The Leader's Debate

[lumberjim]

Originally Posted by DanaC

Thanks for letting me know that Jim :P


This thread was a form of therapy. Writing it was more important to me than you reading it. It's a rant.

don't be sad.

i was just saying that it has my top 3 turn offs

1: it's about politics
2: The OP is really fucking long
3: it's about politics

One great thing about British national elections is the short campaign season.

So. with the election just days away, predictions from the Cellar Brits?

Will the Tories win outright?

Will they win the popular vote but Labour win more seats in Parliament?

Will there be a hung parliament with Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats emerging as king maker?

[ZenGum]

I guess that the Lib Dems will do better than polls indicate, because voting is not compulsory.
So many people are wholly disillusioned by the Labor / conservative pair, that I suspect many just wont bother. This plays into the hands of minor parties. I hope it goes for the LDs and not the BNP.

[Sundae]

All I know is that the nation is drifting to the right and that always worries me.

Hung parliament imo.
And queasy deals done in smoke-free rooms.

I think the more marginal parties will have more of a say. Which I suppose is good politics. But eats into the only real benefit of the first-past-the-post system. Which is that socially advanced policies can be introduced - like votes for women, the abolition of hanging, the legalisation of abortion etc.

Of coutse YMMV depending on your place on the political spectrum.
My Dad says he'd vote for any party that proposed to bring back the Death Penalty.

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Sundae Girl

And queasy deals done in smoke-free rooms.

Thats true of all the parties. That will never change.

My Dad says he'd vote for any party that proposed to bring back the Death Penalty.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Hmm

[TheMercenary]

Well now what?

Hung Parliament.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/p...10/8667938.stm

[Carruthers]

Er, quite.............

[glatt]

Oh, that's a good one.

[DanaC]

That was a nailbiting election night!

[glatt]

How's you do? I heard on the radio that overall, labor didn't do so well.

[DanaC]

Well, Labour lost the election essentially. But... the Conservatives (currently the opposition) didn't win a majority. So, now we end up either with a Conservative minority government in conjunction with Lib Dem and unionist support; or, if the Cons and Lib dems can't reach agreement, we may end up with a coalition of the centre left parties, with Labour and Lib Dems running the show, along with support from Welsh or Scottish centre left parties.

Right now, it's impossible to say.

What's intriguing is that despite Brown's unpopularity and despite being 13 years into a labour government, the Conservatives didn't manage to bring in enough gains to give them a majority. That's incredible. A year ago I'd have laid money on a Conservative landslide.

In local terms, my MP is still Labour. The neighbouring seat we lost to the Conservatives, but that was always likely to go no matter what the national picture ended up.

[classicman]

What's intriguing is that <because of> Brown's unpopularity and despite being 13 years into a labour government, the Conservatives didn't manage to bring in enough gains to give them a majority.

no? I don't understand your surprise.

[DanaC]

Usually if a Prime Minister and governing party is deeply unpopular there is a landslide to the other side. This didn't happen. despite Labour and Brown's unpopularity, the Conservatives did not manage to gain a majority.

When the Labour Party took power in 1997 it was with a massive majority; likewise when the Conservatives took power in the 70s it was a wipeout for Labour.

Hung parliaments are incredibly rare. That we've ended up with one at this time, with a Prime Minister who has been dead in the water (seemingly) for months, I'd have expected the Conservatives to have done much better than they did.

[Sundae]

I have to admit that despite my disappointment in the poor showing by the LibDems (ANOTHER 4 years of David Liddington in Aylesbury ) I did grin at the same thing you did. The papers have been blaming everything from the Ash Cloud to Wayne Rooney's injuries on Brown all year. But the Tories still weren't able to clinch the deal.

Also, heard a Tory voter on the radio this morning complaining in an honestly shocked voice that the first past the post system was a travesty and in no way reflected the opinion of the country. Yep, try being a LibDem sweetheart, we've been saying it for years.

I was sneakily glad they didn't even manage to scrape enough seats for a minority Government. Har-de-har. Not as good as you thought you were, Dave.

Sorry. I'm allowed to sneer. I had precious little other political pleasure today. I think the best we can hope for is another election very soon. And who in their right mind would really wish for that?