an election where your vote counts

[eFestivals]

The UKIP surge in the UK is even making the news in Ireland on national TV.

Makes for uneasy viewing, especially when they vox pop UKIP voters...........yikes!

thing is, a lot of the support UKIP is getting isn't because they're UKIP. It's much more to do with them not being one of the normal 3 parties.

At the last general election, the LibDems did so well largely because they're not the tories and they're not Labour, but now the LibDems are thought of as just as bad. So, the party that's perceived as next biggest gets the votes.

And then when you throw in the idea that to most people the EU elections don't matter much, it makes it easy for people to vote for them even if they don't like any of the policies. It's not support that'll stick in the general election as anything like as much - but hopefully enough to cost the tories loads of seats.

[LJS]

thing is, a lot of the support UKIP is getting isn't because they're UKIP. It's much more to do with them not being one of the normal 3 parties.

At the last general election, the LibDems did so well largely because they're not the tories and they're not Labour, but now the LibDems are thought of as just as bad. So, the party that's perceived as next biggest gets the votes.

And then when you throw in the idea that to most people the EU elections don't matter much, it makes it easy for people to vote for them even if they don't like any of the policies. It's not support that'll stick in the general election as anything like as much - but hopefully enough to cost the tories loads of seats.

Edited May 18, 2014 by LJS

[strummer77]

At the last general election, the LibDems did so well largely because they're not the tories and they're not Labour, but now the LibDems are thought of as just as bad. So, the party that's perceived as next biggest gets the votes.

[eFestivals]

To be fair the Lib Dems actually did a bit shit, even though they looked like they were going to have a great election day in the weeks leading to it.

it's hard to say that around doubling your vote is doing a bit shit.

The LibDems had a genuine breakthru moment - which isn't something that's coming UKIP's way any time soon - but they very badly fucked up in their desperation for power.

[strummer77]

it's hard to say that around doubling your vote is doing a bit shit.

Edited May 19, 2014 by strummer77

[eFestivals]

They went up 1% in the vote .

fuck me, so they did. I thought it was much more than that.

[eFestivals]

I would think that if UKIP do as well as expected in the EU elections then this is going to create a snowball for them going into the General election. People will view them as a realistic option.

a few morons might, but even most of those morons will quickly realise that UKIP are not any sensible alternative.

Currently 9read newspaper comments!), there's a huge number of people who'll vote for them who think they'r3e a part who support "hard working people", and who support the interests of those "hard working people".

When the truth is they want to hand the country over to big business even more than the tories do.

[strummer77]

fuck me, so they did. I thought it was much more than that.

[eFestivals]

Yeah I remember it was set to be a huge day for them. Polls after the debates had soared. Then the exit polls came in and they had done almost nothing. A lot of people bottled voting for them once they got to the booth.

nah, it's not that. I'd thought they'd only been polling around 15%-ish percent in previous elections. I hadn't realised they'd done4 so much better in 2005.

[kaosmark2]

Lib Dems have got 60-70 MPs for the last 5 elections or so haven't they?

[eFestivals]

Lib Dems have got 60-70 MPs for the last 5 elections or so haven't they?

Not quite that number for all of them, but getting on to that, yeah.

The thing is, their number of MPs doesn't* hold too much relationship to their share of the vote, as their vote tends to hold strong where they have sitting MPs no matter what their share of the vote might do on a national scale.

(* or at least, hasn't done. It'll possibly change now they've been a party of govt).

[windy_miller]

thing is, a lot of the support UKIP is getting isn't because they're UKIP. It's much more to do with them not being one of the normal 3 parties.

[eFestivals]

I picked up a copy of the Mail on Sunday sat on the bar in a pub yesterday and had a flick through. One of headlines on one of the opinion piece pages caught my eye "Here's a reason to vote UKIP!" The main premise of the article was that the BBC and the Guardian hate UKIP and that is why you should vote for them. Absolutely mind boggling stuff, and yet I'm sure there are some idiots out there who are swayed by such nonsense.

PMSL ... and yet, if you read other stuff, there's a huge number of people saying that the BBC and Guardian (and other places) are doing a UKIP love-in, while it's the Hate Mail who hates them.

But yeah, it's *only* the idiots who are being swayed to vote for UKIP. Anyone with half a brain can see they're hugely to the right of the tories.

Unfortunately, the UK like everywhere else mostly has morons as its electorate, as gets shown on every voting occasion.

[ThomThomDrum]

Voter apathy allows for parties such as UKIP to punch above their weight.

It will be the apathetic public who will then ask how/why do people from such parties "represent us", not knowing that the answer is because you were watching Googlebox and could not be fucked voting. Dont blame those who voted for them, blame yourself for not being bothered.

30-40% eligible folk cant be arsed, not realising that if they did they could be a game changer. Its infuriating really

[eFestivals]

Voter apathy allows for parties such as UKIP to punch above their weight.

It will be the apathetic public who will then ask how/why do people from such parties "represent us", not knowing that the answer is because you were watching Googlebox and could not be fucked voting. Dont blame those who voted for them, blame yourself for not being bothered.

30-40% eligible folk cant be arsed, not realising that if they did they could be a game changer. Its infuriating really

exactly - people don't vote at all or people vote idiot, and then wonder why they've got idiots representing them.

This election could have been different, where the idiots didn't win. But instead the idiots voted for FPTP to continue so that the idiots could continue to win. (AV wasn't my first choice either ).

Rather amusingly, in Scotland right now you can see where voting idiot takes you - to claims of a lack of democracy, but only because you've decided to not play the democracy game. The logic of the bedroom republic is as idiot as it gets (tho I can see how it tempts idiot people).

[eFestivals]

PS: and in Scotland, support from 20% of the electorate gets called a landslide, and hailed as better democracy and that people are engaged.

[windy_miller]

Voter apathy allows for parties such as UKIP to punch above their weight.

It will be the apathetic public who will then ask how/why do people from such parties "represent us", not knowing that the answer is because you were watching Googlebox and could not be fucked voting. Dont blame those who voted for them, blame yourself for not being bothered.

30-40% eligible folk cant be arsed, not realising that if they did they could be a game changer. Its infuriating really

[eFestivals]

I was an apathetic voter until I realized that UKIP had a chance of doing quite well at this election. That has spurred me on to vote for someone else.

Also, thanks to Neil for pointing out that the European Elections are Proportional Representation (I wasn't aware of this - or maybe I was and had forgotten).

good to hear that you'll be motivating yourself to vote against UKIP - that was the very point of me starting this thread.

[feral chile]

I'm rather pleased that my 19 year old is sufficiently motivated to check all the parties out and join me at 7am on Thursday to vote.

[zero000]

Unsure whether to vote Labour or Greens. Anyone else toying with that too?

[feral chile]

Unsure whether to vote Labour or Greens. Anyone else toying with that too?

[zero000]

Have you had a go at one of these?

http://votematch.org.uk/

[feral chile]

Yeah I had a go at the vote for policies website and it came out as an even split between the two. Not very helpful then

[LondonTom]

Unsure whether to vote Labour or Greens. Anyone else toying with that too?

[ThomThomDrum]