Vote for local Tory candidate or spoil vote?

[popsicles2342]

Please can you explain how it works. Looks like the only decent candidate in my area is a Tory. Happens that she's a woman who understands sex-based rights. Labour didn't bother replying and Lib-dem spouted nonsense saying he understood the issue about single sex spaces but also that sex is not binary!

If I vote for the Tory candidate and she wins, will that 1. effectively keep her in (sounds good to me) 2. but also help keep Tories in power (not what I want)

Assuming Labour win, then won't it be ok to at least have a few Tory candidates that fight for sex-based rights? Or does it not work like that? I don't really understand how it all works!

What have the Tories done for women

Well, there was preventing self I’d in Scotland, the Cass report will be very significant (unless Labour bury it), and of course England has very much held a line compared with eg left wing administrations in Australia, Canada, even Wales and Scotland….. but 🤷‍♀️

Thank you @ifIwerenotanandroid, @cupcaske123 and @Brefugee

I expect I will continue to oscillate between Green and Labour all the way up to entering the election booth.

I don't think our area is an easy one to predict due to the sudden popularity of the Reform party which is expected to do very well in this demographic, and the independent candidate who will potentially taking quite a bit of the farming Tory vote.

We really don't know what Labour will do, a lot of this is whataboutery. We know what the Tories will do, that's for sure.

Labour have said they'll implement changes from the Cass report. They said there's no self ID and they're going to respect the EA.

I guarantee that if we get in another Tory government, this feminist utopia won't happen. The Tories are not suddenly going to wake up and start investing in women. They're not suddenly going to start speaking out on the infringement into women's spaces. How do I know this? Because they never have.

Go with whoever is going to do the best work in your constituency. I'm sorry to hear about the popularity of Reform, that must be frightening. Let's hope it comes to nothing.

They won't. Not with the huge projected landslide. What will hopefully happen is that enough sensible people will be present in the opposition.

An overwhelming majority is never a sensible idea. I don't think any Government is good if they are allowed to govern unchecked.

Looking at this thread, it seems everyone hearts are in the same place - better lives for everyone, women's rights, but the disagreement is on what to do about it, who to trust in order to do this. I don't think there's a right answer so I don't understand the snobbery/judgement on those who decide to vote for whichever party you've decided not to vote for.

Trying to summarize a few different likely scenarios, what are your thoughts?:

1. Labour wins massive landslide -> they'll bring back Self-ID
2. Labour wins but not by much -> they'll start listening to women?
3. Hung parliament -> Labour makes coalition with Lib dems? -> Self-ID or else no deal
4. Tories win -> Elites win, poor people burn. Rich women will be ok. But at least men will be annoyed so if they realise undecided women put them here then they'll either a. listen or b. blame women even more.

My head hurts. What do you think?

I feel our voices are only diluted by voting left, right and centre. It makes me feel so sad and angry that we're in this situation

I think only Labour winning by a huge or smaller than expected margin are possibilities. And because Keir Starmer seems so slippery we just don't know what way he'll jump. There was a very good column by Matthew Syed (a Labour voter) in the Times that said he was very concerned by the way Labour seem to pay most attention to the activists that make the loudest noise, and what a danger that is.

This

I think the value of having a good constituency MP is underrated. My parents (who've never voted Conservative) have a similar situation to you @popsicles2342 . Their Tory candidate is standing for reelection and is well liked locally as a good local MP. I've suggested they vote for that candidate, although my parents are both very into the secret ballot so won't tell me what they plan to do but have said they've taken my suggestion on board.

The Conservatives aren't going to win this GE so in cases like yours, I'd go for the best constituency MP (whichever party).

Unfortunately for me not sure I have any decent local options. Not massively impressed with any of my local candidates so far. None seem that bothered with this constituency (despite it apparently being a marginal). A good constituency MP is important to me. So I'm still undecided on who to vote for and considering spoiling my ballot for the first time ever.

I’m voting tactically to try and reduce the influence Lib Dem’s will have since we do know they define women as a feeling and have no intention of listening to any women who express concerns.

But there is nothing quite so effective in ensuring I won’t consider Labour than that sort of sneery reductionist comment

With DV. What did May do for that? I'll never forget the thread on MN about a month ago. A woman fleeing DV with her child. She was going to have to give up her job to go to a refuge because her housing association and local authority both told her there wasn't any social housing available for a managed transfer. Did May build lots more social housing? I don't remember her doing that. No government has since the 1980s.

Women's rights are low priority it seems. I was interested in the SDP (although there's not many candidates standing) but they say they want to focus on the family. How will that help women experiencing DV? Unless they mean they value families but also appreciate it's not always the best option because of DV?

On a related but also separate note, although I have DC, I care about single people and the childfree/childless. Seems their needs are largely ignored. That's not a SDP specific problem. Seems to be a problem with all the parties. And although it affects men too, single women are, I understand, one of the poorest groups in society. I'm sure I saw an article a while back that noted there's nowhere in the UK where single women can afford housing. Can't remember where I read it but perhaps someone else will know?

May’s government introduced the Domestic Abuse Act and she continued to champion it through parliament. Yes the bill doesn’t go far enough, but getting it into law is a significant step forward. She did talk to and listen to a number of groups and campaigners and our democratic process means compromise is necessary.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49910926

I don't agree with her politics but I do believe in giving credit where it is due and it is untrue to say she’s done nothing for women.

The lack of investment in social housing is a failure of Labour and Conservative governments alike and is unforgivable.

Thank you, I am very worried. It's a strange time for politics at the moment.

In national terms, the Labour landslide is very reliant on the 18-34 age voters actually turning out in number and voting. It was low voter turnout in this age range that tipped the final result of the referendum away from the predicted Remain victory.

Manifestos aside, Reform candidates are largely inexperienced and, by their own admission, their vetting process is not able to weed out all those with hidden extremist leanings. I'm sure there are many hardworking and moderate candidates amongst their numbers, but I think most people would agree that their overall quality control is poor.

Thanks for replying @TrainedByDinosaurs I didn't realise it was May who introduced that Act. It's a good start, true.

I suppose perhaps the problem is, as you say, it doesn't go far enough. Maybe partly because of a failure to see the issue holistically? (I haven't reafcthf Act so I'm guessing here). Legal aid cuts, insufficient social housing, and funding cuts to other public services that are needed to help those affected by DV.

It was Thatcher who sold off council houses - fair enough, if you're using the funds to rebuild better houses, but she then prevented councils from using the funds for that. Has this ever been reversed, & if not, why not?

What's the current position with council/social housing? Is most or all of it provided by charities & housing associations?

May did do quite a bit on DV, it's true. It's why I can never figure out what she thought self-ID was, or would do to women's safety. But she was active on DV for sure.

I just think of the billions spent on help to buy schemes that help only a few and inflate house prices so actually make things worse (and unfortunately Labour are apparently planning to do their own version of these schemes) that could and should instead have been spent on building more social housing.

It's not specifically a women's issue but the lack of social housing does very much affect many women.

I also find it hard to view RTB as solely a Thatcher policy, because Labour never ended it. I'd like the next Labour government to address this but will they?

I can’t quite believe I’m online today defending a Tory 😬

The Act pushes responsibility for providing housing for DV victims to local authorities, which tbf is the right place. I don’t know for sure but I rather doubt any additional funding was provided to enable them to do that and that’s a different problem to fix.

The more additional provisions included in a proposed new Act the harder to get it through parliament without it being watered down or too difficult to implement effectively. I’m no politics or legal expert but my lay view is the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 is not bad. If you’re interested in reducing DV I would recommend reading it.

I haven't read it (except brief news articles about it) so think that's my weekend reading sorted @TrainedByDinosaurs

I suspect you're right, that there wasn't/isn't the extra funding for LAs to provide suitable housing, especially because of the lack of new social housing builds.

What's the current position with council/social housing? Is most or all of it provided by charities & housing associations?

It’s not good.
I’ve emailed my local candidate twice for his views on this policy but nada.

Only if you are a unrepentant misogynist.

I plan to spoil mine. Secure conservative seat where I live. They keep track of how many are spoiled don't they? So if enough of us do it then that in itself sends a message. Maybe in future they will think about what their constituents actually want and who their constituents actually are

@popsicles2342 if I were you I'd rather spoil my ballot than re-elect this bunch of women hating, UK hating, contemptuous, lying fuckwitted Tories.