Why are the Welsh voting conservative??

[nonsense123]

I understand why most people vote it seems rational to me as a country to vote for Brexit and the conservatives particularly with Corbyn leading the Labour Party. What I am confused by is why is one of the poorest parts of Europe - Wales voting for a party that believes in entrepreneurship and less state intervention when Wales is so reliant on money from Europe and state institutions. Interested in any Welsh mums voting for Conservative party and the rational. (Not remotely about judgement or argument just totally curious).

Quite, and the "something different" people want isn't Corbyn.

Thanks disastrous. My family come from Wales (near Bridgend) and every time I go back - not often these days - it's more and more depressing.

Your account reminds me of the time a while back that Barclays announced it was closing its Ogmore branch because someone in London HQ had looked at a map and said 'well the Rhondda branch is less than five miles away'. Failing to notice a crapping big hill in between with one bus in each direction each day.

I read that one of the Valleys has set itself up as a mountain biking haven and has done well out of it, which was cheering. South Wales has extraordinary landscapes. Unfortunately terrible weather too

Becky the reason your Tory run area has libraries etc galore and the neighbouring Labour area does not is simple : Central Government gives Tory councils more money than Labour councils. I'm a bit confused as to how you couldn't work that out for yourself.

People didn't want May. No saying that if Labour wins (and I'm not saying they should) Corbyn will still be there in 6+ months.

First WG was Lab/Lib coalition and worked well. Then Labour. Then the Tories took Westminster and Wales was slightly protected, but in terms of funding, coming out of the EU and a Westminster Tory government would basically destroy Wales.

So be careful what you wish for, folks.

(Lost count on the number of Tory u-turns already. They're rewriting the dictionary if they think anything they've done thus far has been strong or secure.)

people didn't want May

Well then they have a chance to vote her out, but I don't think they will, do you?

My point is that nothing is permanent anyway. You could be May's biggest fan but not be able to guarantee she'd see past the first week.

" don't think it's possible, the geography of Wales is just too hostile to be an attractive investment prospect. It makes transport tricky, it makes developing a skilled / educated workforce tricky. "

Switzerland has lots of big mountains and manages to be a very rich country. Wales was one of the most educated countries in Europe - I don't see how hills and valleys prevent education.

My point is that nothing is permanent anyway.

Killed your own arguement there. Doesn't matter if people vote Tory then does it?

"I'm very confused, and know little about politics apart from when I swot on google.

The Tories are in charge now. So the Tories are responsible for NHS, Education etc."

You really don't know much about politics or are commenting on a thread about Wales with no knowledge of Wales. Labour is responsible for the NHS and education in Wales because they are devolved issues.

Killed your own arguement there. Doesn't matter if people vote Tory then does it?

if they vote Tory because they want May as PM they are voting for something that isn't guaranteed.

If they vote Tory and the Tories win, then we'll have the so rich and pigheaded they thing their policies work Tories for 5 years.

Seriously, they even give interviews stating that policies which have been independently assessed as not working as sheer bloody brilliance. They're fucking idiots getting a kick out of trampling on ordinary folk.

Gwen its disturbing how many people in Wales don't understand that.

"Certainly, when I visited Cardiff and Pembrokeshire over the Easter holidays there wasn't much evidence of people sitting round waiting for their dole."

Tourists don't see the deprivation in Cardiff. I bet you didn't go to Tremorfa or Ely.

Gwen, Switzerland seems to have this very specialised history as a (corrupt) banking centre, which has made it massively rich. It's also one of the crossroads of Europe - quite difficult to get something done in Central Europe without involving the Swiss, which unfortunately isn't the case with Wales, stuck out on the edge of a small island that is itself stuck out on the edge, and subjugated by foreign populations for 7 centuries.

It's really interesting though, well I think it's interesting, how history and geography affects countries' paths. What I would love to know is how South Wales could truly start to build something better. I suspect it won't come from any of the main Westminster parties.

One word Corbyn

"Everything single official document you ever get from the local authority or the NHS is always in both English and Welsh, so you get two copies of everything even of you don't request it. Its a fucking waste of money that could be put to better use elsewhere. Fact is very few people in Wales speak Welsh fluently."

Spending on the Welsh language is less than 1% of the Welsh Assembly's budget. It's not the reason Wales is poor. But I suspect you know that and you're just anti-Welsh language.

Yes but titty whilst people aren't voting for the leader per se, the leader sets the tone of the party if you like. Just as Blair steered Labour away from its traditional stance, and Corbyn is steering it back!

As a teacher I deplore the decisions that the WG has made. Giving carte blanche to the WJEC for instance, not confirming they will honour our pay and conditions when it is transferred from London etc; the fact that less is spent per pupil in Wales. These are just some of the things that puts me off voting Labour at my local elections this wee. I am torn about the General Election to be honest as I know that the £££ comes from Westminster but the decisions [health and education] are made in Cardiff.

It certainly won't come from either Corbyn or May. One of them is Donald Trump with a Lenin t-shirt and one of them is a stubborn, short-sighted woman without an ounce of creative intelligence. Both are hellbent on pushing the country off a cliff via hard Brexit. The only appropriate response to this election is wailing IMO

"To put it another way, if I have a choice between two meals in a restaurant. I know one is disgusting because I've had it before. "

But Soya, that's what I don't understand. You have a choice between more than two meals. I don't understand why a left wing person would choose to vote for a right wing party rather than another left wing one. Why go from one end of the spectrum to the other?

SPaG alert - week not wee!

Because all the meals repulse me, Gwen, if you mean why don't I vote for Lib Dem or Green. I don't like any of them. :)

Starve then!

tinytemper66 You do get that how you vote in local elections or the general election will have no effect on the Welsh Government, right?

TresDesole - I get your point about Switzerland, but I don't accept disastrsous's point that Wales will always be poor. We played a big part in the beginning of the industrial revolution and as I mentioned, we were once among the best educated in Europe. We can be better again, but not by voting Tory.

Ah yes I am not that stupid! However we are not voting on Thursday for WG, but for councillors.