Socially Conservative & Economically liberal - who to vote for?

[MamaLlama123]

i don't usually vote however I feel that i should. Question to mumsnet - who should i vote for?

Things that i feel strongly about..

• I would support a government that cared genuinely for public services/ healthcare/ schools (i don't feel that this is the case with conservatives in recent years). i would be particularly in favour of Policies that reduce child poverty e.g. widening access to free school meals/ increasing 2child benefit cap. i think with these views i would be classed as economically liberal
• I am not against raising taxes to pay for above. i would support more taxes on wealth as opposed to income

I believe i am more socially conservative

• I am a SAHM and consider myself lucky to have this choice. i believe that all women should be supported in their choices to work/ use nurseries as well as those mothers who wish to stay at home when children are young. (I find recent government policies re nursery free hours are great for women who want to work however not great for women who wish to be supported in their choice to care for their children at home)
• I have GC views in line with people such as JK rowling, kathleen stock, Mary Harrington.
• I believe many adults today are having less/ no children due to economic factors. i would support policy that enabled young couples to feel more confident in starting a family/ buying house etc

• I believe very strongly in free speech and i am against cancel culture.

I tend to sit on the fence/ seem central when having conversations with people (however privately i hold views that may seem quite extreme e.g. GC feminist/ SAHM views above). i find aspects of radical politics off putting e.g. Greta Thunberg style.


I have always been told that it is important to use your vote! that women fought for the right to vote etc..

however i find no party appealing. is there any party worth voting for if in my shoes? I am not interested in people agreeing/ disagreeing with my views but just which political party would best represent what i care about?

[Zone2NorthLondon]

on balance I’d say vote labour if you genuinely care about public service

I do believe people should vote,even if to write your comment on ballot paper
all comments are read and recorded
Greta has minimal impact upon uk politics I’d not say it’s a reason not to vote.
You are not compelled to use nursery not sure what issue is?

[dubsie]

Vote Labour because it's really the only choice that makes any sense.

We need public services and that means fundamentally funding them. Cutting national insurance is a terrible idea looking at the state of public pensions and social care.

You cut taxes when you can but only when the sun shines and we are in a strong position. You don't cut taxes to boost electoral support.... highly irresponsible and will cause immense harm

[TizerorFizz]

I would take on board everything the IFS is saying today. There are no sunny uplands to support all your wants. It’s impossible. You cannot keep taxing everyone. What tax do you pay? Nothing from no income I guess.Like most you have a list of wants.

It is inevitable we won’t get the public services we are used to and we treat the elderly with kid gloves: the rich elderly could pay NI to help. We can keep attacking the rich but what is now considered rich? Many of the very rich will go. It’s a balance and we need to stop being so vindictive against people who own companies, employ others and do well. In the end, who will bother?

[Hibernatalie]

From your views sounds like Labour.

[SomersetTart]

I feel exactly the same as you on the points that you feel strongly about.
I am going to vote Labour.

The last time Labour were in power they introduced a range of policies and services to help women and young families in a way we've not seen since.

[TizerorFizz]

You are in a totally different situation now! Labour came in when the country was doing well enough snd continued to do well. Now it’s the opposite. We have had huge costs with Covid, Ukraine fall out and various other fiscal disasters and Labour won’t have the money either! They have to get budgets through the OBR too! They will scale back and it won’t be jam tomorrow.

[MuggedByReality]

No Party is ever going to 100% reflect your views on every major issue, so you have to decide which issues are your ‘red lines’ and which are your ‘nice to haves’ and decide who to vote for on that basis.

For example, if you think the environment is the most important issue, you would probably vote Lib Dem or Green. But what if you are also gender critical? You have to choose what matters most.

[donquixotedelamancha]

14 years of awful ecconomic policy leading to stagnation and on/off recession. We've got near record high taxation, unprecedented low spending on public services, record levels of waste and fraud and a government that literally cannot make decisions.

I don't see there is any choice except Labour. I'm not thrilled by everything about them but we just can't cope with another 5 years of this.

[donquixotedelamancha]

Labour came in when the country was doing well enough snd continued to do well. Now it’s the opposite.

There was a big recession under major. Things were picking up a bit but ensuring that recovery and turning it into more than a decade of stability and growth deserves recognition.

The Tories came in during a short worldwide recession caused by the banking crisis. They managed to completely prevent the recovery and stall the economy.

You only need to look at how the Obama administration came out of that recession to see opposite policies having opposite effects.

[MuggedByReality]

Public services were certainly in a mess when Labour took over in 1997, just as they are now. But the crucial difference is that the economy was doing well, because John Major & Ken Clarke had enacted sensible economic policies over the 5 years following the ERM fiasco in 1992. There was also a real feel-good factor, both economically & culturally ( Britpop, Euro 96 etc etc). And we were in the EU, of course, with all the massive benefits of being full members of the single market.

The contrast with today when the entire country is on its knees, could not be greater.

[MamaLlama123]

Yes i agree with most posts above re voting labour when it comes to the economy

I do however have very socially conservative views (I agree personally with catholic social teaching).

however i am very liberal in the sense that i believe in free speech/ not pushing my own views on others and i avoid judging others where i can.

Taking an issue such as abortion, I don't expect abortion to ever be criminalised. However i understand that finances is a big reason that women choose abortion (e.g. abortions have increased since the introduction of 2child benefit cap). Family focused government policy is important to me for these kinds of reasons. i believe that government targeting support towards children/ families will be a step forward towards helping women to feel more confident in having children they wish to have/ avoiding abortions

if in theory i was to join the labour party, would my views be respected? or would i be silenced (i hate cancel culture)

I have listened a bit to an MP called Miriam cates (she is conservative). she stands for a lot of what i care about and i agree with lots of her ideas. i like that the conservative party has an MP that i feel represents my views. does anyone know if the labour party has any MP who i might like to listen to?

Thank you all for your posts.

I appreciate a lot that people are not judging my views as i recognise that they are quite extreme compared to current society norms. thank you!

[dubsie]

I'm catholic, Cant think of it being political at all. Its a religion and if anything doesnt promote free thinking or speech.

The last Labour government gave us a lot more than the conservatives have done. We've had Cameron, May, Boris ,Truss and Sunak....all have done immense damage to us socially or internationally.

Just look at workers rights, the treatment of the working classes under this government has been shocking.

Look at the NHS, schools, police, transport....it's all gone down hill under this governments watch.

Labour have got a mountain to climb and they ain't perfect but they are a country mile better than this bunch. Vote reform and you'll regret it because they are the worst of the Tories and won't honour a single promise ...you'll end up being run by garage and his goons.

[BIossomtoes]

They have to get budgets through the OBR too!

If that’s true Liz Truss didn’t get the memo.

To be honest @MamaLlama123 you want the moon on a stick, just cherrypicking the best bits from each party. At the end of the day you have to prioritise your wish list and vote for whichever party’s closest. For me it’s a no brainer, I honestly don’t understand anyone who would vote Tory now, it’s an act of national self harm.

[PoppingTomorrow]

i believe that government targeting support towards children/ families will be a step forward towards helping women to feel more confident in having children they wish to have/ avoiding abortions

The Conservatives are not going to do anything to support early years nor are they promising to do so. You're looking fit Lanour type policies like Sure Start and free breakfast clubs

[TizerorFizz]

Sure Stsrt also didn’t target the DC it needed to target. We used to have an early start for state nursery education for dc that came through SS or via health visitors. I would support greater intervention for these dc but parents cannot expect everything. I’m more inclined to support families and less so the elderly who have benefitted from triple lock pensions, tax relief on mortgages back in the day, numerous universal “benefits” that are not means tested and don’t pay NI. Plus gold plated pensions if state employed.

I believe younger people need more help but the grey vote matters everywhere. We have an aging population being supported by younger people. We cannot sort out social care for the elderly or housing for younger people. The working population doesn’t earn enough to pay for what everyone wants. It’s never ending and anyone who thinks the IFS is wrong, is bonkers. Labour will have virtually no wriggle room either. Or they risk doing a Truss to pay for their spending excesses. No one can afford it! We could if we get more productive again. No state run organisation is productive so some reform is necessary!

[Pushtart]

Based on what you've written you most closely align with Labour right now, although you might not like all their policies, they've softened their stance on the GC feminist issue you mention I believe. But the Tory party right now wouldn't in my view represent your views well, and aren't right now. Its hard, no party truly represents me either, but Labour is closest to what I think and want to support.

[cocavino]

Tbh I don't think you sound like you have particularly conservative values. I'm very leftist and I agree with everything you have said (except maybe on abortion).

I can't see the conservatives providing the social services and support that you want.

[dubsie]

Defeatist talk, look at Norway....high tax massive social returns...

[MyopicBunny]

@SomersetTart

I feel exactly the same as you on the points that you feel strongly about.
I am going to vote Labour.

The last time Labour were in power they introduced a range of policies and services to help women and young families in a way we've not seen since.

I agree with this.

[MyopicBunny]

Sure Stsrt also didn’t target the DC it needed to target.

It did where I live!!

[pleasehelpwi3]

Labour- you care about public services. It's a broad church, but less interested in what people call 'woke' ideas than under Corbyn.
Remember if you don't vote, you're in effect voting for the Conservatives to have another five years.

[User135644]

I believe in checks and balances when it comes to politics. Social liberalism has gone too far in recent times. When did we last have a socially conservative government? I think a lot of the culture war stuff is a pushback against some of the madness.

Economically the neoliberalism of Thatcher and Reagan (largely continued under Blair, Clinton and Bush) collapsed in 2008 with the crash and nobody seems to know what to replace it with.

[pointythings]

@User135644 I wouldn't be calling for more social conservatism given what that's doing in the US - abortion bans, book bans, erosion of LGBT rights, reproductive freedoms including contraception under threat - social conservatism is not a force for good.

[User135644]

@pointythings

@User135644 I wouldn't be calling for more social conservatism given what that's doing in the US - abortion bans, book bans, erosion of LGBT rights, reproductive freedoms including contraception under threat - social conservatism is not a force for good.

That's what I'm saying about checks and balances.

On the Liberal side you've got the trans madness and castrating kids, on the conversative side you've got the ban abortion nuts and homophobes and racists. America isn't just one country it's 50 states and many of them are hugely different.

I'd say UK had a good balance but the woke stuff has just got ridiculous