Why do people keep voting the tortes in again and again

[Thomasina79]

Not wanting an argument, just wondering. Another Tory has been dismissed for dishonesty and day after day we hear of stories about people having to choose between heating and eating. Surely people realise we need a change of government? The NHS and other support services such as teachers are on strike. What next?

Why?

Or maybe that should be how?

Can I have some specific reasons?

Life was pretty good under Labour

Other parties are available.

Well, at least the Tories have policies, I’m never actually sure Labour do. I can remember Lammey being asked on WT what Labour would do and he said his job was to oppose the government- this told me everything I needed to know.

Starmer is absent every time he thinks he needs to keep his nose clean ( no where to be seen during much of covid) always wheels out Rayner at these times like a sacrificial lamb.

i dislike unionism (see current trend).

I find the Tory party’s view on women’s rights much more in line with mine

i dislike the anti semitism

on a personal front I feel that Starmer is one of the most untrustworthy politicians followed by raynor. Yes Bo jo was grim but the grimness wasn’t really hidden.

yes life was so much better under Labour - I distinctly remember thinking that about calling an illegal war, actually it wasn’t any better under labour,

both parties are shit shows just one is more palatable than the other

It's probably my age and innate cynicism, but I struggle to muster enthusiasm for any political party. A moderate centrist competent administration that took time to consider the law of unintended consequences of legislation, could ignore the calls of old pals for jobs for the boys, understand that the right school tie or union badge isn't a qualification, sufficiently sceptical to recognise an agenda and resist falling for every BS hard luck story, and yet sensitive to genuine need would probably get a hearing. But they all claim to be that!

Sadly, being an MP is not well-paid compared to other professions, so the people who seek public office and then preferment once elected, are generally the type whose hands should be kept well away from the levers of power. Landslide majorities are usually appalling news: a near-hung Parliament has built-in checks and balances and the damage that can be done is limited.

Landslide majorities are usually appalling news: a near-hung Parliament has built-in checks and balances and the damage that can be done is limited.

The last Labour landslide was good news. We had hung parliaments following the 2010 and 2017 elections. No checks and balances after 2010 because the kingmakers went into formal coalition and committed political suicide for the next three elections. After the 2017 election we had impasse, just look at how many times May was defeated in the Commons.

You have a point @Blossomtoes . I despair of politics atm.

I was much more despairing before the 2019 election. I’m a lifelong Labour voter and I had to spoil my paper, it was really upsetting but I just couldn’t vote for a Corbyn government. It’s going to be much easier for me next time. My bloke’s where I was, a lifelong Tory voter who held his nose in 2019 but will probably spoil his paper next time.

Labour policies I do not like? Spending too much. High taxes. No support for Israel. Not great on the trans issue. Likely much higher taxation. An even bigger state than we have now. Socialism (I am a capitalist). Reducing voting age to 16. Banning unpaid internships.

Banning unpaid internships

What now? How have I missed this?

I think dh and I will be doing the same in the next polling booth. Unless we get the same Labour candidate we had last time, provided he bothers to do some canvassing in person.

The financial crash happened on Labour’s watch. No wonder “life was good” when they were throwing money around like that! Can they be trusted not to overspend again? (Caveat - not that I’m saying the Tory record is great!)

@radrado

It was a global crash

If it was a global crash it’s easy to see we benefited from a global upswing before the crash.

Labour went along with the up then crash which is why I don’t use 90s for an indication of now.

Not least because Starmer isn’t Blair and many policies are different

Agree with much of OMG post

Never vote for them with the likes of Lloyd Russell-Moyle on the benches

Might be my age too but I totally agree with this. I'm Politically homeless. I never feel my vote counts for much, I dislike FPTP. I've always lived in very safe labour seats with MP's I disliked, but voted for and now in a safe Tory one with an MP I detest.

I think all the major parties don't care about us "little people" and just do the bidding of "the markets" which inevitably leads to profits being privatised (cheap labour and wages, no investment in skilling young people) the costs socialised ( tax credits, UC, infrastructure, bail outs etc) and the gap between rich and poor widening which is really bad for society. The MP's get their non exec roles, jobs for their kids and speaking enagagement dosh etc. when they leave ( and sometimes whilst still MP's).

I believe we should reduce the national government to bare bones and devolve everything to individual county/city/town councils who can run things according to the requirements of the local people. "One size fits all" doesn't work in 2023, it just builds resentment towards Westminster and London.

So the place that I live which is leafy and prosperous should pay money into a central pot to send to somewhere like Boston and Skegness in Lincolnshire that isn't?

Or individual areas should keep their own money, and areas where wages are generally low will have to pay more of their wages in taxes or have fewer and worse public services than areas like mine?

Actually, I do think giving local councils more automony would help. We went a few years ago to a gite in a pretty town in the Lot et Garonne, and there was a noticeable difference in prosperity levels between the three main towns/big villages (roughly 10K populations) bordering a ten square mile radius. All picturesque old settlements with medics and markets (too small for big hospitals) but the town councils were of different political compositions. Where we stayed had been won by the left, and the local traders had moved, en masse, two miles along the road to the next small town, which was buzzing and fizzing, and run by the centrists. There were no shops left, only market stalls.

However, we were told, this would change at the next election.

Yep you are right, they don't actually understand their voters and if ore Thier needs and are obsessed with soundbites.

The message was, in essence, make your town centre customer friendly -- with quick cheap available short term parking and decent public transport options, or fail. As I recall the commune where we stayed had voted for a big change towards affordable housing, and the bottom fell out of the town. It apparently got left with the socially problematic.

Because Labour are institutionally mysogynistic

It is strange that despite all their talk about racial and gender equality, Labour have never had a female or BAME leader, but the "racist, sexist" Tories have had 2 female PMs and 1 Asian PM. There'a a lot of dichotomies in the Labour party. They define themselves far too much as being the "not Tory" party instead of having a unified ethos.

3 female PMs actually! Thatcher, May and Truss! @Florenz and yes I agree with you!