To not know the basics of how British politics works?!

[StillLostDaddy]

I purposely have never paid much attention to the finer details of Parliamentary stuff & Local Politics as I guess I've always felt like the government will do whatever they wish regardless.
But no I'm a parent and with all the terrorism/threats of, I now fully intend to have my say. Unfortunately I haven't a clue where to start!! (I know how the Tories work and I'm NOOOO big fan!) However when it comes to Lib Dem/Labour how do I swat up on their policies etc?! Find out what each is about?

And why are we having a General Election? I thought Teresa May had only been Prime Minister 5 minutes?!

I know I sound like a total idiot, but please be kind! I've had a lot of bad stuff go on since becoming an adult so it's never been on my list of priorities!

Thanks guys x

this might help www.whoshallivotefor.com/policies/compare

YABU.
If you can find MN you can look at the websites for the political parties and use wikipedia to understand more about the mechanisms, history and philosophies of political life in this country.

Theresa has indeed only been PM for five minutes - the next election was due to be held in 2020 but she decided to call it early for tactical reasons.

The problem is that most of your data sources to learn more will be skewed one way or another.

Start with learning who your MP is. You won't be voting for Corbyn or May (unless you happen to be living in Islington or Maidenhead) - you will be voting for someone to represent your local constituency. Who is your MP at the moment? Do you think they're a good person? Are they doing a good job on local issues? Do they believe in the things you believe in?

www.theyworkforyou.com is a good place to start.

No need for that attitude is there?

Do you honestly think I haven't already tried Googling it? It doesn't make sense to me. It's not in plain terms in the slightest and I'm recovering from a huge Breakdown and still struggling to take info in like I did before

That was meant for Michael

Thanks a lot Actually.

It's Andrew Jones and he's done some good things for people who have reached out to him, to my knowledge

I'm the same StillLost, I have and never had any interest in politics at all. Its only because its been on the news the last couple of days I knew that Teresa May is a Tory.
I have no idea on any parties politics or promises.
The way it seems to have gone the last few years is we are screwed whoever is in
And I'm a Government worker!!

What do you mean "we're screwed whoever is in" Welsh? The Conservatives have held power for the last seven years - as dominant partners in the coalition from 2010 to 2015 and then on their own for the last two years. If you disapprove of what happened in that time, especially within your own working sphere, then it would seem logical to vote against them this time.

The most important difference between Labour and the Lib Dems right now is that the Lib Dems don't want brexit and Labour do.

I'm voting Lib Dems for this reason alone.

It's difficult to know where to start, isn't it?
I don't want to vote tory as our MP is a disgrace. The labour candidate is the most credible to me, but do I want Jeremy Corbyn in charge?! Maybe I do - I need to read up properly. The local and national aspects are kind of hard to get your head around. I can pretty much guarantee Conservative will win here though as they always do. We've had our MP nearly 20 years and he is batshit!

I would also Google the last couple of manifesto for each of the parties. Keep in mind that they are written in weasle words and the comma placements are intentional. Eg "we intend" means "we are putting this here just because it is important to one of the vocal members of the party / sounds good to our core voters but we have no intention of ever doing it unless we absolutely have to". It can unravel, Brexit referendum being a case in point but generally the policy can just be ignored.
"We will," on the other hand denotes that hell will freeze over and several offspring and the wife's granny will have been sold to the highest bidder to make sure it goes through - usually because it is important to a major donor/ press Barron.

You admit to knowing nothing about politics but know you hate the tories?

You asked 'AIBU'

"I'm the same StillLost, I have and never had any interest in politics at all. Its only because its been on the news the last couple of days I knew that Teresa May is a Tory.
I have no idea on any parties politics or promises.
The way it seems to have gone the last few years is we are screwed whoever is in
And I'm a Government worker!!"

Jesus fucking Christ.

Posters are coming on here who might not ordinarily vote and want to be more informed so I don't think it's very fair to belittle them. People use MN for getting all kinds of information.

OP you might be better off posting on a less volatile thread like the news one, or chat.

Otherwise, if you google Political Compass it can give you an idea of what sort of ideologies you are in line with, or the link that Ghosty posted above

www.voteforpolicies.org.uk is another useful site, although it will be better to wait until they've updated it when the party manifestos are released.

Simple really

If you want the country to leave the EU and be driven into the gutter by a vicars daughter, vote Tory

If you want the country to leave leave the EU and be driven into the gutter by an imbecile with a beard, vote Labour

If you want the country to leave the EU, but wring its hands whilst doing it, vote Lib Dem

If you want the country to leave the EU, and also confiscate your car, vote Green

If you want the country to leave the EU and deport of foreigners, vote UKIP

If you want anyone over 5 years old who can hold a crayon to be eligible to vote, vote Monster Raving Looney

I've had a lot of bad stuff go on since becoming an adult so it's never been on my list of priorities!

No Citizenship or PHSE classes at your school? Both of which cover this topic. You cant be so dim that you cant read a leaflet and google the main parties manifesto?

All the above websites are really useful especially "they work for you". As the op says you are voting for who will represent you not may or corbyn.

Do you have secondary school age children? They will likely be doing stuff on this at school and are often well informed

A couple of student politics explanations... the pdf of a few years our of date with current balance of power!

www.politicsguide.co.uk

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php%3Fattachmentid%3D56962&ved=0ahUKEwilwMTps7HTAhXRJlAKHaBYDmUQFgglMAE&usg=AFQjCNF_2KapjOiCw6ZtI8ohcd7YGhMePQ&sig2=u0wBgiHg20pmdpoKmMXTuQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.thestudentroom.co.uk/attachment.php%3Fattachmentid%3D56962&ved=0ahUKEwilwMTps7HTAhXRJlAKHaBYDmUQFgglMAE&usg=AFQjCNF_2KapjOiCw6ZtI8ohcd7YGhMePQ&sig2=u0wBgiHg20pmdpoKmMXTuQ

Or an American take on the system:
edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/04/26/uk.parliament.explainer

My local MP sounds awful. She's a tory. She sounds utterly fucking vile. And the more I read about her, the worse she sounds.

I've never voted before so I'm about as lost as you OP.

If you want anyone over 5 years old who can hold a crayon to be eligible to vote, vote Monster Raving Looney Is this a viable option please?

I'll help you.

Tories are right wing. This means they believe in the individual, bettering yourself, capitalism, business, low taxes, limited public services.

Labour is left wing. They believe in the common good, redistribution of wealth, higher taxes, investing in public services.

Other parties are Lib Dem, UKIP, Greens and the national ones such as the SNP.

You vote for an MP to represent your constituency and he/she takes a seat in the House of Commons. Whichever party has the most MPs has a majority and therefore gets to form a government and pass legislation (laws).

I have just had a look at our local MP voting record from the link above. We have always been a 'safe ' Tory area. My mp sounds utterly vile and against everything I believe in. And against pretty much everyone I know. I have no idea how he keeps getting in. Unless people aren't informing themselves? I have now made it my mission to spread the word far and wide. Whether people listen though is another matter!

You might find this helpful

www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/32206370

actually Thanks for that link. I've just found out our MP (who I voted for on the basis of being Labour) seems to be a complete homophobe, so that makes my decision harder. I was wondering how you found out what, if anything, your MP actually did.

Mary Glindon consistently voted against allowing marriage between two people of same sex, while most Labour MPs almost always voted for.
Mary Glindon consistently voted against equal gay rights, while most Labour MPs generally voted for.

In my defence, I'm not from the UK and our political education was absolute shite.