Who would you vote for in a general election tomorrow?

[maybegoingcrazy]

If the next GE was tomorrow, who would you vote for? I've been unimpressed at decisions made by Labour since they came in and just don't have much faith in their long term plans. I've never even considered voting Tory, but also don't really see Labour doing much more to improve things for anyone. Will be interesting to see how things are in a few years time when the next GE comes round. Am I missing some really good stuff Labour are implementing?

LibDem for my sitting MP. But in the country as a whole, my biggest priority is to defeat Reform.

@Katie717

"I’d vote for whoever has the best chance to remove Labour from Parliament.

They are quite simply appalling and will destroy the country as they are economically illiterate.

Im genuinely astounded that a single well informed person would ever vote for Labour."

To be fair Starmer and Reeves are trying to do their best in an incredibly difficult situation. She can't raise taxes because that will slow the economy down further, she can't raise debt because the bond markets are already nervous and any further debt increases will trigger a "Liz Truss and then some" implosion.

Which just leaves spending cuts which as we have just seen with the backbench rebellion is proving impossible.

The Conservatives to be fair wouldn't be doing anything much different. The Lib Dem's don't even have an economic policy to fix this. The Greens don't even know what economics is.

Which leaves Reform who have no detailed funding plan and at the last election would have seen debt rise even higher which wouldn't even get out of the gates before the debt markets down graded them to level "fuck wit".

That said I think they might just win the next election because voters are desperate for "change " from the same old Labour and Conservative duopoly.

While I think they are not fit for government, TBF I do think the Conservatives would be doing things differently particularly re taxation. For a start, employment figures were rising under the Conservatives rather than decreasing as they are now which is mainly due to the rise in Employers NI and increased costs of employing people. They wouldn't have fiddled with the APR and BPR. They wouldn't have taxed education. The non dom policy has scared off the millionaires who pay high taxes and is now being rowed back on. All these idealogical Labour policies have or will cost the tax payer money rather than raise it.

In principle, Labour, but... I am losing faith on Keir Starmer. Not in Labour themselves, but on Keir.
I wish they do get a new leader by next elections. Someone who can keep to a statement for more than one day.
Also, if Reeves was crying in Parliament due to how Keir is treating her, then I really want him gone and fully out of politics. Now.
I would really like a clarification on that. Her eyes were really puffy like she had not slept, so it may have been a family issue. And then, she should have not been working that day. And Starmer should see that abd should send her home. And if she was feeling this way because of whatever way he is treating her..... well, then there is very little else to say. She has stood by him and stuck to their objectives and it was and is really hard. We are an effing sinking ship and he has a team chucking water out. So he should appreciate it. But if he does not, then he needs to leave Labour. He has moved the party well to the centre, almost right to be honest. And they do not want to be dragged that far right... he may need to find himself another party?

I agree with you in essence. Keir Starmer appointed her. He is leader of the government. He should bear the responsibility for both those things. If she's been overpromoted and the stress has caused this, then he should have done his due diligence and not appointed her in the first place (or support her properly now.)

@Quirkswork I am not liking his general vibe. I know we have no money, so we are rather stuck with things like the winter fuel, the child benefit and PIP, amongst many many many others. But he is not showing a clear direction. He is fighting his own party at times, instead of leading it. The island of strangers was a slap on the face, for example. Did he get his speech mixed up with Farage's or something? He needs to be a proper leader, or bugger off. We cannot afford another self serving, uncaring, manipulative, arsehole in charge. We had enough of those, thanks.
I think he needs a reminder that he is in Labour, not the tories. And we can judge him by his treatment of his team. Plus, get a grip of what matters, what is of real importance.

Starmer (and Reeves) was so keen to trumpet Labour having the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer, he decided against putting someone qualified and competent in the post. She's neither, just box ticking by Labour.

Given that Labour were out of power for 14 years and that most politicians now are career politicians (rather than previously having a real job) they were always going to struggle on finding capable and experienced Ministers.

That said Rachel Reeves at least understands the basic principles that she can't raise debt further (unlike Liz Truss) and that she can't raise taxation without further slowing economic growth. The problem is that if she resigns then it's a high risk that she will be replaced with someone far far less capable.

How terrifying that we could potentially have a Chancellor in place that has no real experience or knowledge of economics. I suppose however much RR lied on her CV she does have some experience in the right area.

It’s hardly terrifying when you look back at the chancellors of the past. Very few of them have that experience.

Yes true. I did think that. Anyone who gets that gig with no relevant experience must have nerves of steel. Hideous.

I voted Lib Dem last time, and would do so again. In my constituency it’s a choice between Tory and Lib Dem, and we’ve returned a Lib Dem MP at the last two elections, thank goodness.

I consider myself left wing, which Starmer’s Labour Party is not. Still, I’d rather them, or frankly any party, other than Reform. I think they’re despicable.

Reform are pretending to be something they're not. They're pretending to be a mainstream party - when really they're full of single-issue far right nutters.

That will hopefully change by 2029. It's early days. We need a centre right party to vote for if wanted. Obviously I would prefer to Conservatives to get their act together instead.

Reform

Reform.

If you're interested in the reality of what is happening about the illegal boats and asylum seekers/economic migrants (rather than the gaslighting happening) , this is worth a watch(Im hoping I have managed to copy it).

It's fairly terrifying, just to.warn everyone. And means Labour are out in 2029 I think.

@1dayatatime she didn't have to do anything we saw green shoots but she didn't have that courage
She had to come in with all guns blazing like a trail blazer to show she was doing something

She has done something.

To be honest there is such a shallow pool of talent in the PLP, Starmer has had to choose Ministers with little experience. I had thought Yvette Cooper would be a competent choice for Home Secretary but she's fairly invisible in one of the big offices of State. Lammy is awful as FS but are there any promising replacements?

No. Agreed. Who competent would be a politician these days though, with the amount of abuse they get. Even the politicians abuse each other (I'm looking at you, Ange).

I would say reform, but still feel it’s a wasted vote, I might have to say conservatives and I simply couldn’t bring myself to vote labour after the way they are treating business owners.

I would vote Labour again. They have restarted Home Start as Best Start - a true Labour policy with an eye to investing in the future - they need longer to make this happen and see results.

They have been too keen to try and impress us with their financially responsible credentials though to the detriment of their true roots. The visual impact of this has not been good - they need a spin doctor!

Above all else Starmer is the only credible statesman we have on the international stage. He is negotiating the whole Trump situation and the volatility in the Middle East with calm and rationality - there is no other party or person able to do this.

People’s political views generally comprise of what benefits them and their local area the most. A persons background and life experience will have a massive influence on who they vote for and why.
Why people have to be so vile about other people’s choices, I don’t know. Until you have lived a persons life, walked in their shoes and understood why certain things matter to them, you have no right to call anyone “braindead/idiot/moron” just because their political leaning is different to your own.

If you aren’t emotionally intelligent enough to recognise this then you shouldn’t be allowed to vote at all.

So true.
Many people think that because they put a tick in a box it makes them a good and virtuous person. Which is tragic, really.

I can't get my head around why anyone would vote Reform. How can you look at Trump's America and think, 'yeah, I want some of that here'?

Heck, just look at how they're running councils. Putting 18 year olds in charge of child welfare services!