Senate The UK Politics discussion

I couldn't seem to find the old thread, of which DarthKarde and G-FETT were staples.

In May of this year, Britons head to the polls to vote in the general election. This election, however, seems destined to throw up a few unique and interesting moments as neither the Conservatives or Labour have a clear advantage as incumbent or opposition. Support instead seems to be dribbling to the Scottish Nationalist Party - fresh emboldened after a spectacular defeat in the independence referendum and with that innate aversion to spending that only a Scot can muster - the Greens and UKIP.

Broadly speaking, it seems that people think the Tories have the head but not heart to lead; and Labour the heart but not head. The LibDems seem also be the recipient of backlash as they bleed centre-left votes to Labour (who have lost hard left to barking mad lunatics in the Greens) as reciprocity for their alliance with the Tories.

(Though the LibDems have seen an ebb and flow of votes in the past, so they are relatively non-plussed).

So, come May this year, who do you think will win, should win, and who will upset the applecart by becoming a balance-of-power party in the Commons?

 

Couple of my Brit friends don't think the Lib Dems will do well in this upcoming election thanks to several campaign promises that were broken thanks to the coalition with the Conservatives.

 

Well there's a necessity of compromise in coalition, which may be too much for the pure-hearted LibDem idealists to understand but the pragmatists will remain. But undoubtedly; their polling is at 6% so they'll hurt in May.

 

avatar check

 

Has it really been five years since the last general election? Time sure has flown by, and I guess not much has changed to an extent, given the outcome last time around.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by that KW; Labour roundly deserved to lose in 2010. It still deserves to lose in 2015.

 

I didn't mean to imply a particular judgment on such things. I only meant to say that the conservatives, while more popular than Labor in 2010, didn't have enough to decisively win on their own. That was the case in 2010 and it seems to still be the case today.

Mistaken on my part? I'm far from a good observer of British politics, so please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

So what's at stake in the coming election? All I've heard so far is that Cameron wants to hold that EU membership referendum, while Labor won't.

 

Cameron also promises to hold a Yes/No Cornish independence referendum.

 

Understood KW - and on the contrary, much has changed. It's not the LibDems snatching votes from Labour and aligning with the Tories that's the issue - it's the three minor parties. The Tories have to court to the UKIP defectors and Labour, the Green/SNP defectors. The centre's largely empty.

 

Hmm, most interesting. With all that in mind, is another hung parliament a clear possibility?

 

Whoever becomes PM will struggle to govern. Both Labour and Tories 'coalitions' are broken - left and right is dominated by smaller parties now. Honestly think we'll be looking at a three party coalition; Clegg must likely remains Deputy PM for another five years.

 

It's a probability. Busy now but will post later.

 

LibDems will benefit from the preference voting system, no?

 

It's really difficult to tell. Intuitively AV looks great for the lib dems but for this election they are unlikely to get 2nd preference from labour voters. They may do well from sensible tory voters, but I'm not sure there are many constituencies where that could clinch them a seat. The greens are growing in popularity and may do well with AV.

AV aside, there's so much in the melting pot this time. Labour are likely to lose Scottish seats to the SNP and who knows what will happen with UKIP. Very tired, not being very clear, sorry. Will try to post something less garbled tomorrow.

 

I'll be voting Green. But living in London there's a snowball's chance in hell of a Green MP in my area. Can't be dealing with tactical voting though. I find it grubby.

 

No, that's all good. I agree Labour will unlikely want to send votes to the LibDems after their partnership with the Tories, which is bad politicking and not especially smart. the SNP have no reasonable chance of forming a coalition government and the Greens are to Labour what UKIP is to the Tories - anathema.

The more I read the less convinced I am in Mr Old Labour Miliband as a prospective PM.

 

But he has 10,000 men!

 

Surely the Queen has a righteous imprisonment notification.

 

Look, if you're going to come in here with petty jealousy about your neck like some sort of neck adornment, you can... wait. No. Don't come in here with your petty jealousies, Yank!

 

ed milibrand is perhaps the most uninspiring person alive

 

Incorrect.

 

She's not even done with the intro and ol Che has drawn her disgust. I love that picture.

 

calling it: Labour-UKIP coalition. milliband as PM; nigel farage as home secretary; a literal harpy from the depths of hades as chancellor of the exchequer.

seriously tho the only tangible difference in how the parties will govern is perhaps in terms of the extent to which the physical force will be employed in combatting the inevitable civil unrest provoked by the austerity that any concievable party or combination of parties will be forced to employ in order to keep the system limping along