My dh and I were discussing the tory party. He really dislikes what they stand for.aibu to.ask .. .

[Chewchewaboogiw]

Ask if you.vote tory and would be planning to continue to do so.. why and what do you like about the party?in the circles we mix in no one votes tory that we know of so cant ask in real life.. but there must be many who vote this way.

@BelleTheBananas

There are various reasons (I’m not a Tory btw):

(a) They get confused about what previously happened under governments of different stripes. I know someone who votes Tory because she thinks that the 3 Day Week happened under Labour 👏👏👏 🙄
(b) They are economically conservative think that taxes/spending should be kept to a minimum
(c) They are socially conservative and dislike foreigners/gay people
(d) Their family has always voted Tory and they’re not minded to change.

I don’t agree with this worldview and would far rather pay more taxes for improved public services/childcare/support/schools/healthcare.

However, I won’t be voting for the opposition parties in the election because I need Labour (and other parties) to recognise that it has a safeguarding blind spot which needs rectifying immediately.

I think this is a very good post and probably is quite spot on with regards most of the countries thought processes.

I agree that @BuanoKubiamVej is pretty spot on. My parents were longtime Tory party members and local counsellors for a long time - they're somewhat disaffected from the party but I think will still vote Tory.

I'm a lefty myself (as are my siblings) and a lot of my friends are like 'All Tories are scum that must die' which I feel is unhelpful. I think a lot of people who vote Tory believe that wealth must somehow 'trickle down' and that surely the richest will do their bit and pay their taxes and give to charity etc. I often say the problem of Conservatism is not, as often imagined, that it relies on everyone being selfish and venal, but that it actually credits people with too much selflessness and desire to do the right thing!

And yes, there is this idea that 'hard work will reap rewards' and you see a lot of Tories from disadvantaged backgrounds going 'Well I did OK for myself despite coming from a poor family, and if I can do it anyone can!' while totally failing to see they're a fortunate minority. But I find it bizarre that people think a more equitable society means less 'hard work' - and what does 'hard work' even mean? I think a lot of people paid less than me work much 'harder' than I have to.

Poor young person from Middlesbrough. I have two families of Ukrainian refugees I help who are already in work in the UK, and not on minimum wage. Yes, not in fancy City jobs - construction, office cleaning, dry cleaners. So it must be possible somehow, I wonder what the answer is?

Op

you throw in your DH’s stance on the tories but for some reason - not yours

That’s the thing it’s not irrelevant to me or many other women.

I’m fine that other people don’t know about it, or care, but we all get to respond to issues we care about.

It’s a shame it’s usually sarcasm and dismissal. But my rights are very important to me, and for dd as once they’re gone it’s very hard to get them back.

Also other major concerns re Labour. I was pleased about Starmer and ready to see Labour move to centre but he’s not getting it together yet for me. I appreciated Labour more when it was in its landslide years (not the illegal war though).

I also heard quite a few people expressing concerns about Corbyn nationalising things like energy or railways (this was back at the last election- I suspect the mood on nationalised energy may have changed!)

What was the worry about nationalising railways and power?

I am amazed at how many of my friends do vote tory, but I have to say they are middle and upper middle class. I vote Green if I can (depending on candidates) because I don't agree with the two leading parties and I also cannot vote Lib Dem as I disagree with much of what they stand for. I would rather vote for a party which cares about our environment. Saying that, I know the tories will continue to run the country as many think they are the best of a bad bunch.

Are you in Bolsover? If so, Dennis didn't retire. He was also pro-brexit.

The effects of poverty start at a young age too.

I mentioned above that I was brought up with very little and homeless for a while as a child. But I didn't feel the effects of that poverty on my chances growing up, as education largely needed no extra financial input and I passed my 11+.

But when I look at my daughter's generation, I've become more horrified by how children are disadvantaged by poverty. The cost of textbooks, which our school doesn't supply, the lack of technology and adequate internet during lockdown, many are working in jobs that take away from study time as they have no choice. The kids that do well are often tutored.
We are OKish financially, but buying textbooks at £35 a pop was a stretch for us.
The whole work hard and you'll succeed is bullshit.

People who vote Tory aren't necessarily evil as I was led to believe by my mainly socialist family. However, they are likely to believe that anyone who works hard, keeps a lookout for opportunities and isn't trying to sponge off the state will end up wealthy eventually, and the state shouldn't then take away that wealth and give it to the feckless and lazy individuals who couldn't be bothered to do all that.

I vote tory
i absolutely do NOT think any of the above

i vote Tory because their policies suit MY specific circumstances. Plain and simple as that.

Fear of the alternative, usually Labour, I think plays a part. Whether or not the fears are justified and based on reality.

We don't have a Conservative government currently, we have a government made up of members of the Conservative Party.

Tories are the party of general aspirationists (again, it’s all relative. Labour are generally known for promoting a dependency culture - think subsidizing low pay with welfare rather than letting wages be set by the market at a higher level)

This is the main reason I will vote Tory.

Labour just wants everyone to become dependent on the welfare state so that they continue voting for them.

People on here keep saying how unfair it is that wages are so low for some people and that companies are taking advantage, but they do not realise that the reason they are so low is because of tax credits which were devised by Gordon Brown and allowed companies to pay low wages knowing that they would be topped up by the state.

Also, people complain about student debt, but again, that was because of Tony Blair wanting everyone to go to university instead of encouraging people to get proper practical skills which would prepare them for work.

His son has now made millions because of TB's policy.

Also, because they know what a woman is (although I only realised that the other parties did not because of MN).

I don't vote Tory not because I believe we should all share our wealth with the poor. I believe we all benefit from having good services including the rich. In my home country, the government builds subsidized housing for 85% of the population to buy so that 89% of the population are home owners. My dad lives in private housing but he is happy that the government spends billions in this project as it means that he doesn't need to give money to me or my sister to buy homes. I did buy a flat in London and as my sister is a high earning doctor, she will probably buy a private condo; but if we didn't do that, we would definitely still be home owners. My father was also considering buying a government flat for my grandparents to live in, he was happy this was an option as it was much cheaper than buying a condo and frankly they are too frail to require a tennis court or swimming pool. My father also uses government healthcare as it is cheaper than private healthcare.

Rich or poor, we all benefit from a well resourced NHS, safe streets, quality affordable housing for the masses (as it would mean that the housing for the rich would have to be much nicer), good education (private schools have to justify their fees by being better) etc etc.

Put it this way, if the UK was a basket case, you might have to hire private security for your house and go abroad for medical treatment and go around in a car everywhere. Is that a good life?

What was the worry about nationalising railways and power?

Some of us remember British Rail - " We're getting there" except often they didn't.

I live somewhere where the main services are nationalised, they are expensive as there is no competition, and whilst nationalised services can be brilliant as in the EU (where they are often subsidised) I wouldn't have any hope of competence from the UK.

Also because Labour is more likely to encourage immigration.

Exactly. I remember that in the 1970s, you had to wait for months for a phone before BT was privatised.

Unfortunately, people under 40 don't remember what it was like to have nationalised industries with no competition.

I think Conservative party have more traditional values. They believe in lower taxes of individuals so people left with more of their hard earned money to spend themselves, rather than central government taking their more of their money and government deciding how it is spent. They believe in Brexit, so the UK can trade independently of rest of EU block. This means many decisions like purchasing Covid vaccines can be done more quickly as don't have to wait for 27 other countries to agree before anything can be done. They believe in strong defence policy including nuclear options. Labour and Green party want to reduce spending on defence. They have given a lot of money to NHS including writing off £12 billion NHS debts at beginning of pandemic.

Funny how so many people start off by saying "I'm not a Tory but", or "I don't vote Tory but...".

Surely if you feel strongly enough to vote for something, you should be able to say it?

In any case, name change if you feel aprehensive.

I wont vote tory despite being an ok earner, as they are a shower of shit with a liar at the top

They also know what biological women are and biological males too.

There's another reason, I think, a lot of people vote Tory.

Most people broadly like their country, and their culture, and don't wish to see it constantly criticized / torn down.

There's an implicit self-loathing in the worst of the left. The left that instinctively backs anyone who's against the west. The left that uncritically backs BLM despite its obvious shortcomings. The left that mocks people waving British flags or driving white vans.

Ultimately, until the left gets comfortable being somewhat patriotic again (like it used to be), I think it will struggle.

I think Brexit is definitely not a Tory monopoly. The red wall fell simply because so many Labour voters wanted Brexit.

There is an assumption that they were the party of business-- these days they most certainly are not especially if you are not a giant corporation. They have turned themselves into UKIP , as they realised more seats and votes were to be had by playing the race card and lets wave flags and blame foreigners. They are the self interest party and actually unless you are at the level of having off shore money etc do little of benefit for anyone . The sad thing is a lot of people with not much have been completely duped- just as they believed Farage, they didn't see that he actually saw them as a money making opportunity.

I've voted Tory in the past but didn't vote last time because I didn't like, trust or rate Johnson.

My current position is that I don't think I can vote Tory unless there is drastic change in the party. The party is keeping Johnson in position, at last there seems to progress with yesterdays nod to the inquiry.

That said, I will note vote Labour. Unless they can define and therefore understand how policies affect the importance of half the population, they are unelectable imo.

In fact I don't have anyone to vote for and feel very sad about he state if the country.

My DH was a long time Labour voter until Tony Blair and the final nail was the party choosing Ed Milliband over David. He’s now very political and doesn’t always agree with the Tories but thinks they are a better alternative. He thinks the Tories are actually more liberal now than Labour. We often argue about it and he always ends of beating my arguments which is annoying. I still don’t know who to vote for but I really dislike Labour at the moment.