn't prove that the party will actually follow through with anything they stand for so who knows!

That vote for policies site is intentionally massively biased. It's a tool which the creators intend to use to guide people towards voting for left wing parties. The founder and team all have extremely strong left wing links.

I wouldn't use that site if you want to get a really unpartisan view.

You are very unreasonable to have ever voted Tory.

Not unreasonable to change political party. Though it seems for the wrong reasons.

Yanbu op. I'm the same with labour. Long term labour supporter. I will vote lib dem in the next election.

"You are very unreasonable to have ever voted Tory."

What a terrible, judgy statement. OP may have valid reasons to vote Tory:

• They may be a millionaire who see's no reason to contribute to society.
• They may want the NHS dismantled.
• They may think that reduced capital and education investment will shrink the UK economy in the long term and this is good because ...... (Ok someone else finish this one).
• They may be attracted to the personal politics of good, decent people like Michael Gove and Boris Johnson.
• When they watch Star Wars, perhaps they root for the Empire.

See, lots of reasons :-)

YABU. Nobody should consider voting for the Lib Dems after their conduct during the coalition years.

YABU. Nobody should consider voting for the Lib Dems after their conduct during the coalition years.

It has now become horribly clear just how much they must have been doing behind the scenes, given the antics of the current Tory administration.

I would return to 2010-5 in a heartbeat, if it meant curbing the sheer nastiness of this Tory government.

My local MP also hid behind the toeing the party line Theresa May "the people has spoken" rhetoric. I, too, have always voted Tory. Unless a glorious new party with the common sense to query Brexit under any cirmcumstances suddenly appears with the weight to eclipse the Tories, I shall be voting for the Lib Dem candidate. Even if they are a monkey with three heads, which usually suffices for the Tory MP in my constituency.

I would also return to the coalition era in a heartbeat.

Caroldecker - they are only having to cos of the tories gamble on holding the bloody referendum in the first place and MPS feel they need to uphold the will of the people. This one is firmly on the tories.

I'm hoping for a coalition again next time. Well I'd like a labour gov but that's not going to happen so someone to put the brakes on the Tory excess will do. And I do think the libdems would do that now we've seen what the tories on their own have done compared to the coalition. I'd vitro libdems myself if it was a close tory or libdem seat where I am- but it's not and I need to vote labour to keep ukip out.

bill

How do you know that??

Very interesting, i did it and some other members of my family

I was the only one who came out with even vague 'left-wing' policies

Really interested to have a look at any information you may have on it

Stripy My point was that there was a HoC discussion and vote to hold the referendum in the first place. All except the SNP voted to hold the referendum, therefore all parties are equally responsible for the outcome. Even the Lib-dems voted to hold the referendum.