AIBU to not understand why "normal" people vote Tory?

[olddogsnewtricks]

OK, so I'll probably get flamed for this but am genuinely interested! All the people I know who vote Tory are pretty well off so use private schools and healthcare. As a family we need the NHS and we need a good education system - and I can't see them getting any better under the Tories. Are these just not priorities for Tory voters or do they really believe they will improve even with a Conservative government?

I'm not well off, and I'm not from a well off family, but I vote Tory because I think they're the most well organised party. I think Corbyn is a joke, and the Lib Dems are nowhere to be seen.

I think May has been a good PM. Brexit is going to happen because of the outcome of the referendum, and I feel like she's delivering in as positive way as possible. She's a strong PM and there doesn't seem to be any dirt on her.

"41. New Deal – helped over 1.8 million people into work"

I did 3 months on workfare under New Deal.

Yes, new deal was nothing to be proud of. It was glorified workfare. yes you got an extra tenner a week or whatever for doing it but it was still way under minimum wage, and the majority on it did not actually end up with a job. I kind of suspect the 1.8m it apparently helped into work would have found a job during the New Deal period anyway.

King of like how those referred to igneus these days are more likely to get back into work if left alone to do it themselves instead of forced to go into the centres that actually do nothing for them and then try to claim bonuses for helping then into work.

My best mate is currently being harassed by Ingeus as he is refusing to give them his employers details so they can claim their bonus for 'helping him into work'. They didn't help at all, he got it off his own back despite them 'helping' (ie. making him go in for hours a week to just sit in a room full of computers and do fuck all). They call him everyday to try and get the details...he keeps telling them that HMRC and such have the details of his job but without having them first, Ingeus cannot claim the money (500 per person I believe it is?) for finding him the job that they didn't find hi9m.

Huge waste of money.

I think (and obviously this is only my opinion...lol) that the reason for this is generally the older people get, the more secure in their jobs, the higher wages, bought houses etc. So they tend to be quite well off.

I think the exact opposite!

In my friends/family/neighbours/colleagues.. most hardships come with age and experience. Most people I know who are disabled became so over 30, most people I know who've lost everything and been homeless or dependant on benefits had that happen over 30, over 30 people are more likely to have extra dependants or be carers.

So quite removed from having it easier when people get older, I think they're more likely to have had rough patches the older they get.

I think it's easier to be idealistic and dogmatic when you're young
Even easier to put your faith in labour when you haven't been an adult under many labour terms.

Labour is a nice idea, IMO it's shit in practice.

I didn't say voting Tory because of immigration was "ignorant" so no need for the quotation marks.

I was answering the question of why normal people would vote for a party that has policies that would negatively affect them - because they care more about the other policies. Plenty of women vote Republican in the US despite Democrats being generally better for women.

In my town there are rough sleepers everywhere, I counted 25 on my short walk from a cafe to the bus stop. Surely all the Tory voters can see that this is a result of the Tory government, I understand that there is a chance that they may not give a shit about the people rough sleeping but surely whilst living in the town and enjoying the restaurants and nightlife they would prefer it not to be in their face on every street! It's disgraceful and a direct result of austerity.

I was answering the question of why normal people would vote for a party that has policies that would negatively affect them - because they care more about the other policies. Plenty of women vote Republican in the US despite Democrats being generally better for women

Probably because they think all parties on offer are going to fuck them over in one way or another, but at least if they get what they want on one issue it's some sort of concession..

Here we go again.

Privatising the NHS is more about outsourcing the NHS services to private companies who, on the whole, would run it much for efficiently and in a more financially viable way than the politically minded twats who run it at present.

It won't be a case of everyone all of a sudden being made to pay for their care or have insurance to do so.

In my town there are rough sleepers everywhere, I counted 25 on my short walk from a cafe to the bus stop. Surely all the Tory voters can see that this is a result of the Tory government,

You would have to demonstrate that there where no rough sleepers under Labour

This assumption that people who support a different party are unpleasant idiots who are not "normal" people ruins debate.

I am a floating voter. I know lots of people loyal to one party, of the various flavours.

Everyone I know, irrespective of ideaology, wants a good healthcare system, a good education system, for the nation to be free and fair, and for each person to have the best life possible. They disagree on which party is currently most likely to deliver.

Just because you think Labour has the best plans for achieving good education doesn't mean you have to believe that people supporting the Conservatives want to create a bad education system.

Portraying the opposition as pantomime villains shuts down debate. Asking why "normal" people would vote Tory is part of buying into that portrayal.

OP, imagine everybody genuinely wants good outcomes and consider every policy announcement in that light. A political party shouldn't be a religion.

Quite. Plenty of people will never vote for the Lib Dems again because of tuition fees while some will vote for them for the very first time because they're anti-Brexit.

"Also older people (60+) I find more likely to vote Tory as the promises always seem to come that no matter what cuts, they will never affect pensioners"

This is a myth DH is 67 and is currently being transferred from DLA to PIP. We sent off his form 7 weeks ago and are waiting to hear. He has never voted Tory in his life.

When they said pensioners over 65 were going to be protected from the DLA cuts back in 2013 they meant the pensioners that were already 65 or over THEN!

The staunchest labour voter in my circle of friends is also the richest, by a long way. I mean wealthy, not just having more money than us, but actually wealthy.
I vote Tory because I refuse to vote labour. I went to school with the daughter of a labour MP who was raging about the private schooling system and how it was elitist and they would abolish them.
We were at a private school so the hypocrisy stared me in the face.

I don't agree with all the Tory policies but I agree with more of them than I agree with labour policies so that drives my vote.
I am not ignorant and resent being called it.

Surely people should vote for the party they think are best for the country as a whole, and not just think about their own situation? The Conservatives have always been better at managing the economy and balancing things - Labour only think of 'redistributing' money from people who have earned it through their own hard work. I am a true blue Conservative.

Last time Labour were in charge they took us into an illegal war and completely fucked up the economy.

So I'd say those voting Labour had more questionable morals and a smaller grasp of what it takes to run the country than those voting Conservative.

Just another lurker I didn't say there were none under labour. The number of rough sleepers has has gone up 53% in the last year alone where I live. 1000% since 2010.

There's always been people sleeping on the streets; during any government in office. The problem is that we cannot assume that every rough sleeper we see hasn't been helped. I would guess that a lot of them would have had some sort of help, but their actions have resulted with them back on the streets. And I say this as someone who has helped at Salvation Army places in the past, where I've actually listened to some stories of why an individual has ended up homeless; you can only help someone so many times, until you realise that some will sabotage any help given.

My neighbours vote Tory because their parents did. Don't really think about it and aren't interested in politics.
My in laws will be voting Tory as they used to vote UKIP and are happy with May leading Brexit.
We are in the constituency that a Donkey in a suit would win if it stood for the Conservatives. 50% vote Tory and the rest varies widely from election to election.

What do you think happened under Labour, loonie?

I lived under a Labour government and saw things get hugely worse under them for ordinary people. Wages stagnated, the price of housing soared and standards of living tumbled. Educational standards dropped, the gap between rich and poor got wider and wider and they lessened restrictions on banking allowing them to do some really shit things. Socially I felt my area deteriorated massively under Labour. Things that they did do like tax credits didn't improve life for people, they just cushioned the blows of the deterioration. They destroyed more industry than Thatcher, they introduced the legislation which allowed privatisation of parts of the NHS. They started an uneccessary war.

Socially in terms of how the people around me lived and behaved towards other people there was a huge deterioration. This has much improved under the coalition and Tories.

The left wing are a wealthy middle class globalist movement who look after their own wealth and interests first followed by migrants, the underclass and refugees. They hold ordinary working class people in utter contempt and view them as thick oiks who should listen to their betters.

I think the Conservative creed of opportunity offers a far better deal for working class people than Labour who generally just offer benefits and subsistence living.

Oh and Twinkie, IDS was well up for the war too. So would have happened under tories too.
Incidentally, I listened to Corbyn speak at the anti war demo, look it up on YouTube. Good speech.

Runrabbit makes their point very well there ^^ we won't get decent debate by attacking anyone who disagrees.

I agree with every word, Bill

There's always been people sleeping on the streets; during any government in office. The problem is that we cannot assume that every rough sleeper we see hasn't been helped. I would guess that a lot of them would have had some sort of help, but their actions have resulted with them back on the streets. And I say this as someone who has helped at Salvation Army places in the past, where I've actually listened to some stories of why an individual has ended up homeless; you can only help someone so many times, until you realise that some will sabotage any help given

How does this explain the huge increase in the number of people who are homeless?

yup I think a lot of people are quiet about who they vote for because they are floating voters

I am not ashamed that I didn't vote for Blairs labour and voted Conservative then instead! not at all! but I wouldn't want to be associated with current Torys, and since I haven't voted Tory since then it would be inaccurate to describe myself as a Tory voter!

A lot of people float.

When I first started voting, whole families (down generations), and whole streets would always vote the same way. People had party loyalty. I don't see that so much any more