To be a secret Tory voter and feel embarrassed about it?

[SecretToryVoter]

I’ve just gone to do my vote and had to admit to myself that I’m one of those secret Tory voters and would be embarrassed to admit it to friends / family!

A month ago I was adamant that I would be voting Labour but ended up changing my mind for a number of reasons

1. Keir seems to have a number of grand ideas of what he wants to do but no substance behind how he’s going to do it (where is he going to find an additional 6,500 teachers as just 1 example)
2. Womens rights
3. my Labour candidate has been helicoptered in and doesn’t look good on paper whereas the Tory candidate is a local, well respected councillor
4. Tory policy is closer to my values overall

anyone else had to admit to themselves that they are a Tory at heart for this election?

Definately, or bot. This cannot be genuine. It is backfiring as all of the other recent desperate Tory propaganda has. It's quite amusing watching the party bury itself, just when you think they cannot sink any lower.

Nobody has the right to try and make somebody feel small for a spelling mistake. Get a grip and grow up.

Nobody has the right to try and make somebody feel small for their vote. Get a grip and grow up.

Looks like someone’s considered policies and supported the candidate they best align with.
That’s democracy

Tory at heart, but also think that the power should be transferrable. Most countries with the same people in power for decades inevitably turn into dictatorships (or autocracies), unlimited and uncontested power is corrupting. USA is doing fine with constant switching between Rep/Dem. Labour where in power before, didn't sink the ship, we'll be fine. If anything, Conservatives as a party should go out for a lap and come back stronger.

I’m crossed between being highly amused at the desperation some posters are sinking to in claiming all Tory posters must be bots, and utter bemusement anyone could be that Ill informed to think it.

Thank goodness I haven't done that, then.

I wouldn’t vote for someone I was ashamed to say I’d voted for. Yes it’s a secret ballot but feeling ashamed about it suggests you don’t really agree with your own choice.

Why not just tell them the reasons you’ve outlined here?

'Lacklustre'? Really? I am surprised you haven't noticed how badly the country has been run for 14 years and what a shocking state it is in.

As for VAT on private schools, there is no excuse for them to be continue to be given a tax break. Nor charitable status. And that's not a comment motivated by envy, it is motivated by a desire to start to create a fairer less class-ridden society.

True. It must be quite limited

I really don’t get this.

Surely the best way to avoid a Labour government leaning too far left is to give them a very big majority so they can ignore the far left of the party because they don’t need them.

If you believe for a second that the Tories will support women then you will be very disappointed. They want to strip everyone of their human rights so that doesn’t matter what you identify as or what the definition of a woman, man or anyone in between is, the rights that you have today will disappear with the Tories

It is so surprising to me that people are voting for them on the basis of this one issue when

And you are entitled to your opinion. To be honest, she probably wouldn't be my top pick for Deputy PM either, but that's actually irrelevant.

The tone of much of the criticism levelled against her is deeply misogynist and classist, and that bothers me.

I have no issue with anyone arguing against her politics or in favour of other candidates that they perceive would do a better job. But I do think that there is a tone that many people adopt when talking about her that wouldn't be applied to a middle class man or woman in the same way. And I do have an issue with that.

Oh for goodness sake. Making stuff up just makes you look ridiculous.

I think in the OP's situation it's tricky, and it's not fair to slam her for it.

You're voting for your local representative. The man or woman who is going to defend your constituency in Parliament. The Conservatives have shown themselves to be impulsive, disorganised and frankly dangerous when it comes to running the country, but if your local Conservative candidate is an excellent MP/potential MP and the Labour or Lib Dem candidate is an idiot who has just been parachuted in so that they can get their seat in Westminster and swan off again, I can definitely see a very practical dilemma.

There are things going on in my town that make me feel very disempowered, and certain organisations are treating the people who live here appallingly. We very very much need a competent MP who gives a damn and knows the town and our needs well. Luckily we have one, and they're not Conservative, so I can vote for them with no qualms, but there are plenty of Conservative MP's who were or are very good at their constituency jobs (i.e. Theresa May).

Well at least you didn’t vote Reform, OP.

Millions of people will have looked at the last 15 years and decided that another 15 years of that is best for them, and to hell with public services and the poor saps who rely on them. Thankfully this is a rare occasion when there aren't enough of them to impose it on the rest of us.

I disagree with this.

I think my problem is with people who can't cope with having views which are different to them, and berate and bully them for this to an unacceptable level.

You don't have to agree with someone but you should be able to respect them for having views different to yours in most situations.

I will quite happily talk to anyone with different views and political beliefs to me as long as they do this. I am friends with LD counsellors, lots of Labour voters, a few openly Conservative voters, a couple of Greens and god help me a George Galloway supporter. I was friendly enough with a Dad of a friend of mine who was a UKIP supporter - we'd talk politics and though we didn't agree on much, I did understand his logic even if I thought the conclusion he was coming from was wrong - until he died.

I think this attitude of thinking someone is 'voting the wrong way' is narrow minded.

The OP doesn't feel she should have to justify your decision. Its her decision. Thats fair enough. You don't have to agree with her.

Some people find it easier to talk about politics than others. And some people don't know where the line between talking to someone crosses to talking AT someone. The act of actually listening to others is one thats sorely missing. Listen and you might actually learn something valuable from an angle you hadn't previously considered.

I think political desires and political realities that no one can avoid are also different things and should be key arguments rather than a 'we should do this because' but failing to acknowledge unintended consequences and side-effects from poorly thought out implementation of ideas.

So he doesn’t want to take us out of the ECHR? Must have missed that press release

Can’t wait until Farage is in Parliament, yapping one of his tirades during PMQs. 🤢

Just the same as coming onto MN and being bitch-cow from hell, or the kindest sagest, most compassionate PPer when those are the opposite of how you are IRL.
You can be someone else in private and show a different face in public.

Personally if I felt embarrassed about how I'd voted I might just question whether I'd voted the wrong way. You have your reasons, you presumably think the last 14 years have been pretty good for you - or for society in general - and you'd like more of the same - so be proud of that opinion!

I think when it comes down to it, at a very simplistic level -

If you vote Tory it's all about 'you' the individual and your immediate world - you getting richer, paying less tax which in turn will hopefully mean society benefits

If you vote for Lib Dem, Green, Labour, SNP etc - it's more about the betterment of society which will then in turn help you as an individual.

I would normally completely agree with you if it weren’t as in this instance being used in the context to try and bully someone else. If you can’t take it, then stay quiet and don’t try and give it out. So I can assure you I wholeheartedly have a grip on life and don’t need to “grow up”. Thanks for your concern though.

There used to be good Tories, one nation Tories. Theyx have all been housted out or left as they could not follow the extremes of the ERG. There are some I could have voted for in the past, but none at the moment.

Yes, it is a free country. Germany was a free country in the 1930s, and so are France and Italy. Wherever, I would feel thoroughly ashamed of voting for the current Tories who have caused so much damage to the country, and for very selfish, personal reasons, to protect my assets, without a care for those in need. I truly would.

I always think if someone is not prepared to admit who they vote for that means they can’t really justify it and either need to rethink their vote or admit that they’re voting from a purely selfish perspective (inheritance tax, for example).

If you truly believe it’s a good idea to vote for a certain party then why wouldn’t you be prepared to admit it and state your reasons why?