I am so hacked off with people saying they like the libdems but won't vote for them..

(42 Posts)
sophable Wed 10-Mar-10 22:00:52

because they have no chance of getting in!

if all you fuckers got your fingers out and did vote for them we'd have a libdem government!

they are the ONLY party with grown up policies for grown up intelligent people imho.

quite apart from the fact that they are the only party that challenged the legality of the iraq war.

said Wed 10-Mar-10 22:02:05

I'm cautious about them but will be voting for them smile A No Choice constituency here.

sophable Wed 10-Mar-10 22:05:35

they are the only party that doesn't belong lock stock to big business. which is why they don't get any decent media coverage.

maxpower Wed 10-Mar-10 22:07:00

I agree, but the problem is the way the voting is structured. It's that that actually dissuades people from voting for them as they feel it is a waste. Proportional representation would do the LibDems such a favour. They are the only intelligent and fair minded party IMO.

spongebrainbigpants Wed 10-Mar-10 22:09:08

maxpower is right, under a first past the post system it is nigh on impossible for a third (much smaller) party to form a government.

We need a government that is prepared to make the brave step of introducing PR - but turkeys don't vote for Christmas do they? sad

sophable Wed 10-Mar-10 22:21:14

did you know that labour made a manifesto pledge to in 97. and they have completely and utterly reneged on that.

sophable Wed 10-Mar-10 22:22:07

the promised a royal commission on PR.

i won't even type what i think of that betrayal on top of all the others.

spongebrainbigpants Thu 11-Mar-10 07:44:43

I did. I used to be a Labour member.

I'm totally with you on your anger at their betrayal - but they came to power on a landslide and got giddy with it.

A hung parliament is the best we can hope for this time, and then maybe PR will follow <hopeful and possibly naive>.

I've started heard a rumour that if the Lib Dem's get enough votes we'll get Vince Cable as Chancellor!! Pass it around - it might help wink.

sophable Thu 11-Mar-10 13:13:01

honestly, how many of you would vote libdem if you thought they had a chance of getting in?

TheDevilWearsPrimark Thu 11-Mar-10 13:27:37

This drives me nuts too

They have a fairly good chance in my area

SeaShellsOnTheSeaShore Thu 11-Mar-10 13:36:49

I vote Libdem locally, and sometimes nationally, but I really fear a Conservative government this year and may vote Labour just to get a hung parliment/Labour to stay in. So I guess I'm one of those fuckers.

They have PR in Norway and its fab - especially when you have a leftie holding the treasury purse strings and a v frustrated R wing PM grin

sparkle09 Thu 11-Mar-10 13:37:38

I really like the lib dems, chris huhne is my MP. but have the conservatives (sp?) right behind them.

i am happy with my local government.

TheDevilWearsPrimark Thu 11-Mar-10 13:41:52

A hung parliament would be a disaster! Why do so many people want that?

sophable Thu 11-Mar-10 13:42:43

but if the people that were voting strategically all just got out and voted for the party they actually believed came closest to what they believed, we might have a shot at changing the system.

spongebrainbigpants Thu 11-Mar-10 13:50:21

I do vote LibDem as a Labour vote round here is a waste of time and I've always voted tactially against the Tories. But this place will never elect anything but a Tory MP sadly, so my vote is still wasted sad.

PR needs to be adopted in this country - and compulsory voting while we're at it!

nickelbabe Thu 11-Mar-10 13:54:54

i hate strategical voting because it isn't !
it means people vote for someone they think will get in rather than who they want to get in.

"oh, i don't want labour to get in so i'll vote tory"
it's insane!

i've always maintained that if all the people who vote for the opposite party just because they don't want the current leaders to get back in voted for Libdem, and all those who don't vote because "it doesn't make a difference" voted libdem, then we'd have a libdem government since the last election!

i've always voted libdem and i'll definitely be doing it again.

it's not a playground, it's our lives we're voting for.

nickelbabe Thu 11-Mar-10 13:56:49

DWP: i still don't understand why everyone's convinced there'll be a hung parliament!
(sponge to you too!)

it makes no sense.

a hung parliament happens if there isn't a clear majority or if too many people abstain from voting.

it really is the worst thing that can happen!

even a coalition is better, and no political party would ever agree to that in peacetime.

i will be voting libdem again, for the 3rd time running in 2 different areas.
Mainly because the libdem guy here is the best one for the job. He is excellent and I am not impressed by the other candidates.
Not sure how much difference it will make to the overall election result.. hope they stay in round here tho!

MathsMadMummy Thu 11-Mar-10 14:01:01

I totally agree with you OP, as does my DH and my parents.

Got no chance of anything but Tory here but oh well.

hannahsaunt Thu 11-Mar-10 14:06:35

I heart Vince Cable.

spongebrainbigpants Thu 11-Mar-10 14:06:40

Lol nickelbabe, thanks for your explanation of a hung parliament - I have a degree in politics so I do know about hung parliaments!! grin

I didn't say I was convinced we were going to get one either, I said it was the best we could hope for in terms of one party finally being prepared to introduce PR.

The last time we had a hung parliament was in the 90s when the Tories clung to power with the help of the Ulster Unionists - not good. Maybe this time the strongest party would finally do what would be best for politics in this country in the long term - but I'm not at all hopeful tbh sad.

Oh, and a Labour vote in this constituency really is a total waste of a vote cos of 'first past the post' - I'm probably one of ten Labour voters in the whole constituency!

I agree OP. Voted Lib Dem at the last general election, mainly as a protest against Iraq, as did lots of others in my constituancy and we ended up with a Lib Dem MP in what was previously a fairly safe Labour seat. Yay!

Since then I've read more on Lib Dem policies and on the whole they seem like the most sensible party for me to vote for.

I do hate that they seem to get involved in lots of mud-slinging on a local level though.

vesela Thu 11-Mar-10 14:35:01

the best thing is for as many people as possible to put up Lib Dem posters in windows, then it becomes clearer that there's a groundswell of LD support in a seat where the LDs are in with a chance, and more and more people feel enabled to vote LD there. IMO window posters are better than all the barcharts in the world...

nickelbabe Thu 11-Mar-10 15:23:41

it wasn't supposed to be an explanation, sponge!! grin blush i just didn't want you to think i'd jumped on DWP's post and ignored that you'd mentioned it first! grin

(truth be told, that's about all i know about hung parliament, so you'd be welcome to fill in the gaps )

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