general election called for 6th may

[Nemo]

Someone needs to start a vote Lib Dems Facebook group. Always works. I stopped killing puppies when i got 100,000 members to my page.

"If the Lib Dems get 5,000,000 votes, Nick Clegg will change his name to McLovin"

?

[ghanimah]

Given that there is a realistic prospect of a hung parliament for the first time since the 1970s, the usual argument against voting for the Lib Dems ('they'll never get in anyway') disappears.  I think they could perform quite strongly this time around as people realise this.

That's assuming the Lib Dems will have any part to play in a hung parliament. It's feasible, and in my view likely, that the Tories (should they be the largest party) will govern as a minority government and tell the Lentil Munchers to go take a hike. Then go back to the country later in the year.

[Ardiles]

Could do.  It really depends on the numbers.  If the Tories win 310-320 seats, they could be quite tempted to soldier on as a minority government.  But anything less than that and life would be very difficult, and they would need to form some partnerships.

[pauld]

Could do.  It really depends on the numbers.  If the Tories win 310-320 seats, they could be quite tempted to soldier on as a minority government.  But anything less than that and life would be very difficult, and they would need to form some partnerships.

Although not civil partnerships, obviously

[Reg Smeeton]

Although not civil partnerships, obviously

Tbf to the Tories, they've always been tolerant of gays at the Parliamentary level, even if not the grass roots.  What with all those public school boys, it's only to be expected....and what about that Edward Heath...nudge nudge, wink wink, he never got married did he?

[Phil_S]

My take is that I could never vote for Brown & New labour. I can't understand why any one would vote for them (apart from maybe those who benefit from their predeliction for throwing our money away).  They've lied to the country too much, are incompetent & the main interest is hanging on to their careers. Liberals change policies as often as the wind changes direction, & will spout a policy to suit the audience. Alos a vote for them is a vote for Brown where I live in Chippenham. UKIP does appeal & had my vote in the Euro elections but would be a wasted vote. I'm not entirely happy with the Conservatives, but they are in my opinion the best bet for the country aminly based on their underlying philiosophys rather than the policies. I also think labour are a bunch of hypocrites when they use the class war card as most of labour have never done a real days work in their lives & are "career politicians". I also admire Chippenhams conservative candidate as he is someone who has worked & made a sucess of his life. I'd rather have someone like that in charge than a career politico.

[leefer]

A sure fire winner would be to bring the troops back from that debacle in Afghanistan,i cant believe its not been mentioned or thaught about..any party who suggested we would bring them back would walk the election.
Lets face it a large proportion of MP,s were against us sending troops there and i am really suprised that someone hasnt given it a serious thaught...UKIP etc are always banging on about us hanging on about us being tied to Europe...but its about time someone showed some balls and cut the ridiculous ties with the US.

[Reg Smeeton]

A sure fire winner would be to bring the troops back from that debacle in Afghanistan,i cant believe its not been mentioned or thaught about..any party who suggested we would bring them back would walk the election.
Lets face it a large proportion of MP,s were against us sending troops there and i am really suprised that someone hasnt given it a serious thaught...UKIP etc are always banging on about us hanging on about us being tied to Europe...but its about time someone showed some balls and cut the ridiculous ties with the US.

Yep...I can just see Cameron stating that he'll withdraw British troops, because he wants to cut ties with America...

The last PM to tell the Americans to do one, was Harold Wilson over Vietnam...which is why there was talk of an attempted  MI5 inspired military coup against Labour government in 74.

Politics was so much more interesting back then....

[jonny72]

I was starting to lean towards Lib Dem but I just checked up on their candidate for Swindon South and now I'm not sure sure. I prefer a local person rather than someone just dropped in, he is currently the Mayor of Frome (where he lives) and he has absolutely zero ties with Swindon. It's like they're not even making any effort, probably as the seat isn't very high on their list of priorities.

[leefer]

Yep...I can just see Cameron stating that he'll withdraw British troops, because he wants to cut ties with America...

The last PM to tell the Americans to do one, was Harold Wilson over Vietnam...which is why there was talk of an attempted  MI5 inspired military coup against Labour government in 74.

Politics was so much more interesting back then....

Dosnt have to be Cameron...wares the libs when you want them...after all they have been spouting of for years about the war....but as usual theres a big

Yep...I can just see Cameron stating that he'll withdraw British troops, because he wants to cut ties with America...

The last PM to tell the Americans to do one, was Harold Wilson over Vietnam...which is why there was talk of an attempted  MI5 inspired military coup against Labour government in 74.

Politics was so much more interesting back then....

Dont have to be Cameron..i am sure the libs have in the main been anti war...course it makes for good ammo in party speeches,but as per usual it was all bravado and its all gone quite on the Lib/Dem front.

[ron dodgers]

I'll go Labour I expect this time, but i will read all the manifestos (again). I'm not bothered about local MPs - it's not a big deal any more. I have no problem with Unions fighting for workers rights, no problem with CEOs fighting for directors rights, no problem with LibDems fighting for lentil rights, Greens fighting for a return to the Middle Ages, UKIP fighting for Inspector Barnaby, Miss Marple and a pound of home made jam, oh, and I quite like seeing the BNP fighting with themselves!! . On the whole we are a well balanced civilisation and I'm not moving. I would like to see a preference vote system though.

[leefer]

I'll go Labour I expect this time, but i will read all the manifestos (again). I'm not bothered about local MPs - it's not a big deal any more. I have no problem with Unions fighting for workers rights, no problem with CEOs fighting for directors rights, no problem with LibDems fighting for lentil rights, Greens fighting for a return to the Middle Ages, UKIP fighting for Inspector Barnaby, Miss Marple and a pound of home made jam, oh, and I quite like seeing the BNP fighting with themselves!! . On the whole we are a well balanced civilisation and I'm not moving. I would like to see a preference vote system though.

A pound of home made jam..like that.

[Colin Todd]

My take is that I could never vote for Brown & New labour. I can't understand why any one would vote for them (apart from maybe those who benefit from their predeliction for throwing our money away).  They've lied to the country too much, are incompetent & the main interest is hanging on to their careers. Liberals change policies as often as the wind changes direction, & will spout a policy to suit the audience.

Totally agree. I really just dont get why anyone would vote for more of this labour government. Any other party I could understand even if I totally disagree with their views.

Does anyone really think that

A. Nu-Labour have done a good job?
B. They will do a good job in the future based on their track record?
or C. that there isnt another political party of any persuasion that couldnt do better?

[Reg Smeeton]

I was starting to lean towards Lib Dem but I just checked up on their candidate for Swindon South and now I'm not sure sure. I prefer a local person rather than someone just dropped in, he is currently the Mayor of Frome (where he lives) and he has absolutely zero ties with Swindon. It's like they're not even making any effort, probably as the seat isn't very high on their list of priorities.

 The level of grass roots political activism, is at an all time low.  The Lib Dems in Swindon probably only have 20 or 30 members...quite possibly none of whom want to be considered.

 I was involved in Labour politics for some years, and it tended to be the case that local candidates had made as many enemies as friends within the party, so it suited everybody best, to bring someone in from outside who could unite the factions..

 Read Francis Noel-Baker's autobiography, to get a god insight into how the system works..

[Colin Todd]

And those of you voting labour for "class war" reasons need to wake up a bit.

Labour is dominated by public schoolboys these days (Blair, Brown to name a couple) admittedly its not quite to the extent of the Tories, but the image of tories as toffs and labour as northen men in flat caps is a touch out of date now.

And does anyone really think that labour have helped low income working people? Sure they've helped the career benefits class but I dont see what it is they've done to help low / average income people and families. Frankly the tax burden has gone up, even on average income people.

So what is it they actually stand for these days? As far as I can tell its big nannying government, wasting taxpayers money and buying votes from wasters and people employed in the public sector (to re-use talktalks phrase "turkeys dont vote for christmas")

God I fucking hate them.