help with voting

[sammy7]

excuse my ignorace but i am fairly lost when it comes to voting!

as far as i see it tends to be that working class tend to vote for labour, and the middle class tend to vote for the tories, is this right?

so can i ask, whats the story with the lib dems? their policies, to me anyway seem to be heading in the right direction... however everyone is saying the only way to keep the tories out is to vote for labour, is that right?

[Beefster]

Vote whatever way you instinctively think is right and don't listen to anyone else.

Here's a short summary of the main three parties' manifestos to help you make up your mind.

http://www.brookson.co.uk/news-and-press/222/8/party-manifesto-summary.aspx

[Twa Cairpets]

excuse my ignorace but i am fairly lost when it comes to voting!

as far as i see it tends to be that working class tend to vote for labour, and the middle class tend to vote for the tories, is this right?

so can i ask, whats the story with the lib dems? their policies, to me anyway seem to be heading in the right direction... however everyone is saying the only way to keep the tories out is to vote for labour, is that right?

Vote for who you think are best. ignore who did what back in the day, or class voting, or anything else - go with what you think is right. Bottom line is when you put the wee x in the box, the only person who knows where you put it is you.

[hibsbollah]

Vote whatever way you instinctively think is right and don't listen to anyone else.

Here's a short summary of the main three parties' manifestos to help you make up your mind.

http://www.brookson.co.uk/news-and-press/222/8/party-manifesto-summary.aspx (http://www.brookson.co.uk/news-and-press/222/8/party-manifesto-summary.aspx)

But also bear in mind that the victorious party routinely ignores their manifesto promises when they're in Government:wink:

[Hainan Hibs]

Can't forget about the SNP:greengrin

http://www.snp.org/node/16946

[lyonhibs]

Can't forget about the SNP:greengrin

http://www.snp.org/node/16946 (http://www.snp.org/node/16946)

Oh, I beg to differ....................... :greengrin :devil:

[sammy7]

to me, the lib dems do seem to want to change things, and their policies seem to relate to the things i feel strongly about (immigration, health, education and the economy)

however everyone seems to be saying that they have no choice and my vote should be going to labour (who really fill me with no confidence) in order to stop the tories getting power!

this voting malarky is giving me a sair heid! :grr:

[lyonhibs]

to me, the lib dems do seem to want to change things, and their policies seem to relate to the things i feel strongly about (immigration, health, education and the economy)

however everyone seems to be saying that they have no choice and my vote should be going to labour (who really fill me with no confidence) in order to stop the tories getting power!

this voting malarky is giving me a sair heid! :grr:

Jeez, which constituency do you live in??

Depending on where you are, a Lib Dem or - rather unlikely - SNP vote may be exactly what is required to keep the Tories out in your area.

[sammy7]

Jeez, which constituency do you live in??

Depending on where you are, a Lib Dem or - rather unlikely - SNP vote may be exactly what is required to keep the Tories out in your area.

really? everyone who has gone on and on about the voting to me, has said that a lib dem vote is "pointless" and the only way to keep the tories out is to vote labour. once again excuse my ignorance i really dont get all the "tactical voting" :greengrin

[Beefster]

to me, the lib dems do seem to want to change things, and their policies seem to relate to the things i feel strongly about (immigration, health, education and the economy)

however everyone seems to be saying that they have no choice and my vote should be going to labour (who really fill me with no confidence) in order to stop the tories getting power!

this voting malarky is giving me a sair heid! :grr:

That really depends on whether voting for the party you believe in is more important that voting against a party that you don't.

One thing I will say is that the more votes the Lib Dems get, the more influence they will have if we end up with a hung parliament, irrespective of their number of seats.

---------- Post added at 05:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:22 PM ----------


really? everyone who has gone on and on about the voting to me, has said that a lib dem vote is "pointless" and the only way to keep the tories out is to vote labour. once again excuse my ignorance i really dont get all the "tactical voting" :greengrin

They're trying to get you to vote the way they want you to, rather than get you to vote the best way for you.

[Hibs Class]

It's easy to make popular promises when you have little chance of being elected. Almost by accident the LibDems found themselves pretty much running Edinburgh, along with the SNP, and they have made a complete shambles of it.

[Pretty Boy]

excuse my ignorace but i am fairly lost when it comes to voting!

as far as i see it tends to be that working class tend to vote for labour, and the middle class tend to vote for the tories, is this right?

so can i ask, whats the story with the lib dems? their policies, to me anyway seem to be heading in the right direction... however everyone is saying the only way to keep the tories out is to vote for labour, is that right?

Historically the working classes would, for the most part, vote labour whilst the upper middle classes and upper class would vote Tory. Since the creation of New Labour the waters have become murkier. Tony Blair openly appealed to the middle classes in his famous 'Mondeo man' plan. This involved tax breaks for small business owners and so on.

One must also take into account deviant voters. As a generalisation many teachers, social workers, students etc etc may be from middle class income families but vote Labour/socialist out of a feeling of giving something back. Likewise due to the traditional Tory tough stance on immigration, crime and so on many working class people from areas of high unemployment and high crime rates have voted Tory as they believe they will help decent families get on whilst taking a harder line against 'scroungers' and criminals. There is evidence there is far more of the latter than the former. This is all without taking into account those influenced by their family backgrounds, the media etc etc.

A pretty crude explanation but one of the key texts on the subject 'politics and society' by Rush is over 700 pages long so i have tried to summarise.

My advice would be vote for what your instinct tells you. I have never been a fan of tactical voting. If the Lib Dems policies 'speak' to you then thats who you should vote for.

[Houchy]

Just out of intrest, how many voting slips did everyone get?

No really, i'm being serious here... I got one with 4 or 5 (can't remember now) parties on it, but on the wall, there were 2 specimen sheets. One with the 4 or 5 that I got, and one with a lot more including the likes of the BNP, UKIP, Greens etc????

Luckily, the party I wanted to vote for was on my sheet but what would have happened if I had wanted to vote for one of the "smaller parties"?

[Removed]

Just out of intrest, how many voting slips did everyone get?

No really, i'm being serious here... I got one with 4 or 5 (can't remember now) parties on it, but on the wall, there were 2 specimen sheets. One with the 4 or 5 that I got, and one with a lot more including the likes of the BNP, UKIP, Greens etc????

Luckily, the party I wanted to vote for was on my sheet but what would have happened if I had wanted to vote for one of the "smaller parties"?

Nothing would have happened :confused: You can only vote for the candidates standing in your constituency.

I got one slip with about 7 candidates I think, including UKIP, BNP & independant candidates

[Houchy]

Nothing would have happened :confused: You can only vote for the candidates standing in your constituency.

I got one slip with about 7 candidates I think, including UKIP, BNP & independant candidates

That's what I thought, but why have 2 specimen voting papers on the wall?

[Removed]

That's what I thought, but why have 2 specimen voting papers on the wall?

No idea. seems very strange. Especially if they are trying not to confuse people.

[Ed De Gramo]

Ya cannae go wrong with Lib Dems (but then i'm a biased barsteward :greengrin)