Gordon Brown will announce on Tuesday morning that the general election will, as expected, be held on 6 May.

So who will you vote for, and who do you think will win?

I will probably spoil my ballot in protest,

But with that said I genuinely hate my MP so I may vote just to get her out. I don't know who to vote for, Labour are useless, the tories like to lie alot and David Cameron has no grasp on the latest educational research and has already had heavy criticism from the teaching unions over his policies. He is also a bit of a Micro-Blair and I find it difficult to trust a man who reminds me of a snake oil salesman.

The Liberals have no chance and until they make a decision on where they would fall in the event of a hung parliament they don't win my vote.

Locally I won't vote for Plaid Cymru (Welsh party) because they are a bunch of ultimately Xenophobic people who believe that if you don't speak welsh then you are some kind of second class citizen.

There is no one I trust to do the right thing, and therefore no one I can vote for, and I doubt that I am alone in this.

don't have a clue, i just go with who ever my mum goes with

I have no clue atm who to vote for, coz i was favouring one party over the other till today and read something that made me say a lot of swear words so now am really undecided but all i can say is that they are pretty much as bad as one another, seems like its been proved they are pretty much all out to line their own pockets first and foremost, but I also think Brown made a huge mistake not stopping the bankers (who we bailed out) from their usual fat cat bonuses, alot more swear words here.....

You don't have a set election day? Isn't that a bit short notice? I just ask as here we can tell you when election day will be 100 years from now (maybe).

also GET OUT AND VOTE

We don't have a written constitution, but the Prime Minister can call an election at any time of his choosing, But an election has to be called within 5 years of the previous one.

Like what has already been said here, they are all the same, just a different colour coat. None of them keep to their campaign promises. None of them really care about the people who live in the UK. I think I would be tempted by the BNP, if they weren´t a bunch of ass******s. So it will probably be a hung parliament, and I wish they could all be hung.
Sad times, in my opinion.

WHY? WHATS THE POINT?
I know I will cause a few of you to go.... "Oh no hes' here again.."
But... Who would you trust to vote for?
Which party is actually going to do what it sets out and promisses us it will do "On Our behalf"?
Which politician would you trust with your Money?

I think everyone on Darkside Knows my feelings for Politicians of any Party...
I will not be voting, Nor will any of my Family..call us cynical, call us stupid if you like but,I have seen too many things that suggest to me that it REALLY does`nt matter who you vote for they will only EVER do what puts money in Their pockets and looks after their own interests...I have spoken to our Local politicians many times but have failed to get a straight answer or help from them for anything!..
Voting just gives the upper classes a feeling of supiriority over us "Normal" People...look under my avatar and see what I really think.

The Pirate Party might appeal to some pirates who dont (or wont) vote - they only have 10 candidates though...

Personally I'd like to see a hung parliament too- preferably all 600+ off them

Screaming Lord Sutch may be sadly departed, but the Monster Raving Loony Party lives on....

Given the alternatives, they deserve our support.

Well, Iv been firing off emails to my local MP regarding the 'UK Digital Economy Bill' and I hope you all been doing the same.

I'm a Labour man right through, just like a stick of rock...but like cozmic says, I'm tempted to vote BNP this time.

Why? well I figure when people voted for the 'Green Party' and they looked like they could become a force in UK politics, suddenly the mainstream political parties stole their clothes.

We need a more reasoned approach to the way we deal with people originally from outside the UK, in my opinion.

Maybe a protest vote will get the politicians to sit up and take notice, maybe even put the Interests of the true British people first.

Before you shout racist, I'm no racist, but enough is enough and I'm tired of feeling like a second class citizen in my own country.

I think voting for the BNP in the hope that they'll get enough support to make the other parties lean in the direction of their policies is a very dangerous game to play. If you vote for the BNP then do it because you want to live in a far Right Wing system not because you want to register a protest vote.

My advice is be careful what you wish for.

If you want to protest then spoil your ballot paper, this is then counted as a protest and the numbers of spoiled ballots are published along with all the other results.

+++1
Many of us that would not have voted for Bush if he was the last politician on earth thought we were doing the right thing by voting 3rd party in 2000 to send the dems a message and look how close that election was and what has happened since.

Bush was the leader of a minority political party?...I think you're missing the point.

As to playing a dangerous game, we can hardly be playing a more dangerous game than we are right now.

You could always look at it another way. Which party do you NOT want in power, then vote against them.

It's not quite that straight forward. There were around 60 political parties in the 2005 UK elections that received over 500 votes. There were some others as well that got less than 500 votes and didn't make this list. That's a lot of parties to choose from.

Yes, but realistically the only 2 parties that have a chance of getting into power are either Labour or Conservative.

Voting for the other parties may give them a seat or two, but not enough to give them any real power or say over what is happening, so a vote for them could be considered a waste.

You may as well make a difference and vote for the 2 main parties, or spoil your paper in protest.

The Republicans were not a minority party they had the majority in Congress at the time. There are only two parties here that qualify for fed funding the Republicans and Democrats, when you look at Fed, State, and Local politics even now the are still neck and neck. We were a bit miffed by the Dems in Congress and there was a movement to get the greens over the .05% of the vote to get them equal Fed funding. Not many of us thought bush really had a chance so when we backed the greens to censure the Dems we gave Bush the election. Which fits exactly with Badogs statement of being careful of voting for a different side out of protest. Its led us to financial crisis and very unpopular wars.

Here it is strait from Hillary's mouth Hillary Clinton: Ralph Nader cost us "greenest prez"

That's why the ? mark was put in.....

Maybe you, as a US voter get as many minority parties to vote for as we have here in the UK?......Not!

The scenario mapped out, is never going to happen, as Badog know only to well.

The day we do I will dance a jig as Im not really in line with either. A 2 party system is tyranny by gridlock.

was only trying to give a well documented example of the possible mayhem

May I revert My Learned friend to my last post on this subject.....

Realistcally yes.. Labor or Conservative are going head to head..Theoretically they will need Liberal Democrats to back them should either party not be able to get enough votes to get the proportional representaion required to form a new Government ...i.e Hung Parliament...yes I know they should all be Hung..then Drawn and quartered..

Bruv, you hit the nail on the head!!!

I don't know who I'm voting for but at least there's other people out there that share my thoughts...so thank you for your opinion!!!

If you want something you haven't tried before, then you'll have to give the LibDems a chance as they're the only ones who have a reasonable chance of beating both Labour and Conservatives. If you were disgusted by the way MPs have been claiming taxpayer money for ridiculous expenses, then you'll actually have to go and vote them out (you can register to vote until April 20th).

I thought I'd share this website with you. It tells you the stats involved in your constituency and the likelyhood of it changing hands during the election. I live in a particularly 'weak' constituency. link.

i'll be voting labour, the thought of the tories in charge sends shivers up my spine!
and don't even get me started on the nationalist pricks here in scotland

Its the same here in Wales, I can't stand them and they don't seem to have and understanding of what the general welsh population actually want. They are only interested in promoting their own agenda.

Maybe this quick survey," Vote for Policies not Personalities" may help those who are either undecided, confused about the complete lack of choice or those who blindly follow trends and simply cant understand the spin and bullsh*t political rhetoric to make an informed and unbiased decision about who to vote for -- the results may be surprising! and hopefully will help you decide


But whatever you do, Please use your right to vote - even (or especially) if its only to spoil your ballot paper

I agree completely Charnel, everyone should head to the ballot box and make their protests felt, even spoilt ballots are counted.

ADL, Whilst I can see the point about the Liberal Democrats it has been proven time and time again in a First Past the Post voting system third parties are almost always discriminated against and can never accumulate enough seats to even form the opposition. Whilst I agree that they are the only viable alternative and also the only group with a remote chance at winning the next election I find it unlikely.

However they will have my vote I think as I have been firing emails off at the candidates in my area on various issues and the Libdem candidate is the only one who has answered my questions in a timely manner (to date the tories has not responded to one of my emails).

Incidently Charnel, that website of yours tells me that my leanings are 75% green party and 25% BNP Never saw that coming

The first live 'debate' (and I use that word in the loosest possible sense) between the leaders of the 3 main parties will air on TV tonight in the U.K
To make the whole experience more bearable for anyone watching, I suggest you do so while simultaneously viewing the following web-page:
http://www.slapometer.com/

well i don't have a clue to vote for... anyone know who is gonna scrap the new law that is coming in against us pirates?

Why do you think it is that there are only two parties with any chance of winning an election in Britain? Because people say things like "There's no point in me voting, the same old parties get in anyway" and "Voting for the other parties may give them a seat or two, but not enough to give them any real power or say over what is happening, so a vote for them could be considered a waste"

If everyone with a grievance would use their vote how they ought instead of voting for one of the two major parties because "there's no point doing otherwise" then we wouldn't be in this mess. Politicians would worry about election day.

I'm pretty sure Bastet's said all this before.

It's all been said before by many people many times, but it's still going to be a Labour or Conservative win. The Libs have a very slim outside chance but I don't see it happening.

Nevertheless, if they get enough seats and there's a hung parliament (which is a very possible outcome), then they will have some serious political clout in the Government. Mr Clegg could play kingmaker in such a scenario - effectively deciding the fate of the Tory and Labour leaders depending on who he allies himself with.
Also, their popularity has improved dramatically (14%) following the tv programme mentioned in s-n's post above where the leader of the Lib Dems "outshone" the others in the live debate
After the programme had finished, a survey of the voting intentions of 4,000 people who watched the debate put the Lib Dems on 35 per cent, just behind the Tories on 36 per cent with Labour trailing on 24.

And, William Hill bookies have slashed the odds on an outright Lib Dem victory from 300/1 to 25/1 on the back of the result, the shortest they have ever been.

more here


I Dont think there's a great deal of difference in their policies compared with the other two's though, it's all pretty much the same dour, restrictive balderdash







LOL that would be the "Rainbow Nazi's" then?

The Libs did come off much better during the debate. I thought Brown was terrible though.

Like you say, there isn't much difference in the Libs manifesto, it would come down to whether they could implement it with less bullshit and bureaucracy than Labour.

I think the Libs could be good for the country, but the problem is they are a large unknown. It's so long since they were in power we don't know if they could do it. (or I should say do it no less worse)

The next debate could yield some funny moments, as both Cameron and Brown's performances were criticised and they'll obviously try to compensate for that in the next one. We could see Gordon Brown use his 'infamous' smiley face at the audience as the debate-analysts said that he never addressed or looked at the member of the audience whose question was used

I think they would shake up politics and that would definitely be a good thing as for them being able to run the country I don't think that's an issue as its the civil service runs the country the goverment just tells them how!

My ideology is that of a smaller state and lower taxes so I suppose I should vote tory, only problem is I wouldn't trust Cameron as far as I could throw him just looks like Blair with a blue rosette to me and that's not good for this country.

Brown along with the previous tory goverment are responsible for the financial mess we're in right now some of his decisions as Chancellor left us in the mess we're in now, funny how he decided to admit that before the first public debate lol. This he somehow believes makes him qualified to get us out of this mess.

Clegg in the debate did have come across well most importantly honest. While the other two clashed over the national insurance increase which is really a smoke screen for the true reality of the cuts we face Clegg did admit the severity of the problem we're in. He also has in Vince Cable the only potential Chancellor with a proven track record in finance before he came to politics he was a financial director for Shell, neither Darling or Osbourne can say this.

It would be great to have a real change to politics in this country unfortunately I still don't think it will happen I will watch the other debates with interest though. Unfortunately I feel I have to vote labour because of where I work and my own future.

Well Gordon Brown stuck both feet in his mouth with his private remarks about Gillian Duffy being a bigoted woman. Here's his original conversation with her during a walkabout and here's his remarks in the car afterward.

I'm not even sure why he called her a bigoted woman, from what I saw she expressed genuine concerns in an educated manner. She broached the subject of immigrants entitlements but not in a way that would have warranted her being labeled as a bigot. The conversation obviously raised issues that poor Gordon didn't have the usual squeaky clean choreographed answers lined up ready to deliver.

Thats made my day that has
This just adds to my Feeling for the Politicians..two faced Lying Bas...ect..ect the lot of em I loved it when he put his head in his hands..I really hope I live to see him and Tony B lair in the dock with the same expression on their faces..I think we can all safely say That is prolly the last nail in the coffin lid of Labor..... I just hope some of the other Tyrants are caught with their parrabolic Microphones stuffed up their Jacksies....

Very eloquently put Knightron. Funnily enough I thought of you when I posted above......not sure why????

I wouldn't be surprised if Gillian, who up until then had been an ardent Labour supporter, might have changed allegiances. A couple more of these and the Pirate Party might end up with more seats than expected by default.

I just love to see these Politicians have to answer real questions from real people and when the Real person does`nt accept the carbon copy answers the politicians give they fall to bits and act like the children they are and resort to Name calling and questioning the persons mental state..
I tell ya Badog That really has made my Day...I have tears in my eyes I`m laughing so much......

Following Brown's election killing move, the day gets better for Labour.

Labour candidates are falling left, right and now of course, Gordon Brown's centre!

I love what happened. I look forward to tomorrow nights final debate.

i cant wait for brown to lose big time
ukip for me

but if only that would happen then out of europe
for good shut the borders ,ports and airports to the spongers
and scum from around the world that labour let in

I wonder if this will get mentioned during tomorrow's last TV debate? The incident may actually help Gordon Brown as he tends to put on the sad puppy charm when he's been drummed into a humble underdog corner. The many scandals he's survived so far, as testimony to that. I guess we'll hear him talk more about his wife & kids and poor background, tomorrow -- prepare to be charmed

On the other hand, the Conservatives have been playing up fears about how a hung parliament could see Labour back in government - an incident like this may cause some Labour supporters to think that they can vote LibDem to protest, knowing they'll still get Labour back into a LibDem-Labour coalition government at the same time.

I have to say, that in all the debates I've seen, the LibDem representative always made the best impression. UKIP's Lord Pearson didn't fare so well, lol (sorry, oldbastard )


EDIT :: that "Sue" that Brown mentioned, will likely take a hike from his team now, no?

Earlier on, I was listening to the Lib-Dems' leader Nick Clegg giving an interview on Radio 4 - the subject of Brown's 'gaffe' was the first question - his take was "Oh well, everybody's human & he's already apologized, so now lets get back to the real issues of policy etc" (or words to that effect)
That being said, the whole interview was a little too soon after the event, so I'm sure the respective teams of spin doctors from all 3 major parties will be working flat-out overnight to see if there is any mileage in this etc - modern politics in the 'information age' being all about managing sound-bites and so on

I actually couldn't figure out what he was so annoyed about after the chat with Gillian Duffy. She was a historical Labour supporter who raised genuine issues mainly regarding health care, the national deficit and pensions and she still confirmed she was a Labour voter after the chat. All in all it was the best result there was ever going to be and Gordon Brown came away looking in tact.......well at least till he opened his big mouth in the car. But I just don't get why he called her a bigoted woman and why was he so annoyed with his personal assistants about being put with Gillian during the walkabout?

"Labour was forced to suspend another candidate today after he boasted about his sex life and made offensive comments on the internet."

My guess is he was only trying to fit in

Personally I don't see how what she said made her a bigot but I guess having concerns about immigration makes you a bigot and probably a racist in Gordons eyes. Maybe that's why the politicians are so scared of talking about it. My only concern is that people come here for work that is clearly available while there are family's with generations who have never worked or have any intention of doing so. Why the hell do we pay these people benefits. I'm stopping before I rant All this politics in the last few weeks I can't take much more. Like a fool I took an interest after the first debate but god they make me mad I think if one knocked on my door right now I might answer the door prepared

A have never voted before but will be this time .Since david cameron said on one of the debates he was going to make retirement age 66 when he gets in he has lost my vote and the emergency budget he plans within 50 days concerns me a will decide on polling day im undecided the now its no labour or conservative

More good news for Labour today.