to think the turkeys aren't voting at all?

[charlestondancer]

Like many I am dismayed at the election results and the gains by the tories. An area close to me is considered one of the most deprived in the UK and they have voted in a tory councilor!

I could call them all crazy for obviously voting against their best interests but looking at the voter turn out it seems only a very few people turned out at all to vote i think at best it is about 35% of those eligable to vote do so I just don't understand this at all. I think I would be able to better accept these results if I felt that I majority of the electorate was voting and this is what they were choosing but when its all based on such low turnout I struggle to accept it.

Should voting be compulsery perhaps, why aren't people voting ... any ideas?

Messiah myself and I am sure the majority are not prepared to work and pay taxes so you can avoid servitude as you call it. I am proud to work hard. I do what I enjoy doing because i have worked hard to get here. Quite frankly those who don't participate at some level in this servitude are lazy, a drain on society. And a complete waste of space.

As a high rate tax payer who works in Investment Banking, I will be voting Labour. Does that make me a turkey? Certainly felt like one at some of the pro Corbyn events last year. But thsts not going to change my political views. Any more than it will change those of family members who would be far better off with s Labour government but vote Conservative.

Next step euthanasia then Floods? You may deny it but we all know you'd secretly like to.

Vote. Please vote. The moment you stop trying to make your views heard by voting is the moment they (completely) stop listening and just do whatever they want.

Yes I'm living in a fairy tale utopian dream. But there aren't enough desert islands for each one of us all, so we can't opt out of society.

You can register a non vote in Australia or get fined it's not a large fine

Forcing people to vote that isn't democracy

I thought the liberal lefties wanted to deprive people of a vote.

Oh please. This whole 'liberal lefties' tripe is everywhere at the moment and it's so tedious.

Low vote turn outs aren't really a new thing are they? Apart from the EU referendum I can't really remember a time where so many people turned up to vote - maybe someone could correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm not sure on making voting compulsory. But I do think there needs to be more information and education surrounding politics. I came from a family of non-voters who showed zero interest In politics, so I never had that influence at home. It wasn't until my early 20's and had dc of my own that I started to take an interest and understand politics (still don't fully understand it all if I'm honest) and used my vote.

Maybe making politics a compulsory GCSE subject would be a good starting point. To me it's odd that something that affects most people at some point during their lives is given such little coverage in schools. If people had at least a basic understanding of politics from a young age and how important it is to use your vote and make your voice heard, more people might be more likely to go out and vote in the first place? I feel many people don't vote because they just don't understand it and they don't care enough to understand it.

People on mumsnet aren't really representative of the overall UK sentiment messiah.
So their facebooks feeds are fully of people like them. They mainly read the Guardian. Very pro-EU. (This last bit amuses me as the Labour Party was traditionally very anti-EU but at some point in the last two decades the EU came to be seen as some pro-individual liberal heaven which is frankly ridiculous but there you go).

Many people in the UK really, really want to leave the EU and think the Labour Party is now a fringe cult-like organisation.

The Tory party are doing terrible things to the NHS and I am appalled at their treatment of people who are unable to work. But I, like many, are choosing to vote Tory because I feel they are the only option to take the UK forward from here and TM is going a good job overall.

And I used to be a member of the Labour Party! It's all very well telling us they will put 10,000 (or 800,000 as Diane appeared to say) of new police officers on the streets but how the hell will they fund it? Tax the higher income classes and they will bugger off elsewhere!

Messiah that's offensive. Of course not. I just am not prepared to work and pay for others sit on their backsides.

The majority of people can't tell the difference between genuine news and propaganda

Lazarus - I think I might be one of the majority - can you enlighten us with some examples?

Babybarrister Voting iirc in Belgium is compulsory if you have registered to vote. I haven't registered to vote here, so am not forced to do so. I am however on the Overseas Register of electors for the UK.