Has anyone else been forced to become Conservative after all of this?

[ponderingsoul]

Probably the wrong wording, but I'm curious - after always considering myself fairly left wing/ liberal and generally voting Labour (or tactically Lib Dem when I was in the SW), I no longer really consider them a valid option for me because of their gender views/ inability to take a view.

Has this happened to anyone else? Never thought I'd be a Tory, but now feel like I have no choice as this issue is so important to me.

As an American, a Native woman with a deep, everlasting love for our precious national parks and wildland, who believes in reproductive rights, and wants public services for our young and vulnerable to stop being so negligent... no, I'm nowhere near conservative, in my country there's a sense of self-preservation keeping me from siding with the people who've been the most open about shitting on my community. But now I feel like I have to choose between these things, and the safety of myself and other women, of vulnerable gnc, autistic, or other neurodivergent people, and the survival of the gay community. There are no SaNe, middle ground, sensible people in our public life. The left is misogynistic and deeply homophobic. The right is misogynistic and deeply homophobic.

I think many of us disillusioned in the US are looking to y'all for how you vote. You've been at the forefront of trans issues, then trans takeover, and now a mass peaking. The ladies of Terf Island have shown us how to fight back, and now that the more optimistic among us are thinking about rebuilding, we're looking to you as you navigate that process.

These are shower thoughts I've had about this thread, and after hitting the bong as one does before work in the am.

To be fair peaches isn't specifically advocating a Labour vote.
I also voted tactically peaches and so voted Green.

Voter turnout was down where I was standing.

Fits in with the people I met on the doorstep who said "I usually vote, but won't bother this time. I don't like any of them". Last time round the ward I was standing in was taken by independents, who did not particularly impress. This time the Conservatives were let down by people who said they would vote Tory in a GE but this time out planned to vote independent as a protest . (Mainly anti-Boris but unfortunately likely to be interpreted as anti Rishi and his more centrist policies.)

Are you at the count Needmore? How's it looking where you are?

Thanks for asking.

I did not attend as I am volunteering during the Coronation, and was on my feet yesterday from 7.00am till 7.00pm when it started pouring with rain. No result yet but turnout in the ward is down from around 33% to 28%.

Hence my argument that gender etc has left people not knowing who to vote for if they don't want to vote Conservative. (And at a Council level Private Eye provided several good reasons not to vote Conservative. Difficult to ask people to trust me that I would be different.)

I feel for you, but also appreciate the reminder that this is a global issue and we need to show solidarity. And that how we vote has wider repercussions.

Whilst there are some here that don’t think this is such a major issue, my oh is convinced it is so ridiculous it will pass soon - the luxury of a being a male, the safe ways of pushing back are primarily voting and funding legal cases. And of course talking amongst ourselves so we know there is more support than the tras would have us believe.

This thread has been useful for me. I am more left leaning than many in the UK Labour Party but that reminder that the impact of how we approach voting on this and the sneering bullying attempts to convince left leaning women they should vote anyone but conservative has convinced me.

LibDem has a chance of unseating the frankly repugnant local Conservative MP out next election. Spoiling my vote would be irresponsible when there’s a chance of a swing seat so I’ll be voting Conservative next election as I’m terrified of the impact a Labour government would have on women’s rights and each lost conservative seat makes that a little more likely.

When hell freezes over!

I spoilt my ballot in the end. I couldn’t bring myself to vote conservative and I will not vote labour again until they dramatically alter their stance on sex / gender. Felt like I had no good options.

Well done, all protest is worth it

That’s what I thought but Labour are suppressing our ability to speak, redefining the word women to centre males, we cannot trust them to not do worse to women’s rights.

This.

Agree.
I voted Conservative first time,
Dh voted labour and told me I was not thinking of other people. ( just 51% of the population not enough for him)
My 3 sons all came home and said they’d voted Conservative in support of Womens rights
Husband having a gin in the garden.
I just hope other parties sit up and think. Maybe spoiling the vote would have been better as councillors would have read why… Who knows.
Just need this madness to end

@TooBigForMyBoots

I lost. Not surprising as last time each independent got double the number of votes that each Conservative got. This time the margin was smaller and we increased our share of the vote by 5%, despite there being more candidates, and running on the back of a pretty shocking Tory administration.

We were the only ward in the large town where Tories increased their vote share. Elsewhere it was pretty much annihilation.

It is considered a safe Tory constituency but I assume the sitting MP is now a bit worried. He asked me last week and I said it would be a bloodbath. I may have been the only one who called it, but then two of us knocked on 3,000 doors,so we're practically our own political research outfit.

The MP will be fine. Plenty of people told me that they planned to protest vote this time out but would return for the General Election. Plenty also said, despite always having voted, that they would skip this time, so the low turnout. But there are longer term issues. Young adults are more "be kind", and have a much more uncertain future. There are no dentists. Rents are rising fast. There is both a job and a worker shortage, the Town Centre is dying and anti social behaviour, probably fueled by country lines, is rising.

Will the Conservative Party be able to morph into a listening party, as well as a party capable of good cost effective government, that can appeal to the many undecided voters. Is Labour able to? Or do we keep looking for the least wost alternative between a right wing bubble and a left wing bubble. And if so will knowing what a woman is, be a deciding factor.

I was called a LibDem in blue clothing by someone on the local party group chat. I don't know who he is though my colleague thinks he is ex UKIP. Should I be proud?

Thank you for standing Nomore. I don't agree with your politics, but I admire you for standing and your determination and energy.

Hope you have a well deserved rest after the Coronation.

local elections are always a great time to either sit on your hands or make a protest vote. Typically the turnout is well under half that of a general election. Turnout this time looks to be around a third of the electorate.

Although Labour is happily going to claim this means they will be in power soon Kier isnt quite as big an idiot as he acts. He's well aware the greens are still unlikely to take seats and labour might end up the biggest party but have to govern in coalition. His biggest hope is, ironically, that voters in Scotland are so pissed off that they abandon the SNP. He really cant afford to piss off Scottish women, even if he thinks he can afford to do so in the rest of the country.

If the tories reform the equality act I might have to consider a vote for them instead of a spoilt ballot paper because a coalition of libs and labour would be worse than labour..

anyolddinosaur
a coalition of libs and labour would be worse than labour..

This would be the worst of all possible outcomes for women

Politically homeless here.

i will never vote Conservative, it is a vote to make the rich richer and the poor poorer.

The others are unacceptable too. There’s no way I could vote for anyone supporting genderwoo.

I would vote for an individual candidate of integrity, if such were to be found in my constituency.

Thanks. It is right that we all have different views, as long as we communicate. We really don't want silo politics where the only combination is insult.

When canvassing there were only two women whose antipathy stayed me . Normally Labour supporters were good humoured as they told be I would never get their vote. Both were American. One was arrogantly stated she was ABC (anyone but Conservative) and acted as if I was a piece of dirt. A second screamed at me "We don't vote for Tory Terfs. Get out", after her husband had asked why, since we agreed on local issues, I was not standing for a party he could vote for.

The nastiness was not necessary. Small sample but I wondered if US politics are generally so tribal, hostile and divided.

A large part of being a ward Councillor will not be political. The big big issue as I saw it, is that the overlap between those who need Council services and those that don't use the Internet is huge. Some of those residents could do with someone to represent them. Nothing to do with party politics.

It was a huge experience. Really hard work but rewarding. By the end I wanted to win simply because I wanted to support some of the people I met.

So TooBig. You have a go?

We go to the polls in 2 weeks. It will be interesting to see what happens. We are not doing well due to enormous budget cuts and the the EU funding ending. People are really pissed off with the DUP. NI has become much more diverse over the past few years, particularly my ward.

I am hoping to speak to as many parties as I can. I think I will give them my views on the trans mess before I ask theirs. We have not been as impacted by it as you have, so I hope we can stop the rot early. However it will not be a big issue here.

As for me having a go, I'll give that a miss. I don't really like politicians.

Could never vote for a party that seeks to increase wealth disparity. Could never vote for a party that has fucked over education and the nhs while usually going private on both counts.

Rubbish

I find myself politically lost too. Traditionally I’m a left of centre Labour voter. Generally I actually really like Keir Starmer - I think he’s an intelligent, decent man and he’d be the best PM we’d had in a very, very long time…..other than the gender issue.

Gutted and furious that I can’t vote for Labour because I think Starmer is a departure from the back-slapping sneery politics that most engage in. I think he’s less focussed on being snide and more about cutting to the heart of the issue. He shreds Tories with his intellect in the HoC.

And yet, he’s fucked things up by trying to be “kind and inclusive”. Not realising that it’s not kind and inclusive to women.

The Lib Dem’s canvassed me and I told the very bemused man why I would not vote for them. He didn’t even know the Lib Dem policy on gender ID. I’m sure he regrets asking me now because I was very clear about the issues! He tried to tell me that gender ID is a Westminster thing and that I should vote locally for Lib Dems because gender ID isn’t relevant at this level….. I told him I would not be doing anything that could be interpreted to mean endorsement of Lib Dem’s policies on sex and gender. Poor bloke was bewildered but said he’d report my comments back.

I’ve never been a Tory voter but historically they’ve not always been horrific - we just differed on opinion. This government- and the government under Boris make a mockery of our constituency. They lie when they feel like it, pay off their pals, tried to prorogue Parliament to push through a law they wanted……they’ve been laughing in our faces and don’t even care that we know it. Not to mention deeply unpleasant dog whistling re immigration etc.

Gah!! What a nightmare. This is a single issue vote for me too so Lab/Lib Dens/Green are a no-go.

Spoilt vote I guess but will they really care or notice?! I doubt it.

Oh also, I read an interesting comment from someone.

They pointed out that the Tories don’t actually care about women’s rights - they just want to preserve the status quo which puts rich men in control and keeps women in their place.

I think there’s a lot of truth in this. They’ve become the “party protecting women” but that’s just a side product of the fact they’re trying to protect their own advantages and privilege.

He tried to tell me that gender ID is a Westminster thing and that I should vote locally for Lib Dems because gender ID isn’t relevant at this level…..

My 'go to' for this is swimming pools, the Lib Dem / Labour policy allows any man who says he is a woman into women's only swimming and women's changing rooms.