Labour

[huggyjb]

It seems to me that most people on this forum slate the labour party for their economic policies, I personally did not vote for them in the last election as did not believe their lies, so how many on this forum did believe what they said and voted for them?

[E Powell]

There is only one thing I say:

DEATH TO NEW LABOUR!!!

[Fancypants]

There is only one thing I say:

DEATH TO NEW LABOUR!!!

he's right, you know. There is only one thing that he says!

[the don]

defintley not me-or even in the previous 2 elections.

however, they won very clear majorities and so democracy dictates that we should all accept their right to govern.

their chickens are coming home to roost. i have been amazed at how they have held the discipline together so well and for so long.

much as i despise blair he is a formidable politician.

finally i reflect on the maxim-you can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time. you cant fool all of the people all of the time

[scaramanga]

There is only one thing I say:

DEATH TO NEW LABOUR!!!

That mr powell sums it up once there was The Labour Party,now there is Nu Labour and they say a leopard never changes its spots..............

[MarkG]

however, they won very clear majorities and so democracy dictates that we should all accept their right to govern.

NuLab won a majority in the last election with about 25% of the votes: how can any sane person consider that gives them a 'right to govern'?

[jonlar]

I voted Lab to stop the nasty right-wing xenophobe Tory getting elected in Shrewsbury and Atcham. And it almost worked.

[underpressuretobuy]

It seems to me that most people on this forum slate the labour party for their economic policies, I personally did not vote for them in the last election as did not believe their lies, so how many on this forum did believe what they said and voted for them?

I voted Labour in 1997 because the Tories were taking the p*** at the time.

Really hoped things would change for the better, didn't believe they would but I hoped they would.

Never voted Labour again.

[VacantPossession]

I voted Lab to stop the nasty right-wing xenophobe Tory getting elected in Shrewsbury and Atcham. And it almost worked.

A lot of people here, me included, have almost equal contempt for both main parties...in fact all parties.

VP

[stillill]

I voted Lab to stop the nasty right-wing xenophobe Tory getting elected in Shrewsbury and Atcham. And it almost worked.

I voted Conservative in South Glasgow as a protest vote against the Labour war. It's a Labour stronghold.

I'd be more inclinded to vote Conservative again: I'd prefer a "sink or swim" mentality in this country than the Labour-sponsored "Softy Society". At least with the Conservatives you knew that they were essentially self-serving, but would allow for society's best to get to the top.

Now everyone's swimming around in the same mucky soup of Labour lies and fudge. Except Labour are self-serving (and serving their cronies), while not allowing society to excel. I think that's more unfair.

[karen1000]

NuLab won a majority in the last election with about 25% of the votes: how can any sane person consider that gives them a 'right to govern'?

No, they won 36% of the vote, that is, the people who bothered to vote (about 61% of the electorate). Were voting mandatory one might expect a proportionate rise distributed across the parties, but one might also expect Labour to gain a highter percentage of votes cast - since low turnouts affect them more.

The lower percentage totals can be viewed as a healthy thing - the rise of the other parties. What may not be viewed as healthy is our "first past the post" system.

[OLDFTB]

Like a lot of people in 1997 i was naffed off with John Major & his weak Tory goverment and with the CSA in particular. So i was suckered in to vote for Tony Bliar & his "Nu Labour".

I never voted for them again after that first term.

(I voted for Maggie 3 times and have never felt bad about it!)

[MarkG]

No, they won 36% of the vote, that is, the people who bothered to vote (about 61% of the electorate).

So they got a majority with 22% of the vote: Ok, I overestimated the number of votes they received, but only by 3%.

Were voting mandatory one might expect a proportionate rise distributed across the parties, but one might also expect Labour to gain a highter percentage of votes cast

Were voting mandatory, I think you'd see a major rise in the third-ranked parties like the BNP, if only because people voted for them in disgust at the government compelling them to vote: something that I for one would not want to see.

Mandatory voting is the last refuge of democrats in terminal decline.

Edited December 13, 2005 by MarkG

[Foobar]

Hello,

this is something I would urge you to read:

http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/publica...gefinal2005.pdf

1.1 Government by a small

minority – the worst election ever

Labour won an overall majority of 66 seats, or 55.1 per

cent of seats, with 35.2 per cent of the vote.

No majority government in British history has ever rested

on a flimsier base of public support – or, more accurately,

none has since the extension of the franchise in 1918. In

terms of active public consent for government, Britain is

almost back in the pre-reform era of rotten boroughs.

If you want to see actual % of the electorate who voted:

The electoral basis of British government also emerges

looking shakier than in most other democratic countries.

Only Turkey has a majority government with a lower share

of the vote.

% of electorate

1979 Conservative 33.3

1992 Conservative 32.6

1987 Conservative 31.8

1997 Labour 30.9

1983 Conservative 30.8

1974 October Labour 28.6

1922 Conservative 26.0

2001 Labour 24.2

2005 Labour 21.6

Electoral form (we have a government that shouldn't by rights be there or have the power it does) along with monetary reform (ever wondered why so many people are now over their heads in debt with the rich getting richer where the disparity matches Pakistan?) are two of the biggest issues that never get a mention anywhere, there should be much more education and public debate about it.

[Guest Bart of Darkness]

I voted Labour in 1997 because the Tories were taking the p*** at the time.

Really hoped things would change for the better, didn't believe they would but I hoped they would.

Never voted Labour again.

Exactly the same story for me.

Shame there's no "None of the Above" option that US voters enjoy.

[OzzMosiz]

Never voted labour. I hate 'em!

[karen1000]

Hello,

this is something I would urge you to read:

http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/publica...gefinal2005.pdf

If you want to see actual % of the electorate who voted:

Electoral form (we have a government that shouldn't by rights be there or have the power it does) along with monetary reform (ever wondered why so many people are now over their heads in debt with the rich getting richer where the disparity matches Pakistan?) are two of the biggest issues that never get a mention anywhere, there should be much more education and public debate about it.

Completely irrelevant. You only need to look at the percentage of votes cast. The people who could not be bothered to vote are irrelevant (and most are probably Old Labour down the pub/club types).

[laughing_goat]

At the ripe old age of 31, this was the first general election I was able to vote in and I can tell you I found it very difficult to make a decision. The reason I found it so difficult was because I could see little difference in general policies and some of the policies were beyond belief (think Lib Dem local income tax - how to make a poor area even poorer!).

On the day of the previous election my Dad had a heart attack so I never made it to the polling station, the 1997 election I had to start a new job at the opposite end of the country and the local authority made a pigs ear of the postal ballots, so I never got one and hence couldn't vote, and in the 1992 election I was 1 month too young to vote. So this time I was absolutely determind to vote, it's just a shame all the parties involved wasted it.

Of the three main parties this was my impression;

Lib Dems

Ill thought out policies (as mentioned above), seemed more intent on handing out money in benefits that ideas on how to generate cash. Leanings towards Nanny state.

Torys

All the above, plus very dodgy asylum policies. As far as I'm concerned, you can't stand at the 'gates of the UK' and say to someone who is being persecuted in their own country, "F**k off, we're full". That's madness!

Labour

Again, same as Lib dems, plus the following;

Marketing machine focusing on Gordon Brown.

As far as I'm concerned the only good thing about GB maybe becoming PM is that he won't be Chancellor anymore. He has turned this country into a debt ridden, 'the world owes me a living' society.

Also, when I began to hear people saying they were voting Labour because they had just bought a house, I thought "christ, maybe voting is a waste of time". But I still went ahead and did it, I stood in the polling booth for what seemed like an eternity as even with pen in hand, I still couldn't make up my mind.

Eventually, of course I did. I didn't vote labour but I would prefer not to say who I did vote for.

Edited December 13, 2005 by laughing_goat

[jellybean]

It seems to me that most people on this forum slate the labour party for their economic policies, I personally did not vote for them in the last election as did not believe their lies, so how many on this forum did believe what they said and voted for them?

I think labour have done alright ecconomically. At least I am doing alright ta very much. If the populus wants to pay unrealistic prices for houses then more fool them. Whatever happend to personal responsilibility.

Certainly less deranged than the concervatives, who brought economic turmoil and social divisions. That and the fact they often come accross as slightly retarded, narrow minded, cold hearted biggots.

I would probably vote for them at the next ellection. Least ways I think I would have more chance of getting a reasonably priced house under Labour.

PS That's not to say they dont need to pull there socks up on stuff like local govornment expenditure though.

Edited December 13, 2005 by jellybean

[SHERWICK]

NuLab won a majority in the last election with about 25% of the votes: how can any sane person consider that gives them a 'right to govern'?

the tories actually got more votes in England than labour did...

[huggyjb]

I Believe no party wins the election but the one in power loses it just like the tories did and now its labours turn. IMO

[London Landlady]

the tories actually got more votes in England than labour did...

My other half says that the Labour lot have changed all the electoral boundaries so that a Conservative needs many more votes to win a seat.

I don't know if it's true but if he syas so - who am I to argue!

[frugalista]

It seems to me that most people on this forum slate the labour party for their economic policies, I personally did not vote for them in the last election as did not believe their lies, so how many on this forum did believe what they said and voted for them?

I am a long-standing supporter of the Labour party, although I think the Lib Dems are a good party too. I have very occasionally done a bit of campaign work for Labour now and again. I am not at present a Labour party member.

I have voted Lib Dem in the past three general elections, basically because of where I was registered to vote. In 1997 and 2001 I was registered in a Tory stronghold, the Lib Dems were the only other possible party which could have taken it. In 2005 I was in a Lib Dem stronghold; I voted for the Lib Dems basically because the candidate was very good and I thought the Tories threatened to take it.

I support Labour because I still believe they stand for the social democrat, mixed economy system of government. I think in office they have done some good things (minimum wage, good basic public services, SureStart, WFTC, etc.) and screwed up a lot of things (the Iraq war, the housing bubble, private debt, faith schools).

But I will probably always support Labour because the Tory alternative will always be a trickle-down, supply-side, populist free-for-all which I simply do not subscribe to.

frugalista

[Catch22]

I Believe no party wins the election but the one in power loses it just like the tories did and now its labours turn. IMO

totally agree

I've never voted for Blair, like I said at the time his eyes were to close together for him to be trusted, and as it happens I have been proved right

his eyes are still to close together

Edited December 13, 2005 by Catch22

[HenryWeston]

Torys

All the above, plus very dodgy asylum policies. As far as I'm concerned, you can't stand at the 'gates of the UK' and say to someone who is being persecuted in their own country, "F**k off, we're full". That's madness!

sounds like a good idea