David Goodwin

Post #1 on the UK Election…. (Bromsgrove)

So the Lib Dems might finally shake things up – I’ve not supported them before, and still dislike many of their policies – but I do feel that were they to get in, there would be an adequate shake up of the establishment in Westminster (PR or something similar would be a good move for a start – I’m increasingly fed up with (I feel) politicians getting ‘safe’ seats and effectively not listening to their constituents).

Unfortunately I suspect the polls will keep remain somewhat level, or Mr Clegg’s honeymoon will end as voters are either disillusioned by the ongoing press attention and we’ll just end up with Labour winning as our First Past the Post system seems to be favouring them for some reason.

At the moment I’m not sure who I’ll vote for; our local replacement Tory couldn’t be arsed to reply to an email I sent which just asked where he stood on DeBill / WhatDeBill etc – which didn’t particularly impress me. I’d expected to effectively get a copy+pasted generic reply saying whatever the party line was, but he couldn’t be bothered with that. Oh, and he also seems incapable of using Twitter/Facebook etc.

Having said that, my local LibDem candidate has figured such things out (website / facebook etc) but judging from what’s fallen through my letter box (and then straight into the recycling box) he is being outspent by the conservative campaign, in a seat where my vote counts for 0.09 of a ‘normal vote’ (clearly some votes are more equal than others?!) I can’t think he can be very optimistic.

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2 responses to “Post #1 on the UK Election…. (Bromsgrove)”

  1. sparkes Avatar
    sparkes

    you’ve got loads more power than me 🙂 but although my seat looks like an ultrasafe Labour seat (and it was ‘given’ to Pat McFadden for his speeches that Blair used in the run up to 1997) Labour voters are notorious for disapearing when they are needed so I expect a really low majority for Labour with minority parties gaining ground with the posibility of a Tory upset which would probably mean a Tory majority in parliment.

    I am scared of raw PR due to the fact it gives power to real minority parties which polices the vast majority of Britions disagree with to form cohesive units that scupper sensible debate and policies but I think a hung parliment with a Labour majority (something I called before the election was called and is currently looking likely) could easily mean a Lib/Lab government with the power to force through electrial reform based on the population of country and where they live rather than by area which is favoured by the Tories.

    This would mean Labour and Liberal governments in future (something I can live with) and make life difficult for the Torys (something that I would enjoy) and force them to show their true colours by linking with anti-european and borderline facist parties.

    One good thing I can see happening is Britain finally stopping it’s investment in nukes as a first step to disarmament. The numbers of former CND members on Labour benches linked with the Liberals wish to get at least Trident replacement on the table potentially means vast resources can be put to a more constructive use.

  2. David Goodwin Avatar
    David Goodwin

    Sparkes – I’m not convinced we (the UK) should disarm – but I do question why we need to spend so much on Trident (can’t we just refurbish it or something, rather than replacing it?). Clegg appeared to suggest (at least how I read it) that he didn’t favour replacing trident – but wasn’t going to scrap our deterrent.

    I agree with you on PR – in that I definitely wouldn’t like the idea of the BNP being any more prominent – but having said that, if some members of the population do support them – then their voices should be heard (as crap as that is) – the alternative is a situation where people feel their vote doesn’t count – or don’t feel they have a real choice. I think if there was a more PR like system (perhaps with a few tweaks so we don’t have a political crisis every year like they do in Italy) then perhaps the political parties would listen to the electorate more than business/unions etc… perhaps.

    What would I know – I’m only interested in politics around an election…..

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