To think that it is difficult not to question the judgement of people who say I could never vote 'x'. (Replace 'x' with any political affiliation)

[Floatingvoternolandinsight]

Unless I have missed something, the main parties have all shown themselves to have questionable integrity and morals.

Labour have been proved to be anti-Semitic by the EHRC. I could never vote for them. It shocks me that people are willing to support an anti-Semitic party.
before there is a “what about” there has been no other party judged racist by an independent body other than the BNP and I hope no one would vote for them or their ilk.

Northerner here, who grew up in a post industrial town that was hammered in the 80s and 90s by Thatcher. Hell would have to freeze over before I voted Tory.

there’s a saying that I think sums things up: only the very rich and very stupid vote Tory. Check your bank balance to see which one of those you are. Why anyone ‘ordinary’ would vote for that bunch is beyond me. Cummings was right about one thing, Tories hold ordinary folk in absolute contempt.

That said, Labour under Starmer appear to be establishment friendly as well. Nowt will change for the better with them in charge. Bit of tinkering around the edges, but the cap doffing will continue and no privileges for the already very wealthy will be lost.

I'm a Floating Voter, roughly 50/50 between Labour and Conservative. I know what you mean OP and I don't get how anyone can say "I always vote -" when the Parties themselves change so much from year to year and the Country's situation is different from one election to the next.

I don't change - they do.

That's not what the op said.

They said "never vote" not "always vote". Two different things.

Yes, I think you're missing that politics is a spectrum and that most people vote based on their overall beliefs and morals not the behaviour of individual politicians.

I could never vote Tory because I consider a lot of their policies and beliefs amoral. Even if we assume all politicians are equally badly behaved or corrupt (which I don't believe is true), I'm still never going to vote for the party that has ethically unacceptable policies on top.

I would never vote Tory. The party never has and never will represent my personal interests or wider beliefs. It exists to oppose them, in many cases.

That's just how it is. They are not trying to represent me and it would be foolish for me to believe otherwise.

When I say I would never vote Tory, what I mean is that I would not vote for any conservative party that I have seen in my (not insignificant) lifetime, and I can't imagine that the party will have a big enough change at grassroots level for that to change.

It is possible, but it's highly, highly unlikely.

Op, can you tell me what you think is questionable about my position?

I think people should read the information about very party and vote according to what the current party stands for and what they promise.

Anyone too set in their thinking might vote for a party that will cause huge societal harms with their policies.
Anyone not thinking might vote like it's some sort of popularity contest and might vote for the most charismatic leader without knowing what he / she stands for.

I also think a lot of people just vote against a party rather than researching and voting for a party that aligns with their views.

Another Scot here who will never vote SNP.
In which informed and analytical ways would you question my judgement @Floatingvoternolandinsight ?
Do you have experience of living under the SNP? Do you know anything about how much gov't funding goes to the Central Belt to the detriment of other areas?

I agree 100% with the pp who said that you've missed a lot.

I see where you're coming from but it's which lot are the most acceptable to you. If you don't want to feel as if you've been cheated make sure you educate yourself, read well and don't get hooked into the extremes in the media.

The Tories have left a shambles for whoever comes in next to clear up (including themselves)

I agree that there's far too much polarised thinking, and inability to at least try to understand other people's points of view (even if you strongly disagree with them) when it comes to politics. Political parties change quite a lot over time and there is no harm in being open-minded. Many previously staunch Labour or Conservative voters have turned away from their party of choice.

I think you are missing something.

I could never vote Tory because they don’t represent my core values, nor are they ever likely to.

The corruption and their callous policies (I can even recall being appalled by their rhetoric when I was a kid, I’m now 49) were enough, but the way they treated medics with supplying missing and/or crap PPE during the pandemic just so they could award the contracts to donors made it personal. My husband lost two colleagues to Covid and it could’ve been him. It’s gone from dislike to absolute hate.

Yeah I agree with you, my dad made me read manifestos before I cast my first ever vote and expected me to have a good reason for how I vote, he didn’t tell me who to vote for, just tried to make sure I knew what I was voting for. I’m a floating voter though and not particularly ideological.

How I vote may also change based on my personal circumstances, or geopolitics etc. different parties for different seasons and all that.

Yes, you're missing something.

For example I’ve voted Green in the past, their current position on women's rights would mean that I wouldn’t be able to vote for them in the upcoming general election. But it doesn’t mean I would never vote for them in the future.

For a lot of people it's tribalism. Their political party is like their football team- they would never change.

For others they have a belief of what a party stands for (regardless of whether this is actually supported by the evidence). For example some people blame all of their current financial difficulties on labour and are panicking about what happens if labour wins, even though the Tories have been in power for 14 years.

Some people wouldn't switch their vote because they support the underlying basis of that party, such as those who believe in reducing inequality generally supporting labour or those who don't care about others voting Tory.

The ones I have least respect for are those who base their reasoning on a single relatively inconsequential issue such as vat on private education, or whether labour know what a woman is (ignoring the fact that the Tories don't care about women anyway).

It beggars belief that so many people vote Tory in this country, fair enough for the independently wealthy but for anyone who relies on the NHS, state education, a functioning justice system and policing service, public transport etc, why on earth vote for a party that wants to squeeze money from every public service to enrich their own cronies?

I believe in the common good.
I will never vote right wing. The Tories have been in power for 32 years of my life and all they have done is make the country more inequitable. I hate what they stand for.
I have voted Labour, LD and Green for various reasons but will always tactically vote to oust a Tory (successfully twice!)

I am in Ireland, I will never vote Aontú, which formed to remove abortion. Most of the rest of the parties have all revolutionary origins. Though their memories seem to get cloudy 😕.

I agree with some agendas of parties but execution is so varied. From excellent financial supports put in place during COVID, using common sense to getting schools online. To great idea of funding childcare but makeing the process a bureaucratic nightmare.

YABU I don't believe independence is right for Scotland (economic car crash!) So I'm never going to vote for a party who has it as their beliefs. Scottish greens are also very different from their English colleagues and frankly a lot of their policies are terrifying and also have been failed money pits or complete lack of understanding for rural communities.

As an EU national whom have lived in the UK for 34 years and paid taxes those years. Once I get my citizenship (in process but won't be before next election sadly) I can safely say I will never vote UKIP

I'm unlikely to ever vote Labour but it is not impossible. Just unlikely.

Seeing your update on main political parties I somewhat get your point, for me I would not vote Conservative in a main election. But I have in a local when there were noone standing for the party I support knowing that local mp was good.

When you ask "what are you missing" you are missing the 4 main. Parties in your original post 😀

Seriously you are missing the fact that some parties have policies people feel strongly against. So strongly they would feel they were betraying their own morals through voting for them.

Edited to correct spelling mistakes

Could never vote Tory. Could vote Plaid in the right circumstances and have done so in Senedd elections with my second vote, but in my constituency generally voting Plaid or Lib Dem just helps the Tories.

Basic political literacy, it sounds like.

I'd rather set my ballot paper on fire than vote for the Scottish Greens. They're ridiculous flat earthers (to be fair, that's a bit unfair to flat earthers) determined to quash any kind of plurarity of views and who have shown themselves utterly incompetent on all and any environmental action. The mouldering, unused DRS units across the country stand as a testament to that.

YABU. Political parties have a central ethos around which they operate. So generally conservatives believe in small state, self reliance, and the importance or the individual & family over the state whereas Labour believe in the importance of larger state intervention because not everyone gets an equal start in life; ypur ability to be self reliant/have family support will differ depending on your circumstances

if your fundamental personal beliefs don't align with a parties central principles, you’re not going to vote for them.