to open a non-insulting, non-emotional thread asking Tory voters for their reasons (not just in this GE but in general)?

[iloveeverykindofcat]

I struggle to understand why anyone who isn't super-rich votes Tory, but I'd like to know. I'm not going to insult anyone or claim you're a terrible person or that I'm morally superior for voting Labour - as I was trying to explain to a woman claiming that 'we can't afford charity', I don't see wealth redistrubution and public spending as charity at all. Its enlightened self interest. Higher and more benefits = less crime and safer streets. More investnment in the NHS = shorter waiting times, more affordable prescriptions, better access to specialists. Better standards of education = multiple social benefits for everyone. I'm solidly middle class and fulltime employe - under Tory governments I have usually been slightly better off in financial terms than under Labour. But I consider the social benefits of a Labour government (directly to myself here, I'll leave moral arguments out of this thread) to signifantly outweigh that. So when you vote Tory, unless you are super rich, what do you consider are the benefits to yourself and your family?

Take this to the Politics section. I am sick of seeing political threads everywhere except where they should be.

So non-judgmental but then you list why we should all vote Labour.

Maybe to get all those things the economy needs to be in a fit state first. That is the usual reason; mainly because Labour don't have a great record with the economy so they are voted back in to sort it out.

Christ on a fucking bike. Not again.

Because some people believe in approaching things from a different direction.

Higher and more benefits won't equal less crime and safer streets. They are already very generous and we have those things.

I wanted a far far lower benefit bill in order for chidren to have better prospects when they are older. We seem to have got to the stage where a life on benefits is seen as the norm and opting out of work and not providing for children is seen as ok.

They seem to believe people should make their own way as much as possible as opposed to other parties who think throwing money at people for poor choices is the answer.

Education wise, our local MP is amazing and deserved the vote for that alone.

Because its a democracy and people have different opinions to labour voters and can vote for who they want HTH

This has been done over and over again, do a quick search

And tbh labour and their supporters have a bit of a cheek banging on about saving the NHS when they screwed it up in the first place

These threads always degenerate into offensive bunfights, because there is always a (not so) veiled implication in the initial post that there is something to explain because a "rational person" would see no reason other than selfishness, stupidity or wilful nastiness to vote Tory. And I say that as someone who voted Labour yesterday.

I have working class rellies who voted Tory yesterday - they'd probably say (if I was so rude as to ask them, which I'm not) that the risk of capital flight and ensuing economic contraction leading to factories closing and their jobs being lost in the event of a Corbynite Labour victory is too great for them to take.

I don't see why they shouldn't have the right to put that interpretation on their understanding of the economy. After all, academically trained economists in universities have differing opinions on whether Keynsian or monetarist theory provides the correct framework for understanding the economy. It's not like there's an obviously right answer out there. And even if there was, there is the very real danger that whatever the "right answer" is, the city will still panic and not give a Keynsian tax-and-spend-and-promote-growth option a fair chance even if it was the right answer. In which case, the end result would still be the same - capital flight.

My DH is well educated, interested in economics and finance. He believes we can't run a deficit. We have always seen reducing debt as a key personal goal, and He has always scrimped and saved and gone without on a day to day basis to achieve this. He sees the country as being no different. For him it is the responsible way to vote. He doesn't agree with every policy, but thinks we can put better stuff in place when we are no longer broke.

I don't agree.

Oh, and thinks the government should shrink.

I voted Tory this time mostly because I didn't want a hung parliament and the uncertainty and instability that comes with it. I also know that the markets and businesses react well to a Tory government and therefore the economy would be stronger as a result. I don't want me, my colleagues and my family members to lose our jobs, and if we did the country would also lose our tax receipts.

I do have a social conscience and I totally understand that people have different life experiences and not everyone gets to be a hedge fund manager. I would describe myself as ever so slightly right of centre.

I do however live in a city, have a professional job and voted to remain in the EU so I'm well aware I'm one of those out of touch liberal elites that everyone hates.

Simple.
The economic cycle
Labour wreck the economy
Conservatives come in sort it
People think can't believe theyve cut back spending when its sorted
Elect labour to spend
Labour Wreck economy
Conservatives elected to sort it.
Vicious cycle that needs breaking

Honestly op is it really beyond your ability to comprehend that other people have different views and experiences? It's not like the stories are the EDL or some weird 'we are all lizards' party.

These threads are pathetic. And I voted Labour.

Tories not stories

YABU to start yet another thread about all this.

Because Corbyn is a "terrorist sympathiser "

Oh wait

I suppose you can say that about any party though. Everyone is going to have their own way of thinking and agree/disagree on lots of different things. So hopefully there is a party out there to fit everyone's viewpoints. Just because someone supports any particular party doesn't mean they agree with every policy that party puts out there nor do they fit people's "stereotype." Most people don't know I'm a Tory voter nor would they believe I'm a stereotype of the Tory party being a working class, low income single mum from a poor background.

I voted Labour in this election for the first time ever, having previously been a lifelong Conservative.

I'm in favour of free enterprise and trade, a social security safety net which doesn't disincentivise people from working and low governmental involvement in people's lives. I believe in a strong defence with no deficit or a small budgetary surplus.

However the current Conservative record has gone far too far. The NHS is being sold off by stealth - I believe it's morally wrong to try and make money out of people's health, which is what is happening. The austerity cuts are unfairly affecting the poorest and most disadvantaged people in society - which is an outrage. I'll always welcome more money in my take-home pay, but as someone who is a higher rate taxpayer I can afford to pay more tax. One of my family members who is in social housing with two kids with SEN and struggling with a minimum wage job does not need to be targeted for tax and NI. The social security net should recognise that there are some people who cannot 'work harder' and who will need lifelong support. People like this shouldn't be left with only the most basic support, because it's punishing them for something beyond their control. The workfare and work assessment interviews were a shambles. The bedroom tax as also poorly handled and the - currently dormant but still lurking - policy of forcing authorities to sell off their most profitable social housing stock is fucking bonkers.

I don't recognise the Tories any more. Manifesto-wise I probably sit closer to the Lib Dems now than anyone else, but it would have been a wasted vote in my ward so I went Red instead.

Thank you to those who answered properly - I'm trying to learn and I am looking into some of those points. Funnily enough I do understand that people are free to vote differently. That's why I want to know how they decide their votes. I live and work in a Labour stronghold and I'm trying to appreciate a range of perspectives. Not interested in a fight.

Because under Labour, Blair:

Devalued the university degree and made it meaningless
Opened the doors to an unprecedented surge of migrant workers which in turn set house prices rocketing
Bloated the welfare system and bred a culture of reliance
Spent ridiculous amount of money on bureaucracy

Oh, and the war.

So I will never vote Labour again.

And borrowing more money kicks the ball into the future for our children to deal with.

Because Labour currently want to spend OUR money on absolutely bloody everything.

Free school means for everyone, not just means tested.
Free university education for 50% of the cohort, which means out of general taxation rather than an additional tax on those who went to uni.
Privatising the water companies, which work perfectly well.

Bollocks to that.

I usually vote Labour but I won't vote for Corbyn.

Calyrical, yes! Those are the reasons I hate labour and will never vote for them! The 00s was the worst decade imo, I really didn't get people's mindset and new the bubble would burst. He completely devalued University degrees making them go from something really meaningful and respected to suddenly people doing very odd degrees which had no prospect of a career from it after. The amount of people who have student debt but will never pay it back because they will never use their degree to gain a good paying job is ridiculous! What an absolute waste of money!

Oh please don't.

I'm well off but not super rich. I found it really difficult to decide to vote for in this election but went for Conservative because:

I'm very suspicious of any one who proclaims that 'Chavez has shown us that there can be a better way of doing things' (Corbyn). It just seems to me that you must have to be past blinded by ideology to overlook the problems and suffering that regime caused.

I'm a staunch remainer but I thought that TM was the most likely person to be able to get us a decent deal (however I'm now really hopeful that this outcome will derail Brexit).

I really do believe that we can't run a deficit as a modus operandi and Corbyn was proposing a money fest. Look at Germany - larger population than us, better healthcare, better roads, better public transport, a generous welfare state, and yet they manage to run a enormous budget surplus (around €18bn).