It's within a week till election day on Thursday July the 4th. If you could vote in the election, who would you support?

(Limited to parties standing nationally across Great Britain, there aren't enough options to include everyone from Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales)

You didn't include 'undecided', or 'none of the candidates listed'.

I really feel there should be an option of: 'I'd like to exercise my democratic right to vote in this election, but I don't like any of the available options' on the actual ballot paper...

I agree. For the first time in a general election, I am not only undecided about who should have my vote but also completely unswayed by anything that's on offer.

It's really come down to who to vote for to remove the current incumbent rather than who to vote for due to their manifesto

Several replies reflect disenchantment with everything on offer.
Looking around the world, I think we are incredibly lucky in the UK.
No-one has been locked up for standing in the election, poisoned or fallen from a high building.
There are more than five choices in almost every constituency, a record number of candidates, in fact.
Has anyone been prevented from expressing their view? Does anyone seriously believe that the count is going to be rigged?
Anyway, I've just enjoyed voting Labour in your poll, just as I've voted Labour by post in the real thing.
It's not going to put everything right, not even in five years.
But Labour will be a change for the better.
In 1945, against all the odds, a Labour government was elected which provided the NHS, began building houses, expanded education and improved life chances. That was the world I was born into a bit later.
It can happen again. If Labour fails, all that may remain is the hard right.
Vote while you can.
Peter

Mine is LD as it's a tactical vote. They had the second highest number of votes (35%) after the Torys (54%) so to get the torys out the LDs give us the best chance.

That being said, recent polls put it on a 3 horse race with La, Con and LD all about equal on 25%

The only party to engage has been Reform on social media...unfortunately he was terrible; Antagonistic, said some woeful things (When asked about woke ideology said it was "causing more suicides and pain in young people than any other ideology in history" and "an attack on free speech"), got a mate in from London to argue for him, Anti-vax, not a great businessman (if tax records can be believed) and claimed to have personally solved the MRSA problem in the 90s...then he said some really bad things.

Greens and labour have popped in once, spoke well but briefly and very much party line and don't vote for the LDs as they use a biased poll, so look at this totally not biased poll and vote for us.

Honestly I can see why Reform are getting traction as they are actually getting stuck in, even if they tend to shoot themselves in the foot to anyone who isn't already in with their manifesto/contract/way of thinking.

Scarily, Reform are not the worst I have seen in terms of bigotry. There was a "Party of Women" whose tag line is "Dare to be Honest" and just attacked the Trans and NB community. At a local hustings she just stood there and screeched at anyone who didn't agree with her...which was everyone.

If my choice had to be out of the five listed it would be The Greens. I know some think they're not to be trusted and weirdos but they couldn't do any worse than The Tories have done since 2010.

I have voted in every election, be it local or national,.since I turned 18. I voted Labour in 1997, Liberal Democrat once in the early 2000s but since I've only ever voted for the SNP as they are the only party that wants Scotland to thrive as a nation on it's own feet and under its own governance. Our resources have been pilfered by consecutive governments for their own benefits and to finance the financial City of London. Yes, some of their policies may have been decisive but largely have been successful and beneficial to the people of Scotland. All we Scots who want Independence is to be governed by ourselves and an equal partner in any future dealings with England. The chance to make our own decisions and our own mistakes and to decide our own path and future.

I'm in a very safe Labour area so can't make much of a difference voting, but I will always vote because we can, and we know what it's like in places where you can't. Being on a couple of local amenity groups I sometimes get a voice in wider local democratic mechanisms so I feel have have some political agency and that in some ways it's more useful being closer to the ground than the national government. Starmer may be dull but at least he's not wanting to play fast and loose with our institutional checks and balances.

We may bemoan our choice but I'm just glad we are not having to choose between the American presidential candidates - sheesh!

Vote for an independent candidate as all candidates need to get a minimum number of votes for them to receive their deposit back and for the independents that's far more important than it is for political parties.

It will be interesting to compare the outcome with your poll results!

Depends where you are. In this election, tactical voting is more important than ever before, so if someone's in a marginal they need to decide who's best placed to achieve the outcome they want. In a safe seat though people can chose to support minor parties or independents.


That's partly why I started it, the poll will close about mid-day on actual electuon day, be very interesting to see how the UMD constituency compares with the real ones.

Hmmmm who is best placed to achieve the outcome that I want? I want the board of directors at each water company to be required to take up wild swimming in the waterways that they are responsible for polluting.

There are much bigger issues going on but that is one point which would make me smile.

Absolutely right! Water company bosses have received £25 million in bonuses since 2019, according to the Labour Party, who have promised to bring in proper controls. Water companies are monopoly suppliers of an essential item which every household is required to pay for by law. It is not as if they have to show any entrepreneurial flair or take any risks. They have failed to invest in improvements and watched over an essential service failing. Nothing illustrates better why voting is important and we need to vote for change. Peter.

Count Binface actually has "Make water company CEOs swim in UK rivers" in his manifesto. Other major policies are: Compulsory national service for former Prime Ministers, and cap the price of Croissants at £1.10 each. Here in Langstonedale, we approve of this!

See attached front page from the Daily Star.

If you live in Richmond, you can vote for him (against the PM):
https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/elections/parl.richmond-and-northallerton.2024-07-04/richmond-and-northallerton/

Hi Dungeonmaster One

I wouldn't say that tactical voting is more or less important at this election than any others, and I (genuinely) wonder why you say that it is. Tactical voting has always been an option for people happy to vote for what they see as a lesser evil, and it remains so, but I am unsure of the evidence for it being more important.

I would also politely disagree with the statement "if someone's in a marginal they need to decide who's best placed to achieve the outcome they want. In a safe seat though people can chose to support minor parties or independents"

I live in a marginal. The outcome I want is for a party with policies I can vote for without feeling nauseous, to be elected. The only way that will happen is if I and others vote for them. So the party who is best placed to achieve the outcome I want in my marginal seat IS a supposedly minor party. They probably won't be elected, but they certainly won't if I don't vote for them..and may even feel their policy platform isn't supported.

If I vote for the lesser of 2 evils, on the other hand, I will still end up with evil, and will also send a clear message to that party that it is fine to lurch further and further to the right, dropping principles and commitments by the score, on the basis that people on the left will still vote for them whatever they do because they are slightly less abhorrent than the other major party. I cannot do that. If that party wants my vote, which it has had before, it needs to regain it's conscience.

Meanwhile, whoever is elected, I would love to see them move to a form of proportional representation

Two things: -

Don't vote, it only encourages them.

It doesn't matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.

Actually you can just write that on a ballot paper without ticking any box. It is counted as a spoiled paper.

With all due respect to you, there are many people in countries like Russia, China and other autocratic states all over the world who have, and will continue to, loose their lives and liberty seeking the freedom to vote for their government.
Maybe we really do have an awful method of "democratic" government. But most of the other systems that have tried are so much worse.
Peter

It always shocks me how few people vote. I have voted in every general and local council election since I was old enough to. Admittedly I tactical vote in the general. With our rotten first past the post system it's the only way to make my vote count.
This time for me it's not about manifestos. Especially not when good old Liz showed us exactly how a PM who wasn't elected by a general election can take a wrecking ball to the manifesto that got her party elected as well as our economy. Anything other than reform is an improvement on the current government. So long as we have a PM who's been elected and therefore has some chance of running the government rather than spending their time trying to herd cats it'll be an improvement. Having said that I'm really hopeful that the conservatives lose huge numbers of seat and that the Lib Dem's and Greens gain enough seats to be heard more in government. I am so fed up of the lack of good political ideas and progress.

After 76 votes in this poll, here is a remarkable thing.
When you work out the percentage support for each party;
Labour 37%
Green 25%
Reform 18%
LibDem 12%
Con 8%
these figures are very close to national poll ratings, with the exception that the Green Party and Conservatives have exchanged places.
I put these percentages into the website, "Electoral Calculus" which produces a prediction for the number of seats each party would win, on any given share of the national vote.
Labour 449
LibDem 76
Green 71
Reform 16
Con 1

I wonder how close these figures will be to the real thing! Heres hoping!
Peter

I think he was trying to be funny!

I feel like I need to know who the 16 racist xenophobic people on here who voted for reform are so I can block them

Sadly, Reform looks like being the big story of the night - no getting away from it, I'm afraid.

The real votes are mostly counted, we have a truly monumental Labour landslide, over 400 seats.

A disastrous night for the SNP, reduced to single figures. A great night for the Greens, they now have four MPs. Though so do the far-right Reform party. A fabulous result for the Liberal Democrats, with 70 MPs, their highest numbers ever.

and the next scandal in 3, 2, 1..... Go

All crooks. Makes me laugh that people think that anything will change. Different people, same lies

I am genuinely sad that you feel like this. Surely not "All?" If we are to have any system of government (to provide schools, hospitals, roads, police and welfare) how is it to be done?
Labour has a huge majority, and I rejoice because I believe Sir Keir Starmer when he talks about "service."
But, elected on only 34% of the national vote, he must work fast to restore some faith in our democracy.
Peter

Watch this... It's all True!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKAeO-5saqQ&pp=ygUMam9uYXRoYW4gcGll

This is the torrie legacy

Its called 56 years of the same old crap

Fix the NHS. Will never happen. Had this discussion already in here elsewhere. It's too far gone to ever come back. Too many people sponging off the system, too much management (and I work as a sub contractor to the NHS... I see it first hand).

We can't even build a railway half way up the country.

Stop the boats? Hasn't happened, will never happen. If they have not stopped it by now, then what will change.

Housing? Paving over countryside isn't the answer.
The Isle of man gov has a law that you cannot sit on empty property for more than 12 months. Bring that in here.

High streets? Dead and will never return unless a solar flare takes out the internet.
Turn all these white washed, scruffy, empty properties that will never be anything except charity shops and convert them to affordable housing.

All these empty pubs that will never come back could be converted to flats if they altered the planning laws.

Climate change... ha. Now they are talking of charging electric cars to go into London, even though they don't emit anything. Madness.

There are ZERO incentives for me or anyone else to go or stay with an electric vehicle.
As I said earlier, my EV is going next year and I fully intend to go back to fossil fuel. 2035 fossil fuel deadline? ... that will get kicked down the road again. We are SO far away from being ready its embarrassing.

Super low turnout for the voting and that is because everyone is just tired of the same old spam

I hope I am wrong.

But I bet I ain't

I hope every one who feels as you do reacts as you do by joining in discussions and voicing their opinions.
Personally I am really hopeful. I wasn't hopeful when Blair got in there was just something about his smile. Dispute a childhood in the hideous me me me of the thatcher years I knew things could actually get worse.
I wasn't hopeful when the Tories kicked Browns Labour out even though I felt Brown would bankrupt the country with stupid moves like selling off the gold when the price was at record low and we had a coalition with the Lib Dem's to balance out the Tory madness.
For the first time I'm genuinely hopeful that the elected government will bring about changes that positively affect all of us. The election was Thursday, on Friday the cabinet formed and as promised it was as close to the shadow cabinet as they could be.
On Saturday they had a cabinet meeting followed by a press conference. They promised to start work straight away and they promised to strive to be honest, transparent and accountable. They started that on Saturday.
Today Starmer started his visits to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This will be followed by international visits and then returning home for the meeting of the European Political community. He's promised to listen and strive to work with others for the good of the country and I actually believe he will.
Lastly the hand over has happened in an efficient dignified manner without the petty allegations and refusals to take responsibility that we've come to expect from our politicians. It's a bloody miracle and one even an optimist like me wouldn't have dared hope for.

Ha ha... as I rant about EV's, they plan to introduce charging EVs for going into London

Are they stupid?

The congestion charge (not Ulez) was because FOSSIL FUEL cars were causing pollution due to the amount of vehicles in central London. Fine, I have no issue with that.

So, how does my mentally expensive EV add to the pollution exactly? (Apart from the pollution from building it, charging it, disposing of it etc.... but that's a whole other rant)

I have no issue with road Tax for EV's, as I am using the road as much as the next person, but you can't move the goalposts when it suits you.

They really don't want EV drivers to stay EV drivers do they.

My neighbour has owned an EV Hyundai for a year and took the hit and just changed back to a diesel Range rover. He won't go back.

My £44k EV is now only valued at 18k 18 months later and I have only done 15k miles. I can't give it away. All I can do is wait until the 3 year finance is up and hand it back.

But I won't get stung like that again. Big, fat diesel pickup for me next. Sorry Government, you blew it