Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Original poster

To really resent living in a safe Tory seat?

152 replies

AngeloMysterioso · 01/06/2017 03:58

My constituency has had the same Tory MP since it's inception 20 years ago- in the 2015 GE he won by a margin of over 8000 votes, 20.9k+ to 12.6k+ votes for the Labour runner up.

I mean I'm going to vote anyway, but part of me is wondering what is the fucking point??

OP posts:

gentlydoesit89 · 01/06/2017 07:10

Another safe Tory seat here and it really doesn't help that the man himself is a complete and utter prat. He's run the town into the ground and has been openly remorseless about it.
I vote every time in the hope my single one is the one that tips it out of his favour even if it is pointless..

SaltySeaBird · 01/06/2017 07:13

My constituency has only ever been Tory and generally has always had a majority of over 20,000. They don't even bother to campaign, it surely must be one of their safest seats.

InvisibleKittenAttack · 01/06/2017 07:14

I would say it's always worth changing who the number 2 party is in your seat - UKIP won no constituencies, yet by being the 2nd party in many Tory seats they influenced many Tory MPs to swing towards holding an anti Europe stance.

Long term MPs tend to continue to win by making sure they represent the interests of local people. Give them something new to think about, even if you can't make them unemployed.

Littlecaf · 01/06/2017 07:16

I grew up in a safe Tory seat (MP was a Thatcher cronie) and now live in another safe Tory seat. It's depressing to think that my vote will never really count. I've always voted Labour nationally but in the last local election I voted Lib Dem and she won by 20 votes! It means that the County Council has an opposition. We have a by election too for the District Council on the 8th also and I'll vote Lib Dem again to give the 100% Tory council some sort of opposition. I'll vote Labour in the national election.

I take some solace in the general opinion that my Tory MP is progressive & a centrist rather than a raving right winger. And the constituency voted to Remain. Which surprised me! I suppose the pull of London, the local city being incredibly liberal and major airports close by influences who lives here and who they vote for.

Gettingthere7 · 01/06/2017 07:23

I would very much doubt that there is even one seat that wouldn't swing if everybody who could vote actually voted. Get your vote out!

Hissy · 01/06/2017 07:35

Makes you wonder how bad it would have to get round here (south commuter belt) for the seat to change.

mind you our idiotic turkey of a Tory mp is from an ethnic background and he actually voted Leave.

Who the hell is THAT stupid?

The problem is that a lot of people round here aren't consumers of the state education system, or NHS

But they don't get that the high skilled employees of the future can't all come from private education...

Whatslovegottodo · 01/06/2017 07:43

I live in a Tory safe seat which is a terrible shame, but am campaigning in local marginals. Definitely worth it even if you just have a spare couple of hours. Jobs for everyone - leaflets handing out, envelope stuffing, door to door.
Get involved

Sionella · 01/06/2017 07:48

Hissy - I was horrified to learn that some people from immigrant backgrounds voted "leave" because they were assured by leave campaigners that no more European immigrants would mean all their relatives would be welcomed here instead!!!! i've been told this by friends whose families came from Bangladesh and Singapore, and both of them said their parents and lots of their friends of that generation were persuaded this way. It's so immoral to use people's hopes like that.

Fairylea · 01/06/2017 07:55

We live in a part of south Norfolk which is almost exclusively conservative and Tory supporters. I am really surprised by all the pro Labour stuff in the news and on my Facebook feed by friends in other parts of the county because where we are you'd think the conservatives were the only party to exist.

TheSnowFairy · 01/06/2017 07:55

I live in Theresa May's constituency which has been blue for EVER.

She is a good local MP but I have no idea what she is doing now - why even contemplate implementing grammar schools when you have the small issue of Brexit negotiations to deal with

My first 'can't believe it moment' was when she brought Boris 'the clown' Johnson into her cabinet, and it has got steadily worse from there.

We are fucked.

Dashper · 01/06/2017 08:08

BarbaraofSeville I live in the famously posh city of Peterborough. Many working class areas are small c Conservative.

DaemonPantalaemon · 01/06/2017 08:20

mind you our idiotic turkey of a Tory mp is from an ethnic background and he actually voted Leave. Who the hell is THAT stupid?

So your MP voted to leave, along with the majority of Britons, from all backgrounds. Or, because he is from what you call an ethnic background he should vote the way you did because no people from what you call ethnic backgrounds had reason to vote leave?

And by the way, I think the word you are looking for is ethnic minority. Because you too are from an ethnic background. But, because you are white, you happen to be in an ethnic majority, not an ethnic minority. Ethnic does not mean "of colour". It simply means the fact or state of belonging to a social group that has a common national or cultural tradition. So yes, you can say people are from an ethnic minority. But we all have ethnic backgrounds.

senua · 01/06/2017 08:22

We have been blue forever, majority of over 15,000. Our MP doesn't have to worry about his seat so he doesn't - he does nothing for his electorate and concentrates on his political career instead. Just like his predecessor who only lost the gig because they got caught out in the expenses scandal.

hippyhippyshake · 01/06/2017 08:29

The majority of Britons didn't vote to leave! The majority of voters voted to leave. To approximate - leave = 17 million, stay = 16 million, people of voting age who didn't vote = 18 million. The 18 million were obviously happy with the status quo so should really have been added to the 'stay' vote but that would have been too sensible.

surferjet · 01/06/2017 08:30

All you lot living in safe Tory seats.
You're obviously living there because you like the area, the people, & the general 'vibe' - because if you didn't you wouldn't be living there! Tory areas are generally more expensive than labour areas ( apart from London ) so you're not fooling anyone.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 01/06/2017 08:34

That can be said for any safe seat though.

We are a Labour safe seat.

MP doesn't live here. Has been an MP for years. You never see them.

They didn't even bother to turn up to local hustings.

There has been no canversing at all.

It is a Tory 'hit' seat.

I think the incumbent may lose there job in a weeks time.

InfiniteCurve · 01/06/2017 08:36

I'm living in a safe Tory seat because AFAIK most of the South East is safe Tory,I'm a southerner and I grew up here.At one point I did move for work and lived in a safe Labour seat though - didn't feel a whole lot different!
The one plus here is that our local councillor is LibDem and fantastic.

Finally this election I'm finding the safe seat thing freeing - I can vote however the hell I like secure in the knowledge it'll make no difference at all.

PigletWasPoohsFriend · 01/06/2017 08:36

mind you our idiotic turkey of a Tory mp is from an ethnic background and he actually voted Leave. Who the hell is THAT stupid?

Sorry but that is a bit of a ridiculous statement.

FluffyMcCloud · 01/06/2017 08:39

Yup. Ultra safe Tory seat here. At the last elections the Tory MP was so arrogant at the hustings, sitting back on his chair folded arms, with an obvious air of "makes no difference, I'm in". I will be voting Labour, and I am trying to fight that miserable feeling of there being no point. Last election UKIP got the second most votes. Just ugh.

Xmasbaby11 · 01/06/2017 08:39

I live in a safe labour area. Tbh it's a main reason why we live where we do. Where I live and where I work, the people around me are like minded. I suppose that's what I was drawn to.

Nothing you can do but vote, and hope that changing demographics may change the seat in time.

FluffyMcCloud · 01/06/2017 08:42

All you lot living in safe Tory seats.
You're obviously living there because you like the area, the people, & the general 'vibe' - because if you didn't you wouldn't be living there

Genuinely dislike where I live. Grew up here as did DH. Stayed around the area when we got married because we wanted kids and the family support network. I'd move in a heartbeat if it were logistically do-able. Not everyone lives where they do because they chose it based on the "vibe".

user1471545174 · 01/06/2017 08:47

You can move to a safe Labour seat?

user1471545174 · 01/06/2017 08:49

I reckon if the safe Tory seat Labour voters actually lived in safe Labour seats, they'd be a little disenchanted.

InfiniteCurve · 01/06/2017 08:50

And re: the you obviously like living in the area ( Tories make it nice for you!) argument, in the last election our Tory MP got about 60% of the vote,but historically it's been less and the combined LibDem and Labour vote was a higher percentage of the population,if the choice had been Tory/ nonTory the nonTories would have won.
So lots and lots of non Tory people even here.First past the post - meh!

saoirse31 · 01/06/2017 08:54

You should campaign for a democratic electoral system then.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Swipe left for the next trending thread