General Election 2015

[Alty]

What is your constituency?

Putney. Tories should hold on but Labour have won it in recent times.

 

[GodsGift]

The ward I live in is taken up by countryside and farmers, so will always be a safe Tory seat.

Grimsby on the other hand, which is where I work, is more of an interesting one. Labour veteran Austin Mitchell is retiring after almost 40 years, and his replacement - a young, 30 something single mum, cherry-picked by the unions and a former Labour HQ staffer - is not proving particularly popular with the electorate. UKIP has identified it as one of their target seats and I expect to see Farage make a visit or two in the coming months.

 

[Red]

It will be interesting to see who will suffer more greatly from UKIP splitting the vote.

 

[Mr. Scruff]

No chance I will absentee ballot as our democratic system is pathetic beyond belief but if I did I'd vote Green.

 

[SUTSS]

By not voting you just become part of the problem.

 

[Mr. Scruff]

Nope thats just simplistic bullshit.

 

[CFC91]

If I vote back home I will vote Labour - not because I like them or rate Milliband but our local MP Dennis Skinner is a top bloke, one of the last proper politicians. Labour win that seat with 70% of the vote and it is probably one of the safest seats around. When he retires, or dies, it will be very interesting to see what happens as alot vote for the person not the party.

 

[Tilbury]

My uni seat (Nottingham east) is very safe Labour and probably will remain come June. The interesting bit will be who comes second and third. The Libs are currently second but considering there's a large student population I'm quite hopeful they can't be destroyed with the Greens, hopefully, picking up a lot of that support.
At home, in Basildon South & Thurrock East, I suspect UKIP will do very well. Quite a working class area where they already have 5.9% of the vote along with the BNP who have 5.6%, most of which will probably evaporate into UKIP support. Wouldn't be surprised to see a very close three way with Cons, Lab and UKIP all on around 30%.
Thurrock also very nearby and they'll do even better there. If they win anything in Essex I predict it'll be that.

 

[CFC91]

Not even sure what constituency I am in here in Manchester let alone who the MP's are so if I am up here on election day I doubt i'll even bother. Not very good coming from a Politics Graduate I know..

 

[Gilly?]

I be voting Green innit.

 

[Alty]

Not very good coming from a Politics Graduate I know..

Surely the GE should be of at least some interest to you!?

Almost all of Manchester is tribal Labour. And LDs will fade badly in areas they previously had a foothold like Withington, Cheadle, Stockport etc. I'm intrigued to see whether the Kippers make progress in some of the outer fringe seats bordering Lancs though...

 

[Tilbury]

Also reckon it'll be the highest turnout at a general election since "97. Complete apathy for the established three but the rise of the fringe parties (SNP, Greens and UKIP) should help to push it up.

 

[CFC91]

Surely the GE should be of at least some interest to you!?

Almost all of Manchester is tribal Labour. And LDs will fade badly in areas they previously had a foothold like Withington, Cheadle, Stockport etc. I'm intrigued to see whether the Kippers make progress in some of the outer fringe seats bordering Lancs though...

I will follow no doubt and as the campaigns gather pace I assume my interest will develop but from a voting point of view I don't see me voting for candidates I know nothing about and if it was left down to voting for a individual party then I genuinely can't pick a preference currently - the ideologies are so similar in the top 2 (+Lib Dems) that the political spectrum almost doesn't exist anymore, and most of the hot topics none of the parties are tough enough to tackle - immigration, NHS et al.

From a democratic point of view the rise of the Green/UKIP should give more accountability to the bigger parties and provide a concern at least which they haven't previously which might mean some might actually face up to promises made in manifesto's regarding the issues that matter to the people - the one's on the ground in the UK that affect people's lives which I don't think Labour or the Tories have done in recent years as a lot of power has been devolved away to the EU - or a lot of focus has been on foreign affairs and maintaining and creating relations abroad.

If I had a vote now it would be for UKIP if anyone, but I hope this changes in the coming months but I am fairly anti EU and think that we deserve at least a referendum on the matter - we got the chance to vote into the EU in the early 70's, why should we not get a vote whether we stay, the EU my grandparents voted us into was the EC/EEC which was a economic body with economic advantages - not it is a political body involved in legislature as much as economics - of the goal posts have changed that much I think we deserve a say and I think the EU costs us more than we gain from it - if Norway and Switzerland can have the economic advantages without the political devolution, I think we can do the same.

But for a Politics student my interest has wained since leaving Uni and taking a job not related - my only real interest I keep up to date with is Security, Defence issues in far flung countries which I still enjoy learning about.

 

[SUTSS]

Latest Lord Ashcroft poll the first in 34 years to have the Conservatives and Labour at less than 30%.

Con 29, Lab 28, UKIP 15, LD 9, Green 11

 

[Tilbury]

I always assume (perhaps I'm wrong in this case) that the most disliked political function of the EU is the open border immigration. So it always amuses me when Norway or Switzerland are seen as exemplars to follow when both have (far) higher immigration levels per capita than us and similar free movement agreements in place with the EU.

 

[Techno Natch]

I have utterly no idea who to vote for this time. I went with the Lib Dems last time but I
can't see that happening again.

I will most likely vote green as I do agree with most of the points they make.

Sadly I can only see a conservative win.

 

[Alty]

I always assume (perhaps I'm wrong in this case) that the most disliked political function of the EU is the open border immigration. So it always amuses me when Norway or Switzerland are seen as exemplars to follow when both have (far) higher immigration levels per capita than us and similar free movement agreements in place with the EU.

Immigration has only really been the main concern for the last few years. Longstanding grievances include the loss of sovereignty, democratic deficit, subjugation of national courts, financial wastefulness etc etc etc.

I can't ever envisage a UK with very low levels of immigration. But I think a degree of control a la Australia (who also welcome quite large numbers) is sensible.

 

[Red]

I will follow no doubt and as the campaigns gather pace I assume my interest will develop but from a voting point of view I don't see me voting for candidates I know nothing about and if it was left down to voting for a individual party then I genuinely can't pick a preference currently - the ideologies are so similar in the top 2 (+Lib Dems) that the political spectrum almost doesn't exist anymore, and most of the hot topics none of the parties are tough enough to tackle - immigration, NHS et al.

From a democratic point of view the rise of the Green/UKIP should give more accountability to the bigger parties and provide a concern at least which they haven't previously which might mean some might actually face up to promises made in manifesto's regarding the issues that matter to the people - the one's on the ground in the UK that affect people's lives which I don't think Labour or the Tories have done in recent years as a lot of power has been devolved away to the EU - or a lot of focus has been on foreign affairs and maintaining and creating relations abroad.

If I had a vote now it would be for UKIP if anyone, but I hope this changes in the coming months but I am fairly anti EU and think that we deserve at least a referendum on the matter - we got the chance to vote into the EU in the early 70's, why should we not get a vote whether we stay, the EU my grandparents voted us into was the EC/EEC which was a economic body with economic advantages - not it is a political body involved in legislature as much as economics - of the goal posts have changed that much I think we deserve a say and I think the EU costs us more than we gain from it - if Norway and Switzerland can have the economic advantages without the political devolution, I think we can do the same.

But for a Politics student my interest has wained since leaving Uni and taking a job not related - my only real interest I keep up to date with is Security, Defence issues in far flung countries which I still enjoy learning about.

I wonder what Dennis Skinner, a politician you admire so much, would make of you wanting to vote UKIP.

 

[Pyeman]

Like many others, I really have no idea who to vote for.

Voting for UKIP isn't something I'd be willing to consider. Realistically, that leaves Labour or the Conservatives.

I'm a teacher, and so the last few years of Gove haven't done anything to convince me that voting Tory is the way to go. Unfortunately Nicky Morgan looks no better so far. With education being such a significant part of my life it's something I'm going to have to take into consideration.

I also worry about Conservative plans for the NHS. I know it's an easy band-wagon to jump on at the minute with there seemingly being a new crisis every week, but I do question how far the Tories are willing to go to protect the vital services provided by the NHS.

On the other hand, do I trust Ed Miliband with the economy? I wouldn't trust him with my fucking laundry. I've tried to take in as much politics as possible over the last few months and he just doesn't fill me with any confidence at all that he would be an effective Prime Minister. I actually think David Cameron as an individual is far more likeable, and for all my concerns about the Conservatives, they have got our economy back on track. I know people will criticise the speed of the recovery, but we're doing better than most countries.

So, to summarise, I don't have a Scooby who to vote for. Suggestions welcome.

 

[Tilbury]

Immigration has only really been the main concern for the last few years. Longstanding grievances include the loss of sovereignty, democratic deficit, subjugation of national courts, financial wastefulness etc etc etc.

I can't ever envisage a UK with very low levels of immigration. But I think a degree of control a la Australia (who also welcome quite large numbers) is sensible.

I think most of those are valid concerns, some of which I share.
With our population structure and the way in which its heading we really can't afford low levels of immigration.

Ignore, already posted.

 

[CFC91]

I wonder what Dennis Skinner, a politician you admire so much, would make of you wanting to vote UKIP.

I said if I had to vote now it would be those I am likely to vote for - but realistically wouldn't vote at all. I'll inly vote if im at home and will vote for Skinner.

My anti -EU sentiment only derives from the research I did for my dissertation where the more I learnt the more i felt that post 2000 the EU wasn't all it was cracked up to be.

 

[Ellis]

Surely the GE should be of at least some interest to you!?

Almost all of Manchester is tribal Labour. And LDs will fade badly in areas they previously had a foothold like Withington, Cheadle, Stockport etc. I'm intrigued to see whether the Kippers make progress in some of the outer fringe seats bordering Lancs though...

Yep, I think Cheadle (my constituency) will go Conservative, but just about hold onto Hazel Grove. Will vote Lib Dem as the lesser evil.

 

[HertsWolf]

Thoughts on Al Murray standing in Thanet South?

 

[mnb089mnb]

I thought this from Private Eye was excellent...

 

[Tilbury]

Thoughts on Al Murray standing in Thanet South?

Publicity stunt, probably got a book or tour out soon.

 

[HertsWolf]

Publicity stunt, probably got a book or tour out soon.

I wondered about that too. My theory is that he will push Farage too far and is only doing it to wind up UKIP. Then when he has done that he will retire from the campaign. The Guardian are making a lot of it and I suspect that it's part of a wider plan.

I can see quite a few coastal constituencies getting large UKIP votes...everywhere from Lowestoft down through Suffolk, Essex and Kent, then possibly again in Hampshire. The 'Dad's Army' Coast. Think I read that somewhere.

 

[Veggie Legs]

I'm not sure who I'm going to vote for at the moment - between Labour and Green. The Green party is closer to what I actually believe but Labour have a realistic chance of winning the seat from the Conservatives. I've only lived in safe seats before so I haven't had to make this kind of tactical voting decision.

 

[The Paranoid Pineapple]

It's difficult to envisage any result other than a hung parliament at the moment. Gonna go for Labour as the largest party.

I'm still somewhat undecided as to how to vote. Like others, this will be my first time voting in this particular constituency and Guildford's not quite the safe Tory seat one might imagine it to be. Post '92 elections have seen some fairly close battles between the Tories and the Lib Dems - the latter nabbed the seat in 2001, the former stole it back in 05, both incredibly close elections with a victory margin of a few hundred votes. The Tories increased their margin at the last election, however, in what turned out to be a comfortable hold. My instinct at the moment is to vote Green, even though I know they've no realistic prospect of getting anywhere here.

 

[Spear]

 

[Modernist]

Labour for me.

I find UKIP reprehensible.