so now youve had chance to think about it....

[ThatVikRinA22]

are you happy with how you voted?

i currently work in the nhs and am about to go into policing within the next month. 2 areas that are about to get axed massively.

are you happy with how you voted? i am the only one in my household and in my workplace who feels i was true to my beliefs and is still happy with how i voted.

are you still happy or do you think your were duped?

i voted labour and i would again.

That's true Giddy and i think also explains why they seem to have given up so much in terms of their policies- to prove PR / coalitions can work

I guess why I feel betrayed is that every policy of theiors I liked has gone by the wayside and what ahs emerged in no way represents the sort of coalition we'd get if it happened.

It's something that was discussed on another thread but LD seem to have lost teir identity; if you equate it with a marriage- both aprtners still ahve a public individual eprsona, viewpoint; anything else tends to be regarded as verging on the abusive

Yet where are LD? Where is the voice of dissent? There must be one- i;ve read Vince's autobio; unless he's had a personality transplant he must be betraying a lot of his beliefs- remember he started political life as a Labour Councillor
Nick Clegg- he looks as if has been crying half the time!

I am not surpised we got this (though wish we had not) but am surprised at the totality with which LD's has been handed to the Tories

I voted Lib Dem and am appauled.

I was going to vote Tory, but in the end couldn't bring myself to do it and voted Lib Dem (as usual). I am also appalled. This Vince Cable is a short-sighted idiot (to put it politely). Will never vote Lib Dem again.

voted labour and happy with that

I voted LibDem, having been a Labour voter up till now. I'm kind of unhappy although most of the options were bad IMO. I'd decided I simply could not vote Labour again as they were becoming more and more mad. Didn't much want the Tories either so went with the LibDem surge in the hope that either they would get in outright (I know, I know ) or they would get a strong enough vote to form a coalition with Labour and that would force a change of leadership and rein in some of the worst Mandelsonisms. But then, that's how the system works - I honestly voted for what I thought at the time was the best choice. Hindsight is 20/20.

Annoyingly, it made no difference for me anyway since my seat is ultra-safe Labour, and I knew that ahead of time.

What about these 2 year degrees though? In my day, a two year degree was called a HND and was not the same as doing a degree. Plus the graduate tax - that is clearly such a good idea when all the talented high earners will simply relocate to the states, Australia, New Zealand or elsewhere in Europe. I am shocked, I always thought Lib Dems supported higher eduaction (or am I naive?). When I was a student (early '90s), they were the only ones who supported retaining the student grant.

Sorry, rant over...

Well, one would get the idea that the Lib Dems supported higher education as they campaigned against tuition fees in the 2005 general election and over turned majorities in several university towns (bristol, cambridge and a few others).

There are so many flaws re: graduate tax. Like unseen says, graduates won't be liable to pay tax if out of the jurisdiction, although would like to think that most graduates wouldn't leave the country for the sake of tax (Boston Tea Party anyone?)

And what about EU students? They won't have to pay a tax, so would they simply pay tuition fees? International students? What happens if one never earns more than the threshold keeping in mind that over a career, income can be variable. How long is one liable for the tax?

I am also utterly flabbergasted by the people who paint Labour as the bad guys and sing the praises of the Tories - does no one remember the 1980's/early 1990's at all?

Not much paint is needed for the Prince of Darkness and the band of ghouls. Some of us remember Plunkett, a machine gun Kelly type figure. Five more years of the progressives and the Stasis may have seemed tame.

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6057528.stm

I voted Lib Dem in a Labour safe seat and Labour held the seat.

I'm less unhappy with the coalition than I would have been with any other realistic outcome. I don't think that as a group any political party can be 'trusted' so it doesn't suprise me that the Tories/Coalition need watching on cuts just as much as Labour needed watching on civil liberties.

I hope that people in general and not just those directly affected by proposed legislation write to MPs, respond to consultations and support campaigns to show that some things (like making things more difficult for families dealing with disabilities or singling out rape as the only crime where the law is changed to seemingly imply that the victim isn't to be believed and the defendant deserves extra special protection) won't be accepted, or that other legislation needs to be altered to work properly, and that the coalition listen better than Labour were doing in their last term and back down when a large proportion of the public/those affected say something isn't the right path to take.

We owe it all to that "bigot" Mrs. Duffy of Rochdale, she spared us all.

I voted LibDem to try to stop the Tory candidate getting in, and he did anyway. Even had the LibDem candidate got in, I wouldn't have felt that my vote had counted. This seems like a Tory government rather than a coalition and although I acknowledge huge cuts needed to be made in public spending, I am shocked at the choices that have been made as to where and how to make those cuts, not least in education and the NHS.

If I were to do it again I would vote Green.

For those who voted Lib Dem and regret it now, do you at least think it's a good thing that your vote helped the Lib Dems get into government and so gain them credibility? For many voters the issue with the Lib Dems was always "no track record in government" which now shouldn't be so much of an issue. I suppose there is probably a difference between "true" and "tactical" Lib Dem voters on this though.

I think how the parties reposition themselves over this parliament will be interesting. I personally expect the Lib Dems to re-take their traditional middle ground and for Labour to push out further to the left.

I voted labour & absolutely would again. Don't regret my vote for a second.

As our previous libdem MP stepped down before the election (I believe as a result of his increasing disillusionment with parliament)I voted green rather than lib dem when Nick Clegg said proportional representation was not a condition of working with the Tories. Still have a libdem MP but am very glad I didn't help to elect him as having been broadly libdem since '97 will vote labour next time as this is a three way marginal and I cannot believe just how bad the tories actually are. I'd forgotten how much I really hated them. OK there are financial issues but they should be taxing higher earners more (I am one and would much rather pay more tax than pay for my mil to actually meet her living costs on a basic pension - her costs are only food, heating, phone etc but the numbers just don't add up). I fear we are also heading for double dip recession if the cuts proposed go ahead. it's madness.

Labour ruined this country and those moaning about the Tory cuts are forgetting they have no choice. We spent too much under Labour and now is the time we have to pay it back.

It's like having an ex-h who left you with a mountain of debts after buying all the latest gadgets and now you have to pay it back, the kids blaming you because when dad was around, they could buy a new xbox game every week whilst you had to sell the xbox to pay the interest on the loans!

LAbour socialised are idealists who find it easy to spend someone else's money. Only someone else now wants his cash back.

Lib Dem - not happy next time i will make a tactical vote and go Labour.

Lib Dem - not happy next time i will make a tactical vote and go Labour.

What is the point of this thread?
We have five year(ish) Governments so any Prime Minister only has a certain length of time in which to achieve anything. You do the nasty-but-necessary stuff when you are newly elected and leave the popularist stuff until just before an election. Dave is doing whatever he can now to get the economy humming in four years' time.
It's the way the world works.

I voted labour, even in a tory safe as houses seat - this election has encouraged me to get more involved in politics and make sure that its not only my vote that counts.

I am already fed up with the CON a lition. As a labour voter I can understand liberal and conservative idealogies, but feel we have got neither. We have a load of policies that don't match manafestos.

vicarinatutu - are you inferring that you think the current govt are all right muppets?

I do wonder about some of their recent decisions. For instance, taking away free travel for the elderly will save such a miniscule amount of money, and really impact on the lives of so many who need to stay as connected as possible as a classically 'lonely' time of their lives.

I was on a plane and arrived into Heathrow the morning following the election, which might be a good thing as I was really struggling to know who to vote for.