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?

Covid which was quite frankly unprecedented…

Give over apologising for the thieving, zealous Tories who have squandered so much of the precious human and cultural capital this country once possessed - because that's the true cost of their 14 year run on so-called power. (The Black Death was the precedent you're looking for, by the way, but talk out of your newspeak arse if it makes you feel better about your apologist views.)

They’ve taken a number of actions to fight against gender ideology including commissioning the CASS report and banning puberty blockers. They’ve promised to clarify the meaning of sex in the equality Act and take gender ideology out of schools.

so yes, I think they have got it right and are the best mainstream party on this issue.

You feeling proud of Blair and his war crimes. What about Gordon brown and leaving us nearly bankrupt. Maybe starmer and his not knowing what a woman is. Or raynor thinking we don’t need a nuclear defence. Maybe it’s the anti semitics.that plagued them,. What’s making you feel all warm and glowy from that lot?

This in a nutshell. The only political posts on my social media are from very loud vitrolic Labour posters incapable of having a discussion about anything without descending into name calling. I presume people that don’t vote Labour just can’t be fucked with all the drama. If I was unsure of who to vote for I’d be put off Labour by the calibre of their supporters. And before all you Labour posters have a pile on and prove my point, no I’m not a Tory.

@ Jetstream -

“Rishi Sunak was helicoptered in to Richmond. Charged the public funds for an electrical system to support his swimming pool.”

I’m sorry, but that’s not true -

“Sunak will personally pick up the cost of the electricity upgrade work – estimated to have cost tens of thousands of pounds – in addition to the ongoing cost of energy consumption for the swimming pool.”
Guardian, 12 March 2023

Lots of people don't like to admit they vote tory but a lot clearly are voting them. Are you embarrassed because they represent the rich and screw over the poor and most vulnerable people in society or is their another reason

I'm not a Tory, but there's an asymmetry here:

I shared my food with you.

I shared your food with me.

In my experience, what unites conservatives is a deep suspicion of the latter.

On the former, conservatives come in all types from very selfish to very generous. I can't say I've seen massively more generosity from left of centre than right of centre people.

(I know some extremely generous people on both left and right, and some pretty horrible ones too).

Votes for 16 years olds? Blatant and cynical attempt to get a perpetual Labour government.

Definitely this.

Can you link to where Labour have said they intend to secure 6500 maths teachers?

This

@MrsSunshine2b
Again, people shout ‘14 years!’. That’s not the case at all. When they came into power the British economy had been laid to waste by Labour. Things have been going down hill since we as a country voted for Brexit but no one is talking about that. The Tories won’t acknowledge it was put out to the public in a disastrous way and Labour won’t admit it was key in not fighting it from happening. And the British public would sooner blame the Tories for the cost of living crisis despite being told during the vote campaign that Brexit would cause exactly what has happened!

7.5 million people have seen Jonathan Pie say it much better. You can’t excuse away 14 years of mismanagement by saying “Covid” and “Ukraine” .. other counties have had to deal with this yet we are the ones with record homelessness, record poverty, huge backlogs in the courts, worst access to dentistry, worse pensions in Europe, and shit in the rivers

x.com/jonathanpienews/status/1808078089370349656?s=46&t=YMPmXqLoBYNx7uq_BhXnag

Sometimes the whole point is to vote against what you DON'T want. I've voted for a unionist in N Ireland, not because I want to, but because my MP is an abstentionist and it's just an affront to the community he represents when the country is in such a woeful state. So don't feel guilty, I don't.

There's no 'if'

Labour will inherit an already ruined country. The Tories main achievements have been to hugely increase the number of food banks, increase the numbers of children in poverty, increase NHS waiting lists, and funnel huge amounts of public money to their friends during the pandemic. 14 long years of failure. Thank God they will be voted out.

This. Not just counterproductive but intolerant. There is no one “right” political view or party

As much as I hate to say it to a Tory sympathiser, you shouldn't be embarrassed (choke!) if you honestly believe in at least some of their ideals.

However, anyone who thinks that Farage is a nice bloke....well....

If someone is old enough to enlist in the armed forces, they are old enough to vote.

I am out canvassing today for the Tories and I am also a local councillor. I quite understand your pov, my candidate is excellent, energetic and has done loads for th area. However if I had a poster in my window, I would get snide comments and certain neighbors would probably stop talking to me. I've had friends ghost me when they find out my political leanings, even after years of knowing me.

I now carry a personal safety alarm because of the abuse I've had on doorsteps-a voter called me a fucking cunt and a dirty little bitch and chased me down the road screaming obscenities the other day because of Gaza. I have genuinely feared for my safety on some occasions and I no longer hold constituency surgeries because of the safety risk. I really worry about the absolute contempt that the population seem to have for politicians, the majority of whom are decent people trying to do some good. I would never stand as an MP and it's certainly part of the reason that we have so few women MPs. The lack of tolerance, especially from the hard left is frightening.

So 100% YANBU

Amen to that 👏🏻👏🏻

lifelong Labour voter here. But for the first time ever am considering voting Tory. Mainly because they're the only party which seem clear about protecting vulnerable women. But it's really, really hard...

Do you realise the irony of referring to people who disagree with you 'intolerant lefties'? Not coming across as too open minded yourself there.

Many many countries have these issues. The Labour Party is right that the financial crisis that brought down the last government was not entirely within their control. Same as the Ukraine war and Covid was not within the control of the current administration.

people need to grow up a bit. Life isn’t simple

Yes, this. People who try to shame or insult people for voting in a way they disagree with are either anti-democratic or intellectually compromised.

Or perhaps both.

The shy Tory vote has always been a thing OP, especially in the working classes. You're not alone!

Except the economy had not been laid waste by Labour. There was a global banking crisis in 2008. By 2010 the economy was recovering but the Coalition chose to impose austerity rather than go for growth and started the decline in public services which the Tories then continued.