Which Political Party and Why?

[gmoney]

The Replacement Party. 

[Teedy Kay]

I'm Labour, I'm just of the position if you work for a country, the country should work for you, and Labour are the one party that hold that position.

However last three Elections I voted Lib Dem in an effort to rid a tory of their seat, and tactically Lib Dem was the better option.

[Kookoocachu]

Used to be Lib Dem, after they got into bed with the Tories I left and have been Green ever since. That being said I do also fiercely support The Women’s Equality Party and the work they do.

[Keith Houchen]

3 minutes ago, Kookoocachu said:

Used to be Lib Dem, after they got into bed with the Tories I left and have been Green ever since. That being said I do also fiercely support The Women’s Equality Party and the work they do.

And of course, you’ve stood for election which is an incredible thing to do!

5 minutes ago, Teedy Kay said:

last three Elections I voted Lib Dem

So, you’re Lib Dem then. 

[Merzbow]

Locally? Still Labour, Zarah Sultana's my MP.

Generally? I don't fucking know.

[Tommy!]

Labour. I did go with Lib Dem in the 2010 general but that's about it for being pulled elsewhere.

While it often doesn't fulfil my political ideals perfectly to date it's nearly always the best option I have.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Tommy!

[stumobir]

3 hours ago, Merzbow said:

Locally? Still Labour, Zarah Sultana's my MP.

Lucky bastard. 

[BomberPat]

I only moved back to England this year after 20 years living in Jersey, where for the last couple of years I'd been a supporter of the closest thing to a left-wing party they'd had during my time there, so I've actually never voted in England.

If I were pushed, I'd say I was a Labour supporter - easily said, I live in an extremely safe Labour seat. In the whole "political parties as football teams" respect, my parents are Labour voters, my grandparents (particularly on my Mum's side) saw the Labour Party as a genuine force for good - my Mum's dad was born in the early 1900s, and their first children were born in the early 1930s, one of whom didn't survive infancy and was buried in an unmarked grave, so they had vivid memories of a time pre-NHS and pre-social welfare. The importance of the Labour movement, trade unionism and workers' rights was just instilled in me from as far back as I can remember. 

I have a lot of conversations with my Dad about it all now, and I don't want to use the "politically homeless" cliché that was popular with middle class liberal types while Corbyn was leader of the party, but I do think I would struggle to hold my nose and vote Labour if there were a general election called while Starmer was in charge. I think he'd be an improvement on Boris Johnson and on a decade of Tory rule, but that's as low a bar as any ostensibly left-wing leader could possibly hope to cross, and he's done a consistently terrible job of convincing me he could cross it.

The problem is that a general sense of if not Labour then who? There was a three week strike at work last month, so I spent a lot of time on picket lines and at meetings with representatives from smaller Socialist parties and organisations, and while I support a lot of what they stand for, they're pretty much meaningless in an electoral sense. Something that seems to have been gradually lost within my lifetime is the recognition of the political work that can be done, and must be done, outside of party politics. I have no answer to any of that, though.

A while back, when Starmer had election results that would have had every pundit in the country calling for Corbyn's head, despite his much-celebrated "electability", some Labour MPs were suggesting that maybe Starmer wasn't the guy to save Labour, but that he might be a transitional leader to bridge to whoever the great saviour might be. That's when I realised the Party was utterly doomed, because that "transitional leader" should have been Corbyn - if Starmer had stuck to the pledges that got him the leadership, and stood behind Corbyn's manifesto rather than going scorched earth on anything vaguely left-wing, I honestly think we'd have been in a better position. A leader who could champion Corbyn's policies without Corbyn's political baggage should have been the next step, rather than spending two years saying, "we're not Jeremy Corbyn any more" and then still insisting that the reason you keep losing is that you haven't got the message that you're not Jeremy Corbyn out strongly enough. That, at the height of a pandemic in which people were forced to work from home, stay indoors, and home school their kids, no one in the Labour Party was saying, "remember when we were offering you subsidized broadband? How much easier could we have made this for you?" is absurd.

[RedRooster]

12 hours ago, PunkStep said:

Political parties are not football teams. Their policies change all the time, so I can't ever align myself with one party. 

100% this. The relatively recent phenomenon of people treating their political party like "their team" and consequently defending even the worst of their actions is so incredibly dangerous, and it's the kind of thing that allows a party to take the kind of steps needed to destroy a democracy. 

Having said that, over the past few elections I've voted for the SNP. Although the path to Scottish independence, if a vote in favour of it were to happen, would not be a smooth one; for me, it would be worth it to get escape the Westminster system; and the pro-Tory media that makes the playing field anything but level.

I also view independence as Scotland's best hope of rejoining the EU. 

[Jazzy G]

I used to like the Lib Dems "We can fix tings, but it's probably going to cost you" ideas back in the late 90s, but have definitely drifted more from the middle to the left, presumably from all the working class towns I've lived in through much of my life. I was big into Labour under Corbyn, but like many others here just can't get behind them wholeheartedly under Starmer. I'd probably have to vote for them under the first past the post system in order to try and get us out from under the Tories, but what we really need is to overhaul the whole electoral system so that how you cast your vote is more important than where you cast your vote, which isn't going to happen as long as the Tories can sit comfortably in power with the majority they have. Interestingly when I filled out one of those "which party best suits your politics" surveys online I managed to get the SNP, but unless Mrs Jazzy and I make a push north of the border that won't be happening anytime soon.

[westlondonmist]

Liberal Democrats, that way I can say I voted but didn't vote for Labour or Conservative. I dislike both, my local Labour run council are a shit show, who closed all the leisure centres, libraries and selling off public buildings at low prices, and my mp is a non entity but Conservative are the only ones in the area that could beat them and I don't really want that. 

Edited January 13, 2022 by westlondonmist

[Sphinx]

15 hours ago, Michael_3165 said:

Blair dismantled much of the unwritten constitutional frameworks of the UK whilst in power (for more info read The Allure of Power by Bennet which covers this in depth and is fantastic).

I can't seem to find this book when Googling it. Do you have a link? 

[Factotum]

I would never vote Tory. That's my political position.

It also depends what constituency you're in. For a brief while I lived in a marginal Tory seat so voted Lib Dem to get them out. My political views tend to align with Labour but not on all and I would never actually join a political party.

[Jazzy G]

1 hour ago, westlondonmist said:

Liberal Democrats, that way I can say I voted but didn't vote for Labour or Conservative. I dislike both, my local Labour run council are a shit show, who closed all the leisure centres, libraries and selling off public buildings at low prices, and my mp is a non entity but Conservative are the only ones in the area that could beat them and I don't really want that. 

Manchester City Council is pretty much all Labour, and I seem to recall reading a report that the first thing they did when they saw what their increased budget was going to be after council tax went up was give themselves a pay rise. I wonder whether there should be a term limit on how long somebody can serve in local government to avoid career politicians and the potential for toxicity that can come from it. 

[Keith Houchen]

6 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

Manchester City Council is pretty much all Labour, and I seem to recall reading a report that the first thing they did when they saw what their increased budget was going to be after council tax went up was give themselves a pay rise. I wonder whether there should be a term limit on how long somebody can serve in local government to avoid career politicians and the potential for toxicity that can come from it. 

Wasn’t it they agreed to committing to a living wage for all council employees rather than just looking out for themselves? Can’t say I agree with a set time for serving as a councillor. The very best councillors are so because of community links forged over time. There’s a trust there between community and council that could be eroded if people can’t stand for election again because of some arbitrary time limit.