To have put in my (postal) vote today for the Tories?

[IonaNE]

I agree with their education policy (especially grammar schools) and a lot of their criminal and immigration policies. I have done the "isidewith" quiz (uk.isidewith.com/political-quiz) and I side 58% with Conservatives, 48% with Labour and 40%, 36% and 34% with UKIP, LibDem and the Green Party, respectively. But in general I have done it because it seems to me that the Conservatives are clever people (mostly Oxbridge educated), and you have to trust the leading of a country to clever people. (We all remember a certain Labour prime minister and his "bigoted woman" remark, when he thought his mic was off, don't we?) The Tories support working people, as opposed to second- and third-generation lifelong benefit claimers (large estates of high deprivation in my region) and they have already proved themselves by decreasing unemployment levels to those in the 70s, if I remember well (I wasn't in this country then, I'm an immigrant).

Disclaimer: I mostly use MN at the weekends, so I will come back and read replies today but I can't promise anything from Monday onwards...

I'm was thinking of voting for the Conservatives but blue is such a cold colour and washes me out.

I think it is very important that everybody who is entitled to vote uses that privilege, so well done you.

Although maybe only really clever people ought to be allowed to vote?

Vote how you like, that's kind of how our voting system works ffs!

What is it with all these bullishit voting threads have people really got nothing better to do?

are you Mr Carson from Downton Abbey?

Is there a wave of Tory trolls on here today?

Has anyone mentioned to the OP that many of the Westminster ilk are Oxbridge educated regardless of their political affiliation?

Or maybe Labour trolls paid to make Tory voters look a bit thick and cap-doffing?

Gordon Brown has a PHd from the University of Edinburgh so he's not exactly an idiot, is he?

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!

Vote for who you like.

You are a fool. With commmets on how clever people are and not supporting the poor what more would we expect?

73% was my result on I SIDE WITH BUT WHICH PARTY !

rich people who can afford privileged access to education
The Tories are proposing to bring back grammar schools in the whole of England (as opposed to grammar schools somehow just vanishing around the Midlands - how is that fair?), which means academically clever children from deprived backgrounds will have better access to Oxbridge. I am a former teacher and grammar schools were a big factor in my decision as to who to vote for.

As regards second- and third- generation lifelong benefit claimers: admittedly, my evidence is anecdotal. However, spending 2 years in a job working with the children of these families daily, in a specialist setting, which involves frequent family visits - is a pretty substantial "anecdote", you know. And, by the way, are there posters here who think that it has not yet happened ever in history that a 50-year-old has never worked? Because that's the third generation: (baby is 2, mother is 18 (I count her as the "first generation" as the baby obviously can't have worked yet), grandma is 33, great-grandma is 50). And I am still being conservative with the age gaps.

Matthew Wright's researchers are putting in the hours on Mumsnet this weekend.

Oooh, MrsTP, you might be on to something there!

... and he was right about that woman being a bigot!

I'm going to vote for them because it seems to me the Conservatives wear nicer shoes and you have to trust the leading of the country to well shod people.

And as someone who claims to be educated, you should be well aware that anecdotes do not equal data.

You're either attention seeking or just plain blind

Ha ha MrsTP!

Perhaps we should make members of the public pass an intelligence test before being allowed to vote?

Can't believe you were a teacher.

squoosh

I'm voting conservative because my favourite colour is blue and I once bought a nice top in H&M that was blue.

I typed a long reply but deleted it and decided not to rise to this

What do you want to do if in fact YABU?

Will you burn the postbox?

She was a bigoted woman and I loved him for saying it.

I'm voting Conservative because sunny days make me happy and the sky is blue when the sun is out