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England GAF, are you in the same boat as me? (Voting)

M

Maaaaaardy

Member
I feel like the pressure is on us all, especially younger people finding their feet in the world, to vote. Everyone keeps saying to me "USE YOUR VOTE!" and all this, but I find myself not wanting to...

And WHY I don't want to vote is, purely, I don't trust any of them. None of them are good options to me. I would vote Labour, but Corbyn wants out of military action etc. and simply that isn't safe enough. Conservatives, well, that's obvious. Rest of the parties are just complete muppets.

I feel like voting in England currently is a fools game. Like being forced to choose between burned alive or hanged. None of the choices are viable, and I feel like the pressure to choose is rather substantial and I just don't know how to feel about it.

Is anyone else feeling rather down about our country currently? I mean, we don't even have the comedy choice like our friends in the US! I'm not asking for anyone to tell me how to vote, I suppose I just want to know if people feel like politics here is a complete dead end, because right now there seems to be no positive politicians around anywhere, and after Brexit I just don't know how to feel.
 
B

bobs...onGaf

Member
I'm totally with you - it doesn't help that the parties on the left all cannibalize eachother letting the Tories get an even easier win
 
D

DBT85

Member
I do feel at times like its a waste of time, given that so many votes in safe seats equate to meaning absolutely nothing. I also have similar misgivings about politicians in general. I don't want them behaving like pricks in the commons like they do all the time, or dodging questions by saying "but your suit is shit" but they do. It is how it is and it isn't going to change.

If you don't believe that one party is better than another, then your best best is to try to vote to stop the one which is worst for you from getting in.

If you feel as so many do that the Conservatives are your last choice and our in a Conservative area, then you can vote for the next strongest party in your area to try and help get a seat from them. That way at least, your vote might mean something.

Voting Green in a 45% Con and 40% Labour area is a waste of time.

However, if you don't vote, don't whine that the country is going to shit. Your vote might matter, so cast it. Always.

My vote is typically Lib Dem and my area has historically been a strong second place for them behind the Cons, until the 2015 election where they dropped behind Labour and UKIP. I'm hoping they get a wave of that support back.
 
andythinkpad

andythinkpad

Member
I did the protrst vote in the US presidential election. If you don't want to vote for the top 3, don't vote for them. You don't have a tiny ass communist party or green party you can vote for?
 
PJV3

PJV3

Member
Vote for the party closest to what you want the country to be. Even if it's barely an improvement, it still is.
 
R

robo

Member
I usually vote independent in local elections as I feel they better represent me and my area, the "party" ones just do as London says anyway.

For the general ones I voted ukip last time, before that labour, but after seeing what both major parties are like now, I will probably go somewhere else for my vote.

My local mp is labour and unless he pops his clogs never going to loose his seat, unfortunately as he's unless.

Probably independent next month will see the list of candidates and go from there.
 
Halph n Halph

Halph n Halph

Member
This thread on a day that the people of France are given the choice between a racist or a banker.
Just vote for whichever of your local candidates will do the best for your area. We don't elect a PM although obviously a great leader would sway your vote.
 
M

Maaaaaardy

Member
I have no problem with voting, but there's nobody to vote for. Conservatives are killing my work though, I am a teacher. Labour i'd be happy to vote for, but Corbyn is a joke. We CANNOT under any circumstances pull out of Syria etc. For the safety of our country. It's terrifying.
 
W

WhateverItTakes

Banned
Roufianos said:
I'm not gonna vote. Couldn't give a shit to be honest.
Click to expand...

Apathy is what the powers that be want. C'mon, I know voting's an effort, but it's important.

Maaaaaardy said:
I have no problem with voting, but there's nobody to vote for. Conservatives are killing my work though, I am a teacher. Labour i'd be happy to vote for, but Corbyn is a joke. We CANNOT under any circumstances pull out of Syria etc. For the safety of our country. It's terrifying.
Click to expand...

Well vote against the conservatives in your area. Or maybe compromise against having a hard line on Syria. I find Corbyn's stances on a few things bad but I'd still rather him than Teresa.
 
C

Covfan

Member
Given I'm a constituent of what was once a Labour stronghold (Coventry North East) which is now being targeted by the Tories (as is the rest of the city) I'm going to vote for my local Labour MP (Despite not being a fan of Corbyn).

What I'm trying to say is that find out who your local candidates are and find out their views on things, use that to decide if you feel apathetic about the leaders and the parties nationally.
 
S

sohois

Member
Voting for one of the weird minor parties is a far more effective protest vote than not bothering to vote. Non-voters are basically ignored by the major parties, written off as being unimportant.

I would recommend the Monster Raving Looney Party to really show off your displeasure
 
S

ShemhazaiX

Member
One minor correction, Corbyn isn't against the military in general, and isn't a pure pacifist. He just wants out of Trident, which is just a dead man's switch and a money pit.
 
Maximus P

Maximus P

Member
Just do your research and vote with the party that mostly aligns with your views.

My views mostly align with the Tories, unfortunately i know people that are likely going to lose their jobs and homes because of the shambles and cash pit that is the HS2 which they seem massively in favour of so I'm likely taking my vote elsewhere.
 
A

amanset

Member
I voted for New Labour in 1997, the year Blair got in. I followed up with a vote for New Labour in local election in (I think) 1998. I then left the country, never to return.

I stopped voting as I felt so disillusioned with New Labour that I felt no one stood for what I believed. And then after fifteen years out of the country I lost my right to vote.

So yeah, I understand. I am 42 years old and have voted in a General Election once in my entire life. This will change if Migrationsverket gets off their arses and processes my Swedish citizenship application (14 months waiting so far).
 
D

DBT85

Member
Maaaaaardy said:
I have no problem with voting, but there's nobody to vote for. Conservatives are killing my work though, I am a teacher. Labour i'd be happy to vote for, but Corbyn is a joke. We CANNOT under any circumstances pull out of Syria etc. For the safety of our country. It's terrifying.
Click to expand...

Rest assured that (sadly) the Conservatives are going to win anyway and get a bigger majority, so you won't have to worry about Corbyn pulling out of anything, other than (hopefully) the Labour Leadership when he gets his ass handed to him.
 
W

WhateverItTakes

Banned
sohois said:
Voting for one of the weird minor parties is a far more effective protest vote than not bothering to vote. Non-voters are basically ignored by the major parties, written off as being unimportant.

I would recommend the Monster Raving Looney Party to really show off your displeasure
Click to expand...

I mean look at UKIP. Small single issue party, never won many seats. And Brexit is still happening. Voting for the winner isn't the only way to signal your opinion.
 
Jose92

Jose92

[Membe
Don't fall in the trap that many Americans fell in, YOUR VOTE CAN BE A DECIDER.

Not turning up is not the answer, if you feel that the conservatives are taking the country into a direction you dont like. Then vote!

A conservatives majority led country is bad for us the common people.
 
Q

Qasiel

Member
It does seem a lot like having to choose the lesser of multiple evils. That being said, not using your vote seems like a bigger waste to me. I'd advise anyone to actually do some research into the parties and vote with whoever you like the best, not necessarily one of the "main" parties (unless of course, that's whose policies you relate to more).

Get out there and vote. There are plenty of places in the world who would love the ability to be able to vote for their leader.
 
A

axisofweevils

Holy crap! Today's real megaton is that more than two people can have the same first name.
I have felt similar to OP in the past, but I'm voting this time - when the crap that is Brexit hits, I'll take comfort in the fact that I voted Lib Dem so I didn't enable this stupidity in any way.
 
M

Maaaaaardy

Member
In fact, little fact for you all.

Every single time I have voted since turning 18 (Now mid 20s), I have been on a losing side. More motivation.
 
PJV3

PJV3

Member
DBT85 said:
Rest assured that (sadly) the Conservatives are going to win anyway and get a bigger majority, so you won't have to worry about Corbyn pulling out of anything, other than (hopefully) the Labour Leadership when he gets his ass handed to him.
Click to expand...

The fear over Corbyn is ridiculous, you may as well worry about the Loch Ness monster.
 
J

Jackpot

Banned
Maaaaaardy said:
I have no problem with voting, but there's nobody to vote for. Conservatives are killing my work though, I am a teacher. Labour i'd be happy to vote for, but Corbyn is a joke. We CANNOT under any circumstances pull out of Syria etc. For the safety of our country. It's terrifying.
Click to expand...

You understand that we don't elect our PM. We elect an MP to represent our local area. You are not voting for Corbyn.

Furthermore, if the government's majority is reduced then they can't rubber-stamp legislation and have to compromise.
 
S

ShemhazaiX

Member
axisofweevils said:
I have felt similar to OP in the past, but I'm voting this time - when the crap that is Brexit hits, I'll take comfort in the fact that I voted Lib Dem so I didn't enable this stupidity in any way.
Click to expand...
Well, voting Lib Dem kind of is enabling it depending on your constituency. You either vote Tory or tactically anti-Tory if you actually want to have your vote matter.
 
W

WhateverItTakes

Banned
Maaaaaardy said:
Its not fear over Corbyn though. It's fear over being unable to vote viably because there's only one choice to win.
Click to expand...

See how much of a self fulfilling prophecy that is? Any vote is a viable one, because on the simplest level it's saying 'I would like the country to be more like this than these options'

ShemhazaiX said:
Well, voting Lib Dem kind of is enabling it depending on your constituency. You either vote Tory or tactically anti-Tory if you actually want to have your vote matter.
Click to expand...

That was my plan. I'm more than cool with people siding with a particular party, but for me I just wanna hurt the conservatives if I can. Any of you who doesn't like any of the opposition specifically feel free to follow my spite!

Stereogatari said:
I live in a Con safeseat. Just feels like a waste of time.
Click to expand...

I can understand that feeling sucking. But why not vote anyway? If anything lowering their lead in the area might scare them into putting their act together, or gather momentum for next time. It's annoying that the process is slow like that but that's how real change goes.
 
W

WhateverItTakes

Banned
Stereogatari said:
Boris Johnson's seat.
Click to expand...

Personally that'd make it more interesting for me, I can visualise giving the douche the boot while putting down the ballot.

I'm doing that for Nicky Morgan in my constituency. Last election was a decent win for her but I'm hoping the student population in Loughborough might tip things the other way. We're apparently a bellwether so that's fun!
 
A

afroguy10

Member
Roufianos said:
I'm not gonna vote. Couldn't give a shit to be honest.
Click to expand...

Teerifying.

See how you feel in five years when there's unprecedented levels of government surveillance thanks to May's authoritarian ideology being foisted upon us.

We'll be leaving the EU due to May having to pander to the far right in her voting base with quite frankly a deal that will be worse than what we have at the moment no matter how good a negotiator May and her team are (I wouldn't hold your breath that they are).

And the NHS and other public services will be struggling horrendously, possibly already on their last legs past the point of no return with nothing to do but strip them apart and sell them off to private healthcare firms. The Tories have done it before with other public seevices, they're "starving the beast" to make it horribly inefficient knowing that no matter how much the general public love the NHS at the moment, they'll only put up with massive wait times and tired overworked doctors, surgeons and nurses making sometimes fatal mistakes for so long before opinion turns and people want it privatised.

This won't suddenly happen either, it'll be a slow change over 5/10 years. Remember that our Health Secretary has written a book on how to privatise the NHS so if you think they won't try their hardest to do this then think again. The Tories are quite frankly terribly dangerous if you are a low earner, ill, disabled or old with little money in this country. Especially so if they end up in power for too long because the damage they do can sometimes be irreversible.

Stereogatari said:
I'm not voting until they get rid of FPTP
Click to expand...

This is really pish patter. Vote for the Lib Dems if you want rid of FPTP, hell, vote for them and then let them know via email or letter that that's why you voted for them.
 
D

disco

Member
I'm in Westminster, I always vote Green or Lib Dem. At the minute I'm living in Germany so not going to bother as it's always Tory anyway. *I would vote Labour if they got a sexy leader.

We need either a progressive Left alliance or a new party that puts up a better more compelling argument than nationalism and capitalism. Mark Fischer (RIP) suggests in Capitalist Realism (http://www.zero-books.net/books/capitalist-realism) that we need to expose the Real (blips in our present Reality that expose our genuine state of being alive/Lacan) that are widely discounted in order for capitalism to function. I.e. the knowing destruction of the environment, mental health problems are often structurally caused by capitalism (outside) and are often not exclusively individualist chemical imbalances, the value of work is vastly overestimated. Or maybe less obvious ones - education should not be run as a business. These are all accepted ills - maybe we should actually deal with them, and a party that does will perhaps get that broad streak of lighting that ignites something in the consciousness of the whole nation...
 
Roufianos

Roufianos

Member
WhateverItTakes said:
Apathy is what the powers that be want. C'mon, I know voting's an effort, but it's important.
Click to expand...

I've just never given a damn about politics. It's strange, I mean I have a degree in history but have avoided learning anything about Parliament. I'm doing the GDL at the moment and couldn't stand Public Law either.

If I were to vote now it would be for Labour solely because May comes across as obnoxious. That's not much of a reason to vote as I have no idea on their policies.

I just don't think that the minor difference that it will make is worth the time and effort that it will take for me to get indoctrinated in this whole system. I wouldn't wanna half ass it either, if I were to vote I'd want it to be a very informed decision.
 
3

345triangle

Member
i will probably postal-vote lib dem since they seem to be the only actual opposition to may's brexit "strategy", and my registered seat swings between them and tories — labour are a non-entity and would be hard to vote for in their current form anyway.

that said, i haven't properly lived there for 12 years so i don't have any opinion on the candidates themselves.
 
openrob

openrob

Member
ShemhazaiX said:
Well, voting Lib Dem kind of is enabling it depending on your constituency. You either vote Tory or tactically anti-Tory if you actually want to have your vote matter.
Click to expand...

That's exactly the stress put on the OP.

OP, if you want to vote, go for who you want.

Roufianos said:
That's not much of a reason to vote as I have no idea on their policies.
Click to expand...


Conservative aka Tory- less government interference (less tax, less regulation on businesses, less spending on public services, preference to privatise Healthcare, school, etc i.e. not free).

Labour - more govt responsibility (Publicly accessible Healthcare and schooling. Labour created the NHS, comprehensive schools, and council housing; higher rates of tax especially on the rich, benefits and welfare for the disadvantaged, more regulations - labour fought for a minimum wage)
 
PJV3

PJV3

Member
Maaaaaardy said:
Its not fear over Corbyn though. It's fear over being unable to vote viably because there's only one choice to win.
Click to expand...

The Tory UKIP storm is perfect and unstoppable, I'm just going to vote for whatever can weaken it.

In my case that's an orange book libdem tosser.
 
B

brain_stew

Member
The party that has had the most significant impact on the long term direction of the UK in the last few years has only ever held one parliamentary seat. A party doesn't need to hold a Westminster majority to have a strong and profound impact on the direction of the UK.

I understand the bewilderment when our current opposition party sit back idly and assist the Tories to strip away our civil liberties and push for an uncontested hard Brexit but the only way to change that opposition is to vote for a credible opposition party instead.
 
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