Poll: The official I voted/election results thread

[gettothechopper]

blah

Except we will get a referendum on Europe before then and if we stay in ukip are as done as your bessie mate was today

 

[Freddie1980]

 

[robgmun]

^
I wish the was a like button for posts

 

[Freddie1980]

Yeah but the Tories managed to successfully exploit people's fears of a Lab/SNP coalition to win seats in England. The SNP were delighted to push those buttons too.

As he was entitled and socially obligated to do it's not like those fears didn't have any basis.

 

[StriderX]

Tactically, i will be voting out of the EU as a slight of hand.

As he was entitled and socially obligated to do it's not like those fears didn't have any basis.

A fear campaign is never socially obligated by anyone.

 

[robgmun]

Except we will get a referendum on Europe before then and if we stay in ukip are as done as your bessie mate was today

We'll see if the Tories turn it into a stitch up. If it's a full free and fair referendum then you'll be right, but somehow i feel it'll be horribly loaded. Time will tell.

 

[SlugForAButt]

Pretty much why i feel my first vote in a general election was wasted. Not a fair system.

To be honest, it's your darling Labour Party and the Tories that have perpetuated the misuse of FPTP over the last few years as it suits them both.
FPTP originates in the mid to late 19th century and was refined a couple of times but was in no way ever intended to be a fair voting system. My God, read up on the original ideas in the mid 1880's and you'll see that this is better than what was, but is far from ideal.
What the cockadoodledoo is wrong with every vote being as important as any other? FPTP leaves our so called democratic system open to 1990's Blair style Gerrymandering which simply couldn't happen under PR.
Look at one party getting 56 MPs for 1.5m votes while another party gets 1 MP for 4m votes. Scandalous is what it would be called in any other walk of life.

Food for thought.

EDIT: Just laughing my head off thinking of that Blackadder episode with Baldrick standing in the rotten borough. Scotland seems like 56 of those rotten boroughs...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs

 

[robgmun]

In the office there has been an all staff emails going around trying to break down the result, just got this one which is really interesting and i think he makes some very vaild points:

I only I'm only a freelancer, but here's me sticking my oar in...

Stop me I'm wrong, but us Brits tend to vote for policies that reflect the social position we would like to occupy rather than the one we actually do occupy. For instance, the vast majority of people in the UK would never be affected by Labour policies such as a mansion tax, the 50% tax rate, and the abolition of non-dom status, but we felt they flew in the face of our sense of aspiration, which has been a key driver in British voter behaviour over the last 30-40 years. Thatcher was a genius at tapping into it, Blair was also pretty slick at this. John Major and Gordon Brown much less so. Miliband's attempt get elected on a platform of policies that weren't aimed at this sense of aspiration but at the idea of making Britain a fairer place has, I believe, been his downfall.

One thing I would say about the election result is that for the talk of "triumph" by the press, the Tory majority is wafer-thin - only 12 seats. Historically governments with such low majorities - Atlee in 1950, Wilson in 1964 and 1974, and, of course, John Major in 1992 - all ended up as weak and ineffectual and unable to implement much of their manifesto pledges. It will be fascinating to see how Cameron's government deals with such intractable issues as a new UK constitutional settlement and the referenda on the EU and (potentially) Scotland given that its majority is so small.

Interesting times...

 

[Slam62]

Well, I hate Tories with a passion, but given the options I think this result was the best possible in the circumstances.

Balls, D Alexander, Simon Hughes, Cable, really glad they've all gone, as well as my local mp who was a libdem with a massive majority.

The labour left tweeted leftie messages to each other and assumed they represented the world.

 

[Craterloads]

Probably the most interesting election I've seen in my lifetime and it seems like a real shake up. Kind of felt sorry for the lib dems watching some of their historical figures getting chewed and spat out.

Awesome that Farage got dumped on his behind, at least that will shut up some of their delusional frothing at the mouth supporters on these boards.

 

[StriderX]

To be honest, it's your darling Labour Party and the Tories that have perpetuated the misuse of FPTP over the last few years as it suits them both.
FPTP originates in the mid to late 19th century and was refined a couple of times but was in no way ever intended to be a fair voting system. My God, read up on the original ideas in the mid 1880's and you'll see that this is better than what was, but is far from ideal.
What the cockadoodledoo is wrong with every vote being as important as any other? FPTP leaves our so called democratic system open to 1990's Blair style Gerrymandering which simply couldn't happen under PR.
Look at one party getting 56 MPs for 1.5m votes while another party gets 1 MP for 4m votes. Scandalous is what it would be called in any other walk of life.

Food for thought.

EDIT: Just laughing my head off thinking of that Blackadder episode with Baldrick standing in the rotten borough. Scotland seems like 56 of those rotten boroughs...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotten_and_pocket_boroughs

Only rotten because the establishment made it so.

 

[mushtafa]

I haven't read this thread - it's too long!
So disappointed with it all to be honest. I voted UKIP. Over 4 million votes equates to just 1 seat?! Perhaps I'm too young or un-educated, but I don't understand at all! Doesn't seem fair in the slightest. Almost makes my single vote a complete waste.

 

[robgmun]

Oh yeah i just remembered, the BBC licence fee is up for debate in a couple of years

They must be bricking it for how biased they were during the election, the Tories have long memories

 

[estebanrey]

 

[PapaLazaru]

I haven't read this thread - it's too long!
So disappointed with it all to be honest. I voted UKIP. Over 4 million votes equates to just 1 seat?! Perhaps I'm too young or un-educated

Yep

 

[MrMoonX]

Your vile venom shows what a horrible little man you are. Crying? you ****ing wish, it's at worst bitter-sweet for me and your smugness is bizarre and foolish because Labour and Lib-dems utterly crumbled and your precious Greens went absolutely nowhere, even your commie buddy in arms George Golloway lost his seat in a spectacular fashion, how i howled with laughter when that happened. The left of politics took an absolute beating last night and out of our opposing ideologies, you had the worst night in decades.

UKIP may have not had the night they were hoping for, but they did far from badly, in terms of vote share, the number of people voting for them and the number of 2nd and 3rd places they went from non-existence to now being the new 3rd party in the UK in just 5 years. I hope Farage gets re-elected now just to **

** you off. And UKIP is in a great position for the next election.

I'm glad the Tories got in on a majority because it means 5 years of winding up socialists

I was joking lol, anyway Im glad Galloway went. The greens did well and like UKIP will be pushing for PR. Labour will come back and do a tony on the Tories anyway.

 

[Tunney]

it seems to be that most Labour voters are just upset that their benefits and free stuff are likely to be taken away. I suppose that kinda says it all.

I don't think you understand the modern Labour-voting demographic.

 

[estebanrey]

 

[n111ck]

So is Labour now virtually unelectable whilst Scotland remain in the UK?

 

[SlugForAButt]

I don't think you understand the modern Labour-voting demographic.

And I'd say the same of you.
He makes a valid point, why do you think most inner cities and "deprived" areas vote Labour?
A new housing estate has been built (very nice houses too) half a mile down the road from me, they are all social (council) housing and they exclusively have Labour posters in the windows. I know a few of the occupants and not many of them will be voting in their life. But they know which side their bread is buttered on.