Who have you voted for?

[soulman101]

In Tipton and Wednesbury ( the old West Brom Seat )
Lab 11.7k votes ,Reform 8.7k and Con 8k We have lost a good Mp
The split vote has got Labour back in power .

[kettering_baggie]

In Tipton and Wednesbury ( the old West Brom Seat )
Lab 11.7k votes ,Reform 8.7k and Con 8k We have lost a good Mp
The split vote has got Labour back in power .

Yes, many thanks to Nigel Farage, the pied piper of doom.

[mickd1961]

I don’t want to see Reform prosper but I would far rather have them than the shower of sh!t that has just been elected. There has never been a Labour government that has left the country in a better state than when it took office. In five years time we will be well and truly a third world country. RIP England.

Today has been quite worrying at work.

We’ve seen a 20% drop in orders compared to recent trends after a very, very strong few months .
Reeves is going to have to get a grip and send out some positive messaging very quickly otherwise business confidence and public confusion going to be shaken.

Not a good sign in my long experience.

[WBA123]

I don’t want to see Reform prosper but I would far rather have them than the shower of sh!t that has just been elected. There has never been a Labour government that has left the country in a better state than when it took office. In five years time we will be well and truly a third world country. RIP England.

Good grief. This is quite a view.

And do you think the country is in a better state now than in 2010?

[Omegstrat6]

Here's one for you Omeg'. If we had proportional representation in Britain then tactical voting or not the party you describe as being led by a populist racist would now be the third party in British politics ahead of the Lib Dems and would have just under a hundred seats in Westminster.

I'm very aware of this 68 and would be lying if I said that this didn't worry me! On the other hand, only about 60% of those eligible to vote did so which may very well be an indication of many being totally disenchanted with the current system and the two main parties on offer in addition to general apathy.

I'm sure that just as some Reform candidates attracted racists/bigots many others attracted former Conservative voters who are not of this ilk but simply felt let down by the current Tory leadership and felt they could not vote Labour or LibDem. Had there been an alternative choice that better represented the views of these, I doubt they would have voted for Farage & co.

PR is logically fairer and may encourage the growth of alternative parties-even if this means, for example, that the Labour party might split into separate centrist and leftist parties and the Conservatives into centrist and more right wing ones. It might be hoped that having a party that people felt they could get behind rather than feeling that they had limited options which they may only partially agree with might stimulate more interest in politics and encourage this other 40% to vote. The downside, I suppose, is that this may make majority margins for any government far harder to achieve and hamper the introduction of policies they may want to introduce. But -given the recent experiences of a Truss led government-maybe this would not be such a bad thing?

[baggieal]

I'm very aware of this 68 and would be lying if I said that this didn't worry me! On the other hand, only about 60% of those eligible to vote did so which may very well be an indication of many being totally disenchanted with the current system and the two main parties on offer in addition to general apathy.

I'm sure that just as some Reform candidates attracted racists/bigots many others attracted former Conservative voters who are not of this ilk but simply felt let down by the current Tory leadership and felt they could not vote Labour or LibDem. Had there been an alternative choice that better represented the views of these, I doubt they would have voted for Farage & co.

PR is logically fairer and may encourage the growth of alternative parties-even if this means, for example, that the Labour party might split into separate centrist and leftist parties and the Conservatives into centrist and more right wing ones. It might be hoped that having a party that people felt they could get behind rather than feeling that they had limited options which they may only partially agree with might stimulate more interest in politics and encourage this other 40% to vote. The downside, I suppose, is that this may make majority margins for any government far harder to achieve and hamper the introduction of policies they may want to introduce. But -given the recent experiences of a Truss led government-maybe this would not be such a bad thing?

Don’t agree Omeg! Clearly you hate Farage which is your view but many love him as the majority of French love Le Pen. I would say more voted Lib Dem’s as a protest vote more so than Reform.

I didn’t vote but get why people voted for him and his party will get stronger. Probably more racists in Labour with their anti Jewish agenda!

Just my opinion!

[mickd1961]

I'm very aware of this 68 and would be lying if I said that this didn't worry me! On the other hand, only about 60% of those eligible to vote did so which may very well be an indication of many being totally disenchanted with the current system and the two main parties on offer in addition to general apathy.

I'm sure that just as some Reform candidates attracted racists/bigots many others attracted former Conservative voters who are not of this ilk but simply felt let down by the current Tory leadership and felt they could not vote Labour or LibDem. Had there been an alternative choice that better represented the views of these, I doubt they would have voted for Farage & co.

PR is logically fairer and may encourage the growth of alternative parties-even if this means, for example, that the Labour party might split into separate centrist and leftist parties and the Conservatives into centrist and more right wing ones. It might be hoped that having a party that people felt they could get behind rather than feeling that they had limited options which they may only partially agree with might stimulate more interest in politics and encourage this other 40% to vote. The downside, I suppose, is that this may make majority margins for any government far harder to achieve and hamper the introduction of policies they may want to introduce. But -given the recent experiences of a Truss led government-maybe this would not be such a bad thing?

I couldn’t bring myself to vote for Farage on Thursday, I just couldn’t do it.

I wrestled with it for weeks and right up until I set off for the polling booth.

Normally my wife takes political advice from me because she’s not into politics at all but on Thursday I asked if she’d made up her mind and she said she had and that she was voting Tory.

She couldn’t see the point in being a sheep just because so many others were abandoning the party and she thought that despite the mess Boris and Truss created that Sunak was at heart a decent bloke doing his best.

Along with the fact we have a very good local Tory moderate MP I begrudgingly put my X against him but with a very heavy heart.

His majority slumped from around 12,000 down to around 600 due in the main to Reform so I’m glad I made the decision, he didn’t deserve to lose his seat.

Much as I’m a cynic, I’m really hoping Rachel Reeves turns out to be a good Chancellor.

I’ll be the first to put my vote in the Labour box in 2029 if they prove to be above competent and to achieve growth.

Much as I was for Brexit and it has been far from a disaster for me I do hope they can forge a more sensible path with the Eu and get trade and movement to be more frictionless along with an understanding that a solution to illegals needs to be found to help the whole of the Eu and ourselves.

So I’m rooting for Labour to do a good job, I’m not sat here hoping they fail because if they do, we all suffer and many thousands of people have suffered enough in recent years.

[Albionic68]

I'm very aware of this 68 and would be lying if I said that this didn't worry me! On the other hand, only about 60% of those eligible to vote did so which may very well be an indication of many being totally disenchanted with the current system and the two main parties on offer in addition to general apathy.

I'm sure that just as some Reform candidates attracted racists/bigots many others attracted former Conservative voters who are not of this ilk but simply felt let down by the current Tory leadership and felt they could not vote Labour or LibDem. Had there been an alternative choice that better represented the views of these, I doubt they would have voted for Farage & co.

PR is logically fairer and may encourage the growth of alternative parties-even if this means, for example, that the Labour party might split into separate centrist and leftist parties and the Conservatives into centrist and more right wing ones. It might be hoped that having a party that people felt they could get behind rather than feeling that they had limited options which they may only partially agree with might stimulate more interest in politics and encourage this other 40% to vote. The downside, I suppose, is that this may make majority margins for any government far harder to achieve and hamper the introduction of policies they may want to introduce. But -given the recent experiences of a Truss led government-maybe this would not be such a bad thing?

Apologies in advance for a response while speed reading during the early hours but we're never going to know what the other 40% think until people like the Barista's Champion in Harrogate decide to exercise their democratic rights. As for the opportunist that was Truss she shouldn't even be part of the conversation about PR given she came to power courtesy of an archaic leadership voting structure rather than via a General Election.

Re disenchantment/protest votes it's worth remembering the Tories weren't the only party affected. It could very easily be argued Labour were in turn destabilised by a populist dispora in protest of their stance on Gaza. In fairness although I have always voted and will always do so I don't expend as much energy on politics as I could and used to and don't really have much skin in the PR debate beyond it's ability to destabilise over a short term and potentially harm in the long term. That said anything bringing down the status quo is fine in my book because they were s hit 😉 .

[Omegstrat6]

To say that I "hate" Farage is maybe a bit strong Al, but it's true that the more I learn about him, the more I dislike his policies and views. He may strive to come across as being very affable and "straight talking" but, for me at least, this is an act to hide his more unsavoury side. That said, I learnt a long time ago that just because you may strongly disagree with most things some-one says/believes does not mean that you should dismiss them out of hand or that they are wrong (in your own eyes) on everything. Personally, I think that Farage is a naracisst and disingenuous but can still see how some of his views would appeal.

Like very many, I remain to be convinced by Starmer and Labour but would echo Mick's sentiment and would rather give them the opportunity to try and turn things around than sit and consistently moan about them. The Tories have hardly left the country better than they found it so any party who found themselves in power would find the challenges ahead complex and solutions difficult. There are no quick or easy fixes so I believe that Labour should be allowed some benefit of the doubt at this time.

As for PR, there is the danger that more extreme or "populist" parties (whether right wing or left) may come to gain more seats with this system but the answer to so much of this surely lies both in encouraging more open and thoughtful debate in politics as well as trying to create a more equal society. History repeatedly shows that when growing sections of society get poorer and feel disenchanted and their voices/concerns ignored then they become ripe breeding grounds for more extremist movements.

[Q165]

I have never been able to take to Keir Starmer and just do not like David Lammy and Angela Rayner. We’ll see.