To vote with my head instead of my heart?

[ImNotDaveGorman]

I need advice from random people as I don’t like to talk politics in real life.

I’m in scotland and we have an election next month. The 2 main parties in my area are SNP and conservative. TBH I really dislike them both, but absolutely detest SNP. For reasons I’m not going to get in to I really don’t want scotland to be independent (also, that is not what I want this tread to be about!). I found it so difficult during the last referendum-people were horrific to each other and I want that vote to stand.

So, every time there has been an election I have voted for the party I do like, but every time the results come out the percentages are tiny for any party that is not SNP or conservative! So, basically, I feel like my vote is being wasted.

So....
YABU-vote with your heart for the party you want

YANBU-vote conservative, the lesser of 2 evils (in my eyes) and hopefully we won’t have to go through a second referendum

Again-this is not a thread to change my mind on my reasons for being against Scottish independence, so I won’t be having that argument.

This type of blatant intolerance and trying to tell people what to do is almost enough on its own to persuade me to vote Conservative

And yet you seem blind to the blatant intolerance to anyone voting SNP on this thread, maybe you should vote SNP for that reason

I don't blame the SNP for pushing for independence. That's their main goal and main policy. They have few policies I support. Breaking up the UK, giving our fisheries and judicial control back to the EU, the hate crime bill, gender self ID, the named person law for children, the way they changed the exam system for standard grades, the desire to control everything centrally with no dissent and one married couple controlling everything, the personality cult around Sturgeon. It's all awful. Sarwar hasnt been around long enough to show what he stands for. Lots of conciliatory noises but I watch Labour's actions not their words and they voted for the hate crime bill

Voting Tory is never the answer. No matter what the question is.

@BlueMoonRising

This type of blatant intolerance and trying to tell people what to do is almost enough on its own to persuade me to vote Conservative

And yet you seem blind to the blatant intolerance to anyone voting SNP on this thread, maybe you should vote SNP for that reason

That's right, my whole life experience and qualifications are cancelled out by an Snp supporter insulting me on the internet.

I often wonder if Snp policy is actially to drive as many dissenters as possible out if Scotland.

Is anyone else from Aberdeen? The economy is so bad there, I know so many people who had to move to England for work, the property market in the city centre has crashed, yet from the Snp not a word.

@IbrahimaRedTwo

Voting Tory is never the answer. No matter what the question is.

I dunno.

'What is the best way of making sure that money continues to get wasted on dodgy contracts?'

his type of blatant intolerance and trying to tell people what to do is almost enough on its own to persuade me to vote Conservative

You want to vote maliciously to the point it may be against your own interests? Yeo, you're right, you do sound like a Tory voter.

@AlmostInsane

It doesn’t matter what you call it, every single Tory vote will be taken as support of their policies regardless why people voted for it, the hypocrisy are all those saying they hate the Tories, hate Tory policy but will ‘peg their nose’ and vote for them. Even if SNP gets in that doesn’t mean independence, it might mean a referendum but you don’t have to vote for that. A vote for Tory is supporting every shitty thing they’ve done, lie they’ve told, the abhorrent treatment of the disadvantaged, the endless disregard for Scotland. You can protest vote without smashing up your own moral compass.

Since 2014 as a no voter I've constantly been called a tory, right wing, selfish, traitor, that i have no morals, etc etc.

It all washes over my head now.

And if we're talking about lying and poor behaviour then the SNP have no moral high ground here. I don't see them as any better than the tories tbh. in a lot of ways that will affect my family, self id, HCB etc I see them as far far worse.

Not an SNP supporter, and not insulting you. I'm a slightly amused bystander.

But you aren't the first person I've seen to proclaim themselves to vote for someone because other people have said stuff against them. And it really makes no sense when you are going to find people on both sides.

@CirclesWithinCircles there is always radio silence from SNP on Aberdeen as they don't vote for them and the council are vocal about challenging them rather than towing the SG line.

Aberdeen has a perception by the rest of the country of dripping in gold and nothing to complain about. Reality is the city centre is nearly dead hundreds of jobs gone in retail and restaurants pull out and 30,000 jobs cut in oil or related suppliers jobs.

SNP don't really care as it's not their strong hold voters! That's the sad reality of it all. We used to live in the city but moved out after the last crash.

In all fairness, I would never bad mouth someone who votes SNP/wants independence. We live in a democracy, and that’s the reason I don’t like to discuss it in real life.

Look at the name calling here. That’s what happened in 2014. I’ve been called every name under the sun when people find out I’m against independence. All I say is there are just too many unanswered questions just now, and during a pandemic/just after a pandemic is not the time. Also, my husband (like a lot of people in Moray) is military. Can we still be posted in Scotland? Will he be transferred to Scottish military? I just have not found any definite answers (he knows he doesn’t want to be in the military for another country, fighting for a country he does not belong to).

Therefore i feel like I will do anything to stop independence. Labour only got 10% of the votes here last time. Lib Dem 3%. It’s Tory or SNP.

If being against independence is the thing I feel most strongly about, then maybe I have to follow my head.

@reprehensibleme

But of course the SNP play every win as support for a referendum so that argument doesn't wash if you don't support independence.

Do SNP supporters at all understand the level of distress the continual threat of another referendum causes some people?

So you’re fine with the country getting shafted from all sides... as long as there’s not another referendum?

And I’m going to say again... not an SNP supporter, so I’m including them as shafting the country.

[quote Scottishskifun]@CirclesWithinCircles there is always radio silence from SNP on Aberdeen as they don't vote for them and the council are vocal about challenging them rather than towing the SG line.

Aberdeen has a perception by the rest of the country of dripping in gold and nothing to complain about. Reality is the city centre is nearly dead hundreds of jobs gone in retail and restaurants pull out and 30,000 jobs cut in oil or related suppliers jobs.

SNP don't really care as it's not their strong hold voters! That's the sad reality of it all. We used to live in the city but moved out after the last crash.[/quote]
The MPs in Aberdeen are Kirsty Blackman and Stephen Flynn... both SNP...

[quote Scottishskifun]@CirclesWithinCircles there is always radio silence from SNP on Aberdeen as they don't vote for them and the council are vocal about challenging them rather than towing the SG line.

Aberdeen has a perception by the rest of the country of dripping in gold and nothing to complain about. Reality is the city centre is nearly dead hundreds of jobs gone in retail and restaurants pull out and 30,000 jobs cut in oil or related suppliers jobs.

SNP don't really care as it's not their strong hold voters! That's the sad reality of it all. We used to live in the city but moved out after the last crash.[/quote]
Voting maliciously Ibrahim WTAF? This is beginning to sound a bit wierd. I'm not even sure who I might vote for, other than it won't be for the Snp, thats for sure!

Aberdeen is such a mess now. City centre flats in perfect condition going for 50k, boarded up retail units everywhere, tens of thousands of new build housing estates going up everywhere, a whole shopping centre likely to close down, its so sad. Is the city centre turning into a bit of a no go zone?

Aberdeen (and Inverness) desperately need motorways (not dual carriageways) linking them with the rest of the country. You know, like you get in other countries.

@ImNotDaveGorman I think you live in the same area as me. I cannot stand our SNP or MP and following their Facebook pages has been eye opening in how vile they both are. I cannot believe individuals like this are in a position of power. I plan to vote tactfully for the Conservatives in the hope we have a more balanced parliament and can avoid another independence referendum (please forgive me!)

@HappyPumpkin81 I think I’ll be doing the same. And I feel exactly the same way.
What is happening??

@florafoxtrot MP yes not MSP though only 1 is to my knowledge as said I moved from the city after the last crash.

Tabulahrasa, so if the SNP are shafting the country too, I'll be voting for the party who aren't hell bent on another referendum.

The issues in Aberdeen are not something the SNP can prop up - it stems from decades of Oil over inflating property prices and propping up retail in a way not seen anywhere else in Scotland. For a long time it was actually nearly impossible to move to Aberdeen from the central belt unless you had an Oil Industry type job behind you.

One of the reasons Aberdeen schools were hugely understaffed for years was that NQTs simply couldn’t afford to move up there. When the Oil bubble burst the rest of it burst too.

I know how you feel. I live in England in an absolute Labour stronghold so unless you vote for them you may as well not bother.

I do not like Labour or conservative, they’re too extreme either end for me. I think we need a “normal, middle income” person party. I’ve always worked and earned too much to get any of labour’s stuff but never been rich enough to benefit from conservatives tax incentives etc. Except their increases to the amount you could earn before paying tax.

We even suffered when conservatives said they would freeze council tax for 3 years, our council still increase as it was labour and it was a voluntary thing!!!

Any way my answer is vote for whomever you feel policies align with your thoughts

[quote Scottishskifun]@florafoxtrot MP yes not MSP though only 1 is to my knowledge as said I moved from the city after the last crash.[/quote]
But you said that Aberdeen don’t vote SNP?

Aberdeen MSPs are Kevin Stewart, Mark MacDonald (formally SNP and SNP at time he was elected) and Maureen Watt (SNP)

@Jimdandy

I know how you feel. I live in England in an absolute Labour stronghold so unless you vote for them you may as well not bother.

I do not like Labour or conservative, they’re too extreme either end for me. I think we need a “normal, middle income” person party. I’ve always worked and earned too much to get any of labour’s stuff but never been rich enough to benefit from conservatives tax incentives etc. Except their increases to the amount you could earn before paying tax.

We even suffered when conservatives said they would freeze council tax for 3 years, our council still increase as it was labour and it was a voluntary thing!!!

Any way my answer is vote for whomever you feel policies align with your thoughts

It's not just Aberdeen. My family are from Shetland, which is regularly shafted in terms of passenger ferry subsidies by the Snp for voting LIB Dem and failing to return a SNP MSP. It's cheaper to go with my car from Newcastle to rotter dam or zeebrugge than from Aberdeen to Lerwick!

Many Shetlanders traditionally would buy a little flat in Aberdeen, even in the oil years. Now people are saying they'd rather buy abriad or in England, not just because there's nothing in Aberdeen worth staying the weekend for, but because of the second homes stamp duty introduced by the Scottish government and having to pay full council tax when your property is unoccupied (and believe me, with the lack of tenants in Aberdeen, thars affecting a lot of one property landlords).

When you live an overnight ferry journey away from mainland Scotland and are closer to Norway than Edinburgh, a second home by way of a small flat in Aberdeen is something fairly essential, not a luxury.

Yet the SNP consistently fail to grasp the important local issues outwith the politics of envy that characterise the central belt.

Do SNP supporters at all understand the level of distress the continual threat of another referendum causes some people?

Do people who don't support independence not realise the distress of living under a Tory Gov they didn't vote for causes some people?

@reprehensibleme

Tabulahrasa, so if the SNP are shafting the country too, I'll be voting for the party who aren't hell bent on another referendum.

You’re saying that like it’s logical.

There are other parties... and if people stopped treating every election like it was a rerun of the independence referendum some of them could take seats from the SNP.

Tory governments come and go. As I've said before up until 10 years ago we had a UK Labour government where the 2 most powerful offices of state were held by Scots for 13 years.

Devolution means that most of the control in Scotland is currently with the SNP, not Westminster. And yep, I know full well what it's like to live under a government I didn't vote for. The SNP have been in power in Scotland for 14 years. So that's 14 years I have lived under a government I didn't vote for. But that's how democracy works innit.

At the moment, every single election might as well be a rerun of the referendum. If the SNP perhaps shelved a rerun for a few years (maybe a generation ), concentrated on getting the country back on it's feet and using the interim to show that Scotland could be a successful independent nation, maybe support for independence would grow in a positive way. But they don't do that.