UK General Election 2005

not many people i'd rather have not running the country than Blair but Michael Howard is definitely one of them. it's a shame as there was an opportunity for this election to be much more dramatic and important, but no-one emerged to really take it to Blair at the time when it really could've made a difference. as it turns out Labour will win comfortably without even having to do anything - the Brown/Blair conflict seems no worse than other internal conflicts of the past that came to nothing. the apparent comfort the warmongering governments experience this decade betrays the dissatisfaction felt by many but can't muster worthy opposition.

prince harry and his "mates"
mark thatcher and his "mates"
the ferry family
john mccririck
aitken/archer/hamilton
THE DAILY MAIL

i now understand belloc's concept of "clinging on to nurse for fear of something worse."

New Labour have been appalling in so many ways, but the Tories will be so much much worse. As Blair camps on the centre-right (that's just Blair - the majority of the Labour Party and much of the government's policies and decisions are still of the centre-ish left) the tories have gone further right. A Tory government would be so ruinous.

As for the LDs, at some point they're going to have to face the yawning chasm in them as a party between economic and social liberalism. Whilst they've been a rump, it's been easier to bury that difference foor the greater good of unity as a third (comrades, we must not fight against ourselves but struggle against the real enemy - the other two parties). As they get bigger, that gets harder - look at their voting record on free votes, which shows them a split bloc with nothing like the ideological coherence of the other two parties.

lib dems would mop up labour votes if they devised what have been called 'policies' and took unambiguous 'positions'.

personally i wish that both labour and tories could go back to the parties they're supposed to be, i.e. tony benn on one side, norman tebbit on the other, and at least you know where either stands.

the overall proposed £4bn worth of tax cuts would appear to be the catch. and as sometime nhs employees, we both know how well the nhs has done out of a deregulated free market economy.

marcello is right to remind us of mark thatcher and harry

This is simply not true

It's about tone, not Tone. It's little things. Would the Tories be so keen on reliving African debt? Would they fuck. Would they be into the minimum wage? The HRA? Freedom of Information? I could go on, but part of the tragedy of New labour is that it's so fucking shy about the good things it has actually done, and so loud about Tories-manque.

As for wanting the Tories, be careful for what you wish for. Good luck under those cunts.

the result was 18 years of tory hell.

so no thanks.

2. why is it unfashionable to be right wing in britain, the way it isnt in america (is that young rightwingers here are always complaining about something, whereas there, it is the young left that is perceived as being hand-wringy and complainy)

3. its 20+ years since foot et al, at what point will the shadow of the miners strike no longer rest upon uk politics?

4. if the lib dems have not, by now, been able to displace a tory party backed into a corner by an ever rightleaning labour govt, will they ever?

5. if tories do close the gap on labour, is it more likely the message the govt will 'hear' is, "we are not tory enough?", not, "we have become too tory?"

Probably not, I'm emigrating to Atlantis

I think most of the Labour Party will opt for the latter because how can you actually be more Tory than they are just now? However I imagine the main New Labour fanatics will opt for the former.

If we think Labour's bad, remember the Tories have no policies beyond firing civil servants and dismantling the pubic spending agenda and trying to make every hospital in the country a foundation trust whether their finances can cope or not. Everything else is just reactionary: immigration, law and order, countryside alliance-centred stuff.

I don't know enough about the LibDems, which is my own fault.

1. no.
2. the pendulum swings. remember cnd, greenham, etc. in the '80s? anyway i'm sure prince harry will help make fascism hip in britain again before long
3. the shadow of the 1926 general strike still rests upon uk politics, so i suspect you've a long time to wait until that happens
4. no because most protesting voters "go home" to their own party when it's general election time
5. the former. you want to base your demographic appeal on daily mail readers then you'll hear what's convenient for you as a political party to hear

I wouldn't be so sure about that

In what way is resting on UK politics now exactly?

VOTE LIBERAL DEMOCRAT PLEASE

most people in britain want the restoration of the death penalty, lynching of paediatricians, compulsory repatriation of all immigrants (preferably from the top of the white cliffs of dover) and zero income tax, which latter policy has proved so successful in the lebanon.

so political parties have to work against their electorate's worst judgement.

go to the polling station?

This has always been the case. Back in the 50s, MI5 used to go through all the Communist ballot papers after the election to check up on who was voting for them.

I voted before going to work, at about 7.15. On my way out of the polling station, the Tory candidate was just pulling up in his car. I mentioned it to my mother, and found that she thought our sitting Labour MP was a Tory. "I'm sure we used to have one."

"No, mother, he lost the '97 election. He's a journalist now - the Tory Party don't like him because he's gay, and he lost the election after taking money to ask questions in Parliament."

Had a conversation with a colleague at work about politics. "Of all the parties," he said, "the one I'm closest to is the BNP. We don't have enough nationalism in this country. All these Europeans just do what they want, and we're the only ones stupid enough to follow the rules." He then went on about the election being unfair: "My son's at university, and he had a voting card sent to his halls there, and then one sent to our house! It always used to be that everyone just got one vote! If he wanted to, he could vote there, drive back home and vote twice! And noone would know! They don't have computers or anything in the polling stations."

Peter Rigby
Independent
Mr Rigby, 57, who lives in Sandy, is a freelance journalist specialising in conservation.
He will be campaigning for teachers to be given priority in affordable housing, for wider adoption of hydrogen fuel and try to engender a feeling of connection between Hitchin and Harpenden.

hahaha, for some reason this has me thinking about orbital raves...

Oooohoohoo... :-I

The UKIP guy for Hitchin and Harpenden is even scarier looking!

CHANGE IS EXCITING!!!

Another thing - do you think that when people vote they generally think of themselves (i.e. "will an alteration to council tax benefit me?") or for everyone (i.e. "is an alteration to the council tax a benefit to those who deserve it?"). I'm the latter but a lot of people I've spoken to were surprised that I'd think like this even if it didn't benefit me directly.

Possibly the most sensible thing I've read today.

Voted before work - in Croydon North we were spoilt for choice: Veritas, Ukip, Green, Croydon Pensions Alliance, The People's Choice! Exclusively For All* and another independent (* or the People's Choice Making Politicians Work if you believe The Guardian).

a bored-looking lady, just inside the front doors, handed me a labour leaflet, which I took, looked at and placed on the counter beside her.

got my ballot, paused, for a moment, looking at all the candidates' addresses--one of them lives in lancashire--voted.

bored-looking lady looked even more bored, as I left.

home, eating frosties.

Mind you, it's been very odd all round in our constituency this time (walthamstow). No-one on the doorstep, only the lib-dems really doing any leafleting. Only 5 candidates on the ballot paper, the three usual suspects, UKIP, and the Socialist alternatives. I guess our MP's feeling pretty safe with his 40% majority, and most parties I guess will be putting their resources elsewhere.

My only problem was that I voted at 7am and I came out of the polling station scared stiff that I might have put a cross against the wrong candidate in my early morning stupor.

Pro labour - everyone said "it makes no difference" back in '79

Anti labour/pro libdem - taking the nation to war = the most important thing ever, and this lot fucked up by just about any standard you care to name.

anti tory - they are repellent and incompetent.

Not a billboard as such, more the 'estate agent' type board in gardens around here.

No one wearing a rosette or attempting to canvass me at all. Rubbish.

Oh, and there are loads of LibDem billboards round my way. More than there are Labour or Tory, weirdly. I think they sense a fertile feeding ground.

Labour: 37%
Conservative: 33%
Lib Dem: 22%
Others 8%

Labour: 356 seats
Conservative: 209 seats
Lib Dem: 53 seats
Others 28 seats

http://www.musicfanclubs.org/natalie/logot.jpg

"I'd hit it!"