Voting Conservative or Labour?

[StrawPollTime]

So we actually have a date for the General Election!

If you're planning to vote Conservative or planning to vote Labour... then which? Please click to indicate:

YABU = I'm planning to vote Conservative

YANBU = I'm planning to vote Labour

(Sorry, I do know that other parties are available and other voting choices are possible. Obviously lots of people won't be voting either Conservative or Labour. But AIBU only has a 2-way voting option, and I wanted to get a quick snapshot of support for the 2 biggest parties. So this is a poll for people who are planning to vote for one of those two.)

Yeah ok thanks for the ownership update... are you saying you're a Tory then?

Yes, there are plenty of Tories who own a 20 year old battered estate and don't show off etc.

I was just broadly characterising how those folk who newly get a foothold in something good, sometimes struggle to vote for any party other than those who seem to fit their new identity profile.

I really don't understand why anyone would vote Tory in this election, because that means they are happy with the status quo, that they think that the UK is doing well and some more of that, please. It's mind boggling.
As someone has already said, I really really hope Reece-Mogg has a Portillo moment. I don't work on Fridays so I will be up all night watching the votes get counted.

I really don't understand why anyone would vote Tory in this election, because that means they are happy with the status quo, that they think that the UK is doing well and some more of that, please. It's mind boggling.

I agree @thelifeofbriancant I really do. How could anyone vote for more?

But you'll find thousands of people will. The Tories will still return seats in areas where people feel they are the closest fit to their lifestyle , their aspirations, their values.

How satisfying would that be!

My current MP is Penny Mourdant and it would be a sweet day to see the back her too

For the first time ever I'm thinking of spoiling my ballot paper.

I'm in a very safe labour seat. I was hoping the Rejoin EU party might stand someone or a good independent will stand just so I feel I have somewhere to put my vote as my local Labour candidate definitely doesn't need it. I would never vote Tory and last election out local Lib dem candidate was useless.

I put YANBU, but actually will be voting LibDem for tactical and local reasons. But if I lived somewhere else, it would probably be Labour. Certainly not Tory!

Labour.

Two reasons -

I'm a life long Labour supporter - grew up in the South Wales valleys, remember the miners strike etc. and though I don't have that much faith in Labour now I think they're still the better option.

The first past the post system. I'd love PR, but that's not what we have. Labour is the best option to get our Tory MP out. Can't stand him, both from his voting record and the stuff we get posted to us as constituents (constant whingeing that our wealthier overall area gets less funding than deprived areas like where I grew up). Really hoped he'd get voted out last time after a bit of a scandal, but nope he won by around 3,500 votes.

They’ve had their day my vote is going to Richard Tice

Pennyapplesgalore · Today 11:29
They’ve had their day my vote is going to Richard Tice”

Why? Things not bad enough for you yet?

constant attacks on the disabled

Agree things are bad for the disabled now, but will it be any different or better for them under Labour? It wasn't last time.

What are Labour planning to do for the disabled? I haven't been following politics too closely so I might've missed it but I don't think I've seen them say anything about people unable to work (yes, I know many disabled people can and do work, but lots can't).

This is a topic that I’m following closely and no, Labour haven’t and continue to not show any care for disability support/benefits or investment in special needs education which in turn means they don’t seem to have any interest in the mainstream education system. People demanding change (and god knows that is something most of us want) won’t find many of their personal interests reflected in Labour policies.

No and labour don’t seem to know what a woman is either, so it’s hugely worrryinf if they get in how women will be impacted with men in their spaces, our rights diminished.

I think thr vote result will be a concern. With parties like reform getting way more votes than expected. Not enough to be major obvs, but enough to make people realise people aren’t happy with either,

Our MP is Miriam cates , the first Tory in a long time. It’s a former mining area so I was shocked when she won. I will be voting labour and I am pretty sure this seat will be red next time. I am not excited by Starmer as PM but we need to get rid of the nasty party

I don’t generally agree. PIP is now impossible to get. Under the last government, the DWP had said that fraud rate for DLA was 0.5% but the Tories have been hell bent on making disabled people’s lives a misery since they got into power. And they have been the cause of a lot of deaths. There was no need for them to change it - they did so to be unkind to disabled people.

It’s not so much what they will do, it’s what they won’t do. The current government has brainwashed everyone to think that it’s ok to call disabled people benefit scroungers.

Neither - unless you want more of the same.

@Dollenganger333 I agree things are currently bad, but what I want to know is what Labour intend to do regarding those issues?

As I said, I think they will stop with this rhetoric which demonises disabled people.

@thelifeofbriancant

"I really don't understand why anyone would vote Tory in this election, because that means they are happy with the status quo, that they think that the UK is doing well and some more of that, please. It's mind boggling."

I'm certainly not a Tory supporter but I guess an alternative way of looking at it is that someone might consider voting Tory not because whilst they are definitely happy with the status quo and want more of the same but that they fear that the situation would become much worse under Labour.

I despair at what is on offer from all parties and given the state of the economy/ outlook/ Govt debt I can't see any party being able to do much to improve the situation.

I was doorknocking for Labour in the last election. There was a massive split by age re voting intentions. Family homes with children- almost unanimously were going to vote for Labour. Older people- well, a lot of them wouldn't say, but the frosty reception told you they weren't Labour supporters. This is backed up by voter intention/ exit polls when you break them down by age.

So, given that Mumsnet is majority women of child rearing age, it's no surprise that it leans Labour.

I don’t understand how anyone can vote for a party who cheered when nurses failed to get a pay rise. Or who described homelessness as a lifestyle choice. in addition;

Closed 600 police stations
Closed 800 public libraries
Closed 1300 children's centres
Cut council funding by 50%
Extra 600,000 kids in poverty
Extra 5 million people on the NHS waiting list
Highest tax burden in 70 years
1000% increase in food bank usage

I get that but was the last Labour government chaotic ? I was an adult from halfway through Thatcher’s term (mid 80s) and I remember New Labour actually being pretty competent and a breath of fresh air. They tried to build up the country’s infrastructure which had been thoroughly neglected under the tories, they tried to improve the everyday lives of ordinary people. Lots of positive things to remember so why on earth would things be worse this time ? Sometimes I think Brits are taken in by a plummy accent and a flash suit….I think most people are aware the UK is in a state and know it will be no easy fix.

Sometimes I think Brits are taken in by a plummy accent and a flash suit

Yes Tony Blair is a good example (although imo his suits weren't anything special).

I don't think things were better under New Labour. The demonisation of the disabled began then, they oversaw a massive house price inflation, and they set up a system where the low waged needed to rely on benefits top-ups to get by.

That doesn't mean I think things are any better now.
Hobson's Choice.

However although I'm not convinced anything will get better, especially for the more vulnerable, under a new Labour government I'll remain hopeful it will.

Previous to the last Labour government introducing a minimum wage and tax credits, employers could pay what they wanted. Schnews used to have a "crap job of the week " section that was usually an advert for something like a security guard in an ex mining town - "£2 per hour, must have own Alsatian" kind of thing.

Thatcher's Britain wasn't some paradise of decent wages- a lot of people lived in extreme poverty.

Because Labour might make it worse, apparently