The Politics Thread

[General Mannerheim]

I voted today for the first time in my 29 years!

nah not really, couldn't be arsed.

[fatshaft]

Nice debating skills on show here by the BNP's candidate for Romford

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/ ... 663681.stm

Fire with fire n all that

Bit extreme for a wannabe politician, but the little gobbing bastard deserved a slap right enough.

[Athers]

Well, of the couple dozen people at the polling station just now, nearly everyone was under 30.. So that's good I guess.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Rumour is that Ed Balls' constituency could well serve up tonight's Portillo moment.

That would be enjoyable.

Jacqui Smith even more vulnerable and even an outside chance of Darling going down... neither as exciting as Balls though.

[Lord Kangana]

Ok, I'm bored, so whats everyone's completely unscientific gut feeling? I'm going with a small Conservative majority that wil lead to a rerun within a couple of years to attempt a greater majority.

http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/2010/05 ... l-tonight/

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

Ok, I'm bored, so whats everyone's completely unscientific gut feeling? I'm going with a small Conservative majority that wil lead to a rerun within a couple of years to attempt a greater majority.

http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/2010/05 ... l-tonight/

Ratbert has said exactly what I'm thinking.

I'll predict the Conservatives short by between 25 and 9 seats and Brown trying to strike a deal with the Lib Dems tomorrow whilst the Tories say they have first dibs on power.

Whatever happens it won't be dull!

[fatshaft]

Ok, I'm bored, so whats everyone's completely unscientific gut feeling? I'm going with a small Conservative majority that wil lead to a rerun within a couple of years to attempt a greater majority.

http://blogs.ft.com/westminster/2010/05 ... l-tonight/

Ratbert has said exactly what I'm thinking.

I'll predict the Conservatives short by between 25 and 9 seats and Brown trying to strike a deal with the Lib Dems tomorrow whilst the Tories say they have first dibs on power.

Whatever happens it won't be dull!

I'm much the same, Tories with c.300 seats, but to be the largest party. UKIP to make a decent move in the popular vote, but of course unable to secure a seat.

[Lord Kangana]

I think all the fringe parties will poll well this time. Sadly I fear this particular window of opportunity to implement a fairer more representative voting system will slam shut for another generation.

[William the White]

I think all the fringe parties will poll well this time. Sadly I fear this particular window of opportunity to implement a fairer more representative voting system will slam shut for another generation.

I so hope not - but the last polls indicated the shakiness of the Lib Dem vote, and that has to hold up if the current parliament is to be well and truly hung...

I want PR like I want the whites to win the FA Cup...

[TANGODANCER]

Well, of the couple dozen people at the polling station just now, nearly everyone was under 30.. So that's good I guess.

Why exactly?

[Lord Kangana]

In a Logans run sort of way I guess.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

So... those of you who want PR - who would you have liked to vote for?

[bobo the clown]

Well, of the couple dozen people at the polling station just now, nearly everyone was under 30.. So that's good I guess.

Why exactly?

Yeah ... why ??

"Oldies of the World Unite ... we've nothing to lose but our zimmers".

[Lord Kangana]

So... those of you who want PR - who would you have liked to vote for?

hats a largley irrelevant question. The political parties we have at present reflect the system they operate within. Change the system, change the parties.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

I think Athers is pleased with his narrow sample of evidence that the group that traditionally has the lowest turnout appears to have been engaged by this election.

[mummywhycantieatcrayons]

So... those of you who want PR - who would you have liked to vote for?

hats a largley irrelevant question. The political parties we have at present reflect the system they operate within. Change the system, change the parties.

Yes, I accept that a changed system would mean changed parties.

I'm still interested in who you would have voted for, given what's on offer now.

But the next question is obviously - what is it that you would like a changed system to produce for you to vote for?

[William the White]

So... those of you who want PR - who would you have liked to vote for?

A new party to the left of Labour which would certainly emerge as it has elsewhere in Europe, prioritising environmental concerns, social justice and human rights. I think it's possible to imagine a group like this obtaining just over a notional 5% 'threshold'.

You know, me and my mates, the usual motley collection of tree huggers, bleeding hearts, do gooders and nanny-staters who only advocate political correctness gone mad and obscene violence on the streets against the friendly hymn-singers of the EDL and BNP.

[Lord Kangana]

In a constituency based polling system, only major parties can ever hope to have a say in government. Which leads to tactical voting and all its idiocy. I understand exactly why the Tories are running scared from it, despite all the gloss and spin of their argument, its because the majority of this country vote for left of centre and left wing, vaguely social democratic parties. With PR, the Tories would be wiped out as a major force in a heartbeat. Ergo, our present system is unrepresentative of the majority wish of our country.

[hisroyalgingerness]

Perhaps you could call it the (I dunno) GREEN party??

[hisroyalgingerness]

In a constituency based polling system, only major parties can ever hope to have a say in government. Which leads to tactical voting and all its idiocy. I understand exactly why the Tories are running scared from it, despite all the gloss and spin of their argument, its because the majority of this country vote for left of centre and left wing, vaguely social democratic parties. With PR, the Tories would be wiped out as a major force in a heartbeat. Ergo, our present system is unrepresentative of the majority wish of our country.

Read an opinion in a paper today against proportional representation which basically said "6% of voters are BNP and if we adopted proportional representation they'd get 30 seats" or whatever.

Big "so what". If that represents how the country thinks so be it. You can't fudge the counting of votes to ensure the big two swing power from side to side.

And all the scaremongering for hung parliament. Same again. If no party and their scallywag policies have earned a majority then why should they have the power.