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?

Great post walking

Because Labour encourage dependance on the state - thats how they thrive ! Read the Gulag Archipelago ! Socialsm does not work ! I come from a mining village, my grandfathers were miners and staunch Labour, my father was a miner and Labour through and through. Then they went on strike - we were hungry had absolutely nothing. He saw an opportunity to join the police - he did worked bloody hard provided for his family and did very well. Hes now a director of a successful security company. This example led my sister to become the first person in our whole familys history to go to university, I served in the Armed Forces for over a decade including Blairs wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, left and now work very successfully for a international corporation earning 4 times my fathers police salary. Labour Slow the nation down and shackle the population into dispair and entitlement. The conservative vision is to encourage hard work dedication and determination to succeed

Does anyone vote Conservative on MN? How come they won the last election as everyone seems to hate them?

Whilst there are left wing older voters about, I do believe that a lot of older voters who once had very left wing ideals, have felt burnt and betrayed by the left and have seen their industries/professions ruined by labour, so I think there is an older demographic to the conservative vote

I know middle aged people (MN age?) who vote labour, but I know no passionate labour supporters who are above 30!

But a lot of us object to benefits as an alternative to working. If you need benefits, then fine, but too many people choose them

Where is your evidence?

And those who can't work hard and succeed? Bin them?

(I was also the first in my family to go to university).

walkingtowork - that list goes a long way to explaining why I would never vote labour. I agree with many of the things on there however there are hundreds of millions being spent on that list that are simply a waste of money IMO and are not areas where the government should be involved. I had actually forgotten how much money had been thrown at education, for example, in order to indulge pointless vanity projects.

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

I did 3 months on workfare under New Deal.

They then wanted me to do another 3 months in a soup factory for my JSA.

Luckily i got offered a full time nighttime job in a sex chatline office so i took it. At £12"000 a year between 2001 and 2003 its the highest wage ive ever earned.

I voted Tory last time as I wanted the right to buy my housing association home at the same level of discount that council tenants get.
This policy, although now law, is being delayed in applying it due to Brexit. In the last 2 yrs of waiting the value of my home has now increased at a much faster rate then our wages so even if it was effective tomorrow, we can't afford it anyway. So it was a pointless vote and I won't vote Tory again. But there, that's why a "normal" person voted blue

Reed and Pelcombe were the New Deal providers in my area.

Does anyone vote Conservative on MN? How come they won the last election as everyone seems to hate them??

People generally don't seem to publicly admit they vote Tory. Its quite weird. Almost as if they are ashamed for their political views, which is daft. Your views are your views, own them and do not be ashamed.

I will probably vote Lib dem but maybe Tory and I cannot believe I am down to this. I could never vote for a party with Jeremy Corbyn as leader. Labour - well the membership is not listening.

Because I'm very normal and labour have yet to even find someone to front their party who can coherently lead them let alone the country
Tort for me was the most united front
I don't agree with all policies but don't trust labour at all and consider the others ineffective votes
Tory also seem to marginally support family
I have gone from working class to 40% tax payer
According to labour that makes me extremely wealthy and they want to tax me more
After mortgage and childcare o have barely anything left
Labour would make that worse
Hth
Tbh would love parties to stand for what they mean and stand by it- all feels very beige atm

It's not weird: the vote is private for a reason.

Half the issue in this thread is the assumptions made about other people and why they vote. A Tory voter is not necessarily any more ignorant than any other party supporter. If you can't see a rational (non-hatred revolving) reason as to why anyone would vote in any way different to your own, then you are likely narrow minded and never will understand. Put your pitchforks away and do some research - it's a big world out there!

Admitting on here to voting Tory is the same as admitting to voting Brexit - people pile on with the insults and accusations.

In the real world people are a little more tolerant about other people having different views

To be blunt; I know a lot of people who are a stone's throw from poverty who voted Tory in 2010 because "Labour" were letting in too many foreigners (note this is not my view but theirs). They've gone on to vote UKIP in the last election.

pushingthroughcracks

I have seen similar in my working life with labour
I had one labour funded role (directly gov funded, was a labour initiative!) where I was paid £60 an hour to do something that required very little skill or knowledge. It was a good/worthy program, but too much money was chucked at it. Torys scrapped it and most organisations adopted the scheme from their own budgets, but spend a fraction on it but do exactly the same thing I did!

Its a shame it's no longer universally rolled out, but the money we were getting under labour for it for one year could have been ring fenced to run the program for 5 years!

My point is sometimes a single issue is enough to make people care less about the NHS and other issues.

I know middle aged people (MN age?) who vote labour, but I know no passionate labour supporters who are above 30!

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. Despite what many claim, most people vote selfishly. There is nothing wrong with that at all. People vote for who they would be better off under. So people owning a house (or multiple) and earning a decent salary, would tend to vote Tory as its pretty well known Conservatives are the party for the rich. The exceptions to this would be disabled people, older people without a large pay packet, and people who have kids who are struggling to get on the career ladder.

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. Though that seems to have been taken back recently with pensioners being included in the 'bedroom tax' situation now. Or so I hear.

There is a lot of truth in the 'Tories are for the rich, Labour for the poor'. Though some people seem to think poor=benefits. No, working poor also.

It's not weird: the vote is private for a reason.
Well of course the vote is private. But...when groups of friends are talking politics, people purposely do not reveal that they vote Tory. Or even (as happens in my friendship groups at times) LIE and say they voted Labour! I don't understand the need. Are people ashamed of holding right wing views? That is what seems daft, given the whole world seems to be leaning right these days (Brexit, Trump...)

Sometimes when they all seem rotten and you're chosing the "Best of a bad bunch" a single issue is the best decider

And it's not actually "ignorant" to vote Tory if you believe in more immigration controls (which I don't!) because they are an appropriate party to vote for if that is your priority, so by definition, not "ignorant"

I found the chatline job myself with no help from New Deal or Reed. They had a vested interest in keeping me unemployed because they got paid while you were on a "work placement"

Took me 3 hours to sign off because the cunts "couldnt find my paperwork"

I vote Conservative, absolutely not ashamed. I'm working class (or at least was) and would probably consider myself to be "normal", whatever that is. For me, it's about the core values of the party - aspiration rather than stagnation. I get the feeling that the initial question was rhetorical and an excuse for Tory-bashing though.

Fear of the other parties, as a result of reading the Murdoch papers or the paper that supported the Blackshirts.

I'm Tory, and consider myself comfortable financially, but unable to fund private education or healthcare. TBH, it's people like me who struggle with what's on offer politically. Labour don't really care about the average person, but would rather focus on disadvantaged and the poor. The Tories mostly represent people who are above average, financially. But I find that labour just throw money at everything, and only think for today and not tomorrow, which has lead us to huge debts when they have been in power. They also seem to attract unpleasant characters like Abbot and Vaz, and in the distant past Prescott and Hatton and Skinner; people you wouldn't trust, ever. I don't feel I need to defend my political stance to anyone though; I vote Tory as it's the best option on offer for me