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

Purplepicnic puts it very well.

Tories are generally "hard" - they believe in cutting the welfare bill (payments given to those who don't work) as they think individuals should earn.

Labour typically 'soft' - payment if you can't work.

Lib Dem have lots of idealogy (their 'thing' was free school meals for all KS1 children) but when they got a little bit of power (in the coalition) they gave up a massive promise (no university tuition fees) and they've not been forgiven easily for that.

UKIP say they're not racists, but they are a party that racists are happy to vote for.

The reason TM has called this election is very, very clever.... After the Brexit poll, David Cameron resigned and TM was elected by the Tories to be leader = Prime Minister. Because the Brexit poll was so close, there have been lots of calls since then to ignore it (and the Brexit poll wasn't legally binding). TM has been going with the whole Brexit thing.

Now she's called an election, so there is an opportunity for the country to rise up and say "no" to brexit.

But she's going to win that election, because the people who should naturally be against Brexit (i.e. Labour) are pro it (well, Corbyn is, and he leads the party). And Labour are very split at the moment anyway.
Lib Dems are saying "no" to Brexit, but they're not going to beat the Conservatives.

So TM will win and then can legitimately say that the way she's doing Brexit IS the will of the people.

Sorry if this derails, but can anyone explain how MPs get cabinet positions (is that the right word) For example, my MP is Shadow Minister (Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) (Farming and Rural Communities)
We are absolutely not a rural community, nor one that even has any food plants in it. I just can't imagine this being an area of expertise for her?

YANBU.
The problem with Google is that it presents all options as equal, and if you dont already know the subject, you dont know where to start.

This page gives a brief introduction to each party
www.remarkably.com/idiots-guide-uk-political-parties/

This gives an introduction to the system
edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/04/26/uk.parliament.explainer/

Read each Party's manifesto.

New manifestos for the upcoming election are just about to be released. You'll be able to find them easily online by googling 'labour manifesto 2017', for example.

You should also be leafletted very soon by campaigners. Take time to listen to what they say, ask questions that are important to you, and take a copy of their manifesto or key points leaflets.

Supposedly there will be televised debates, although Theresa May claims she will not take part. But these might be useful on helping you to make up your mind.

Teach your kids how important it is to vote. You're only taking an interest in it now, let's hope they start to take an interest much sooner.

I spent my lunchtime today listening to the candidates in my area. Different country. These people do make themselves available. you have to be bothered to listen.

The party platforms are a good start, bearing in mind that a good chunk of it is designed to lure in certain demographics. Sadly there is nothing to hold them to any of their platform as they know damn well by the next election people may have forgotten. But it may give you a gist of their ethics at least.

The other thing to remember is that while your local MP matters, so too does the government they hope to represent. Also remember that you can see what your current MP does, but necessarily Not what the other candidates would do, as we don't have them as an example.

Remember also that you may choose to vote tactically in your area: e.g. You may conclude you really dislike eg ukip, and if there is a high risk in your area that they get in, you might prefer to vote for whoever is most likely to keep them out - even if that would not be your first choice. You can look up previous voting choices in your area by googling your constituency and 2015 election results.

Remember also that the lib dems are currently campaigning on a pro EU basis, as are the greens (I believe).

Sorry if this derails, but can anyone explain how MPs get cabinet positions (is that the right word)

The prime minister chooses the cabinet so he/she gives people those jobs. She probably has advisers to help her and suggest people.

Sometimes there's a cabinet reshuffle where they all change jobs like musical chairs...

And shadow ministers are in opposition so appointed by the leader of the opposition -jeremy corbyn at present. They don't do the job for real, but instead are their party's spokesperson on the issue, reacting to the actions of the cabinet minister.

. You cant be so dim that you cant read a leaflet and google the main parties manifesto?

No need to be an arse about it, attitudes like that put people off voting, becoming involved and trying to gain a better understanding of things.

OP it's complicated, and I don't pretend to understand a lot of how it all works. For what it's worth I'll be voting labour, which is pissing in the wind in my area but what can you do.

MPs are supposed to represent their constituents but then you've got the whip system - and it takes guts to defy the whip. Some MPs don't give a toss about the whip whilst others succumb to it.

It's interesting that Theresa May has had to water down and back track on some of HER policies on education because she fears the Tory MPs who are concerned about it and they had a lot of power over her and the Government because the Tories have a small majority.

No doubt grammars will be in the manifesto - and MPs who want to stand as Conservative candidates will have to support the manifesto.

OP The other thing to bear in mind is that we have a First Past the Post electoral system. Basically, the Uk is divided into 650 constituencies or seats and whoever comes first in each seat gets elected. This system is considered very unfair by many people and only really works when there are only 2 parties. So a party could come a close second in every seat and not get a single MP whereas parties whose support is concentrated in one area will be over represented e.g. In the last election, UKIP got over 12% of the vote but only one MP whilst the SNP got 4.7% of the national vote but 56 MPs (I'm not saying I want more UKIP MPs btw but you can see how unfair the system is.
Because of our system, some people vote 'tactically' - I'm a Labour voter but, if I was living in a Tory seat where Labour had absolutely no chance of beating the Tories but the Lib Dems did, I wouldn't vote LD to try to get the Tory out.