blonde poker forum

This past week saw the mark of 100 days till the general election which means voters have less than 100 days to decide who they would like to support to be their member of parliament and in our area even who they would like to be their local councillor.

I am sure that over the coming weeks I will have literature drop through my letterbox or knocks at the door from the various parties all making pledges on a variety of topics should they be elected and rightly or wrongly I have never voted in any kind of election.

I have always been one of those people that said "I don't do politics" as in my opinion only they are all as bad as each other and honestly in my working life (circa 24 years) have not seen any change despite who may have been in power during that time with me not feeling richer or poorer upon the colour of the party.

So my question's to Blonde are am I wrong for not having ever voted?

Why should I vote when I don't feel it makes a jot of difference?

Based on what my feelings/reasons are please feel free to try and convince me I should use my vote and poll one way or the other.....

You are not wrong as it's your choice

Personally I will be voting labour purely because it will help a close family member or will be more likely to than the past few years of utter hell under ids.

That is the only reason. Like you it will make no difference to my life either way.

I imagine you live in an incredibly 'safe' tory seat in Essexshire so i doubt your vote will make any difference in the slightest.  I rarely vote myself even though i have strong political views because the vast majority of my life i have lived in safe 'tory' seats and me getting off my arse to vote would make no difference to the result in the slightest.  I know everyone can say 'if everyone did this' blah blah blah but at the end of the day individually your vote in most areas of the uk won't make much difference.  I backed my local tory mp at 1/33 in 2010 at Ladbrokes to win his seat.  Probably the best 3% return on money in the history of betting.  Every nit in the town should have unloaded their ISA's and done the same as they are all such risk averse middle England Daily Mail readers it was impossible for him not to get in.

Really doesn't matter who you vote for as all policy decisions are made by people who are not elected in the first place - all mp,s ministers, presidents,  have there special advisers and don't forget the unelected civil servants. These are the people that drive the policies, the people elected just pass them.

Remember at the end of the day those that have the billions rule, we the people just serve.

Until the revolution happens nothing will ever change

Have you no opinions on the NHS? Europe? The Pound? The finances of the country? Or your local park/library/school rtc being closed etc etc?


How would you feel if a law was passed stated we are no longer entitled to vote in elections and whoever was in control of your local area and government was in for good and are able to pass future laws without question.

Would you still feel the same as you do?
Would you still state "you don't do politics"

The comment "they're all the same" gives me the impression you have an opinion on polictics so you do care - just maybe not enough; so apathy will continue and thus nothing will change.

Not saying you do yourself, but "why bother it won't matter" baffles more. If everyone who thought that did actually bother, things would change in some manner.

Silly Examples;

My cheering my football doesnt make a difference really to the performance, so should i not bother?
My 40% tax is nothing vs the economy, so why bother paying it
My £3 donation to NSPCC isn't making squat difference in the gramd scheme, so why bother

the FPTP system makes it incredibly tough in certain strongholds, so the apathy can be understood. People are obviously interested in politics even if sub consciously, i'd imagine people posting here have a reasonably comfortable lifestyle. If we came into hardship directly i'd imagine we would all become a little more politically active. As sad and negligent as that sounds.

You get entertainment from supporting your local football team.  I don't get any entertainment from going out of my way to a polling station to tick a box which will make absolutely no difference to the returning MP where i live

You are legally obliged to pay 40% income tax.  We are not legally entitled to vote.

Your £3 donation makes a lot more difference to my vote where i live which literally makes no difference at all.

My opinion is that if you do not want to vote then you should still turn up at the polling station and deliberately spoil your ballot paper.

I agree with Arbboy - unless you are lucky enough to live in a marginal seat where your vote matters a great deal, then your vote counts for little.

My Tory MP won by a landslide even when Blair won in 1997!

Our system is rubbish and creates apathy.

I once voted in a constituency where the MP won with a majority of about 25 votes (was previously a 'safe' seat with a 5,000 vote margin).  I'm sure there were 25+ people in that constituency who couldn't be arsed to vote, but would have preferred the second-placed candidate to get in instead.

It's interesting though, as many seem to vote solely on how they will benefit as individuals from a particular MP getting voted in, or a particular party gaining power.  Others vote for the party they think will do the greater good for the majority, or for particular groups in society.  Others look at a combination of the two.

If you're in a seat that's a massively safe area, and there's nothing other than a massive majority of the votes going to one candidate, then yes, your vote is probably meaningless.  If you're in a more closely contested seat, you might even vote tactically for the 'least bad' option (if your favourite candidate/party has no chance of being elected there).

If any of the parties represent your position on most things, vote for them. If they stand for something you fundamentally disagree with don't.

To abstain is a vital option as a voter, but I would like there to be a way to actively do that, rather than not showing up or spoiling papers.
"None of the above" as an option.

and you need a "none of the above" in your poll too :)

Yes - I'd like to see a none of the above option.  Would really hammer home people's displeasure if it was the 3rd largest votewinner

Thanks for the responses so far, I have amended the poll and reset the votes so please feel free to vote again and I will respond further later on.

try taking this

https://uk.isidewith.com/political-quiz

and do all the extra questions and look at the more detailed answer options.

Do not mistake my abstince for apathy.

I care deeply about politic,  but not for any of the main parties. I will not endorse them with my vote just for the sake of voting. My ward is a safe labour seat and there are only 3 parties on the ballot. They do not have ideological differences and there are few statements that could be made by the leader of one party that could not be made by any of the others.


None of the above for me. And dont feel ashamed for not voting.

Surely the fact that there has been little change over the last 20 years regardless of the party that is in, coupled with a low voter turnout trending downwards this just shows the system IS working?

It's only when things get out of control that alternative options arise and voter turnout increases.

Discounting a global recession, which as far as my understanding of global economics (not very much), is always going to happen, the people of this country are enjoying an increased standard of living over the last 20 years.

I'll be voting even though the Greens are going to win the seat. I wouldn't begrudge anyone who doesn't bother though.

it's quite hard to argue that 'the system' and 'living standards' are causally linked imo.

I personally think voting (even if it's just spoiling a ballot paper) is a civic duty and it's a way to legitimise complaint. Arbboy doesn't vote (just one example) because he doesn't think his vote makes a difference in his constituency (and he may well be correct..) but it does rather breed disenfranchisement which, in the end, breeds contempt.

Taking arbboys constituency as an example again...Torys don't have to fight for it, makes them lazy, means Labour et al don't really put up much of a candidate, etc...it's a vicious circle.

The FPTP system does rather guarantee there will be such constituencies, however, which is where I think the biggest change needs to be made. Let's be clear though, without higher voter turnouts and a clear mandate for a switch from FPTP, the two main parties (whichever of the two it ends up as a majority with or without coalition partners) will just continue FPTP because it suits.

Politicians are very much like Gods in my opinion, in that I don't believe in either.
Can someone explain how spoiling a ballot paper is better than not voting??
I've never voted and can't see that changing any time soon. It's not that I don't care, it's just that since I've been able to vote, the parties involved all promise pretty much the same thing, just disguised  to suit, depending which ever way the party leans.

I'm guilty of not voting in the past because I couldn't be bothered. Spoiling ballot paper shows that you are bothered imo.

I intend to turn up at the polling station and write something along the lines of "be good and I'll vote for you next time" and leave it at that. I don't really like having to choose the lesser of multiple evils when it comes to the running of the country :p

Definitely in the can't be arsed it won't affect my life category.

I do like watching the debates and stuff though.

i 100% think it should be compulsory in the uk to vote. even f u turn up and X a box that says, 'i dont give a shit' box.

This

TBH, people who think that all the parties are saying the same thing dressed up differently haven't really read what the policies are, because there are very significant differences between them. I also don't think there are many people who's lives won't be affected in some way or another depending on who wins.

It's really worth spending half an hour doing one of the many 'who should I vote for' type quizzes, taking the extra questions/answers options where they're available. You might be surprise where you come down and how hard.

I changed my lifelong voting habit 5 years ago based in part on taking a few of those quizzes, and am likely to change again this time.

My constituency on paper is a safeish seat. However, in 2010 the number of non-voters added to even the number that voted for the fascist nutters who came last would be enough to overturn the usual party, let alone the non-voters plus the 2nd or 3rd place finishers. Every vote counts, and if people took the time to investigate what the parties actually stand for, you might find you have a preference after all.

http://www.whoshouldyouvotefor.com/
https://uk.isidewith.com/political-quiz
https://voteforpolicies.org.uk/

Tough one this. Whilst I agree in principal have you seen some people? Can you imagine who they might vote for?

All it takes is all the normal people to vote for 'I don't give a shit' and before you know it we've got a bunch of cocktards who's lives are ruled by whatever facebook tells them deciding who wins.

Scary thought.

if you are likely to need to access health services in the next 5 years it will affect your life.
Same if you're likely to want to buy a house, save any money, borrow any money, pay any tax, have any kids, etc

The right to abstain is obviously part of your political options, but it would be better if you could actively do that with a 'none of the above' box

Definately, theres more differences between labour and cons than there has been for a while.

What percentage of policies/ spending do people think are the same between con & lab?

90- 95%?

NHS spending 95% the same
Law and order policies 99% the same
Education 95% the same
Social policy 99% the same
Defence 95% the same
Foreign aid 100% identical
Debt interest 100% identical
Pension / payments to the old 99% the same
Welfare / housing 90%?

For the large majority of people the large majority of everything will not change.

Yes you should.

Go on.

Please?

Pretty please...

Ah go on.

Go on go on go on.

I don't think you are in the won't affect your life category!

Sorry that wasn't my point. I know who I want to win because that will definitely have an effect on my life.

I also know that whether I vote or not won't affect their chances of winning therefore voting won't affect my life other that taking up 15 minutes that at this time of year could be better spent mowing the lawn.

How can this be the case when we are in one of the few marginal constituencies?
Unless of course you were planning on voting for me.....

Are we?

Alright you've convinced me.

Just need to convince Eso Kral now.......

mbn to live in a swing seat :)

Here they weigh the sitting MPs votes

http://www.voterpower.org.uk/nottingham-south

the election will be decided by the results of 150 constituencies which might change hands

each one is listed at the bottom of http://may2015.com/category/seat-calculator/ with a forecast of result

Nottingham south had 4.3% Lab majority last time which is expected to be double figures this time (england is swinging 3-6% con to lab, depending on forecast)

definitely one of the 150 seats where it matters!

I don't think you can claim the level of similarity that you do,  but it's hardly surprising that the offerings are converging, they are both attempting to appeal to the same market.

The difference is in how they propose to deliver those offerings, and who will be attempting to do so.

Undoubtedly we will be left with a coalition once again. Therefore every policy posted in party manifestos aren't actually pledges at all. My own apathy stems from nobody stating who they are prepared to work with and what concessions they will make. Most people deciding which way to vote based on policy are probably going to be sadly disappointed over the course of the next parliament. What's new?

ffs I agree with Mantis! I'm going for a lie down :)

And if your in Broxtowe in Nottingham like me make sure you vote if your are on the blue team and tell your mates and mates of mates to also, very marginal seat!!!

The posters are up here already.

(http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq167/Andr4w/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsr13iklkd.jpg) (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/Andr4w/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsr13iklkd.jpg.html)

(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CCto_CuW0AA4-j-.jpg)

david foster wallace.

by 'not voting' you're still voting but you're voting *for the same exact thing* & yielding power to other people