I get the feeling that the country has had enough of this general election campaign already, and wants it over now. So, a poll:
Are you ready to vote now?
- Yes, I know who I am going to vote for (82%, 338 Votes)
- At this rate I will give up the will to vote before the election happens (13%, 54 Votes)
- No, I need more time (3%, 14 Votes)
- What election? (2%, 7 Votes)
Total Voters: 413
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1. Will vote to get the Tories out
2. Labour is the party most likely to do that in my constituency.
3. But there are almost as many reasons to not vote Labour.
4. So do I vote for The Greens whose policies seem more in line with mine, but who have zero chance of winning the seat?
Since Labour is on for a landslide, losing one seat won’t be bad for them.
My algorithm:
1. if there is any chance of a Tory being elected, vote tactically to minimise that chance.
2. In Labour vs non-Tory marginals, vote for the non-Tory to increase the chances that we get an official opposition that isn’t Tory, and to reduce the chances of a Labour super-mandate.
3. Otherwise, vote with your conscience (which I suspect for many people will not be for either Labour or LDs) to improve the moral authority and Short money for the minor parties.
“general election campaign”
Is it? I see mostly propaganda, the media having now switched over to LINO & are now telling UK serfs how to vote.
There is zero criticism & even journos that are prretty good seem to have fallen into line – here is John Harris – yet another ra-ra piece:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/article/2024/jun/16/election-britain-labour-government
extract:
“The leadership’s sometimes unbelievable caution is said to be a response to all that wariness and exhaustion. Its emphasis on fiscal rectitude is often maddening, but it answers real popular fears”……….
pathetic stuff – no consideration that Corbyn nearly won in 2017 with a far far more “radical” manifesto & would have done so had a significant part of LINO not sabotaged the whole thing. But we are in 1984 territory – the media is acting as Winston Smith & the past is glossed over/eradicated. After all, one needs access to the new overlords doesn’t one, so one has to toe the party line set by the dear leader and his apparatchiks.
As Reform, on the way up, meets or passes the Conservatives one the way down, Farage announces he plans to be PM by 2029. There was a day that would be absurd. Now, if not him it will be from the same template.
Here is how it works. The Conservative government wreck everything. it always ends this way. It is so bad they collapse electorally. Labour picks up the pieces, offer the appearance of stability, but change not too much, and do not fix the underlying problems. They govern on the celebration of their celebrity, glossy videos and sound-bites. Nothing substantive, nothing lfe changing actually happens for most people; and never for those who are worst off.
Eventually the drab reality of wrestling with problems that are never fixed, impinges relentlessly on the electorate in our FPTP system. In exasperation they return the refreshed Conservatives to power, on the new promise of growth, freedom, and sunny uplands, based on the miracle of ‘free markets’ and British genius. And so it goes on, endlessly over decades, spiralling downward to absurdity; in the form of Nigel Farage. But as a system intended solely to serve only a Single Transferable Party, it works very, very well. After all, it is still there, running everything; badly, and immune to change or protest. This is a world designed by Kafka.
The intervention of Farage, however is going to give the Scottish voter, who hopes he or she can just ignore the absurdity, and believe somehow everything will be alright and we will muddle through; something really worrying to think about; a plausibly electable Reform/Conservative Farage-Brexit Government – a new Single Transferable Party governing Scotland without end.
John wrote: “something really worrying to think about; a plausibly electable Reform/Conservative Farage-Brexit Government – a new Single Transferable Party governing Scotland without end.”
Indeed, John, I can think of nothing more guaranteed to mobilise a large majority of Scots voters than the prospect of endless Reform/Conservative Farage-Brexit Governments, with very rare governance by a non-socialist Labour Party. In either case, it will mean greater centralisation of powers in Westminster and the further undermining (or even the total closure) of Holyrood. That could also result in further undermining of Scots Law and further breaches of the Treaties of Union via Supreme Court interference and UK Government by decree. It’s already happening in a slow trickle, but it is clearly the direction of travel unless we Scots waken up soon.
The SNP Manifesto, when it eventually appears, must emphasise the party’s commitment to independence if waverers are to convinced on 4th July. It’s like 2 elections rolled into one for the devolved nations: as ever our votes are unlikely to have any influence in the outcome in England (and therefore Westminster), but they are crucial to the futures of our nations: our laws, our democracies, our education systems, our cultures, our native languages, indeed our national identities are under threat of being subsumed into some false and farcical common-denominator mish-mash with titles like “British Values”, “British Views” etc. The best outcome for Scotland would be Farage becoming PM (perhaps in a coalition to keep Labour out): that would be the quickest route to Independence I can envisage, unless the SNP can come up with convincing arguments, a clear and credible route to Indy, and regain/exceed former levels of trust in the populace – all before 4th July.
Much to agree with
“I get the feeling that the country has had enough of this general election campaign already”
You could be worse off as you could live in the USA were the the current General Election has been going on for almost over a year! LOL!
🙂
@TampaBay – I sympathise deeply with those in the US (where I have many friends) who have your continual big-money electoral process; and especially the current Presidential, with a choice that is no real choice, and the likelihood of Pres. T2.
All decided in the ‘swing states’ by a fraction of a percent of the population.
And then what next for the world, starting January 2025…?
The Electoral College made sense in 1776 when the US was nation of shopkeepers and farmers but it has made no sense since 1868.
By far the most irritating aspect of the election is hearing assorted politicos groom the population. Immigration is a case in point.
Sadly the blog can’t accept tables. However, I grabbed various gov stats. Very roughly (2020 – 2023) legal immigrants (with visas) were around 2.5 million (wobbly figures for 2020 and 2021) – very roughly 50/50 split between working visas (largly for health workers – keeping the NHS going) and foreign students (keeping the Unis afloat).
Illegals? Less than 5% of the legal figure.
& yet and yet – Farage whining on night after night, ditto the tory imbeciles and LINO doing its bit – all over a small problem that could be solved easily but is allowed to fester. I notice that the cretinous media NEVER give any numbers, in fairness they are liberal arts graduates barely capable of counting to ten (yes I know an exaggeration – but I am heartily sick of the way this is treated – it took me less than 20 minutes to pull the bloody numbers together & once you have them – all parties are exposed as ghastly).
I find many politicians disgusting, but the way they treat immigration shows them to be vile liars of the very worst sort.
Agreed re the last
I know who I am going to vote for but I think the Independents need more time to get their message across to voters.
My husband and I now live in South Wales. I have been a Labour supporter for all my voting life (I am 76) and, more recently, a Corbynite. So, there is only one option for me here in Wales, and as I can no longer vote Labour, I will be voting for Plaid Cymru.