National Elections

[jz]

However, whoever I vote for the Lib Dems will win in Orkney and Shetland. So actually I feel disenfranchised.

Well that is not strictly true. ...

 

Whilst not a 100% certain, it would take an enormous swing away from the Lib Dems for any other party to win. This is one of the safest Lib Dem seats, and barring Alistair Carmichael being involved in a unforgivable personal scandal between now and the election, he will win. They, the Lib Dems, would want a different electoral system that would give them representation in parliament that is more in line with the percentage vote they get

 

With regard to turning out to vote, I will vote as I have done on every opportunity since I was old enough - except last time when I spoilt my vote. I may again spoil my vote if I'm not convinced by the positions taken by the candidates.

[Evil Inky]

I chose Green, despite the fact a Green candidate isn't standing here. I might end up spoiling my ballot paper too.

[swc123]

The Greens are not putting up a candidate, which is a shame - they got about 10% of the vote here in the last Scottish elections.

 

This is indeed very disappointing. They are the only party living in the real world. All other parties are far too focused on unsustainable economic growth it is untrue, for them a growth in GDP is all that seems to matter.

 

Crisis after crisis does not seem to matter, the attitude of lets just refloat the very dodgy ship and make another go of it still prevails, this just does not hold any water (pardon the pun) and we must wake up to that.

 

Sorry rant over!

[Longdog]

It's a shame as it's hard to know what to do.

 

To waste a vote by spoiling it seems almost as bad as not voting, as no one will really give a toss. But to vote for a minor party is possibly still amounting to the same thing. Yes there is a recogniton that people are voting other than for the main ones but the cynic in me says it's still likely to be one of the major 2 who get elected. A hung parliament would be great sport

 

Now if you could vote 'no confidence' in a party and it amounted to something (say a reduction in their overall count) then that is what I would vote. But that's not going to happen either.

 

God, I hate elections, just lucky I've not ot a TV!

[Malachy]

The Greens are not putting up a candidate, which is a shame - they got about 10% of the vote here in the last Scottish elections.

 

This is indeed very disappointing. They are the only party living in the real world. All other parties are far too focused on unsustainable economic growth it is untrue, for them a growth in GDP is all that seems to matter.

 

I agree, but despite getting a very respectable share of the vote here, the local membership is disappointingly small at the moment, so it would be pretty hard to find a candidate. I imagine fighting an election is a lot of work, so it's a big job to take on, especially when the chances of success are so minimal. Hopefully by the time the next Scottish elections come around, someone locally will be prepared to do it. I'd half think about doing it myself, but I wouldn't actually want to win, which is probably not the right attitude to go into an election with.

[swc123]

I agree, but despite getting a very respectable share of the vote here, the local membership is disappointingly small at the moment, so it would be pretty hard to find a candidate. I imagine fighting an election is a lot of work, so it's a big job to take on, especially when the chances of success are so minimal. Hopefully by the time the next Scottish elections come around, someone locally will be prepared to do it. I'd half think about doing it myself, but I wouldn't actually want to win, which is probably not the right attitude to go into an election with.

 

Oh go on Malachy, you will get my vote at least!

[Ghostrider]

Now if you could vote 'no confidence' in a party and it amounted to something (say a reduction in their overall count) then that is what I would vote. But that's not going to happen either.

 

Something like this is what I've believed should be the first reform of the electoral system. Every voter should be allowed two votes in all elections, in one you could vote for the person you wanted to win, in the other you could vote for the person you definitely did not want to win.

 

The final winner would be the one with the highest count once the "No" votes total for them were deducted from the "Yes" votes total for them.

[Vicky]

I can't vote, not 18 until a month after the election D:<

 

Although for anyone who is interested the telegraph have this who should I vote for and allows you to compare your views with those of political parties. You can also compare the views of the big 3 on the site on different issues, as it's pretty hard to tell the difference between them most of the time.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/election-2010/7541285/Vote-Match-General-Election-2010.html

 

IF I could vote, well I'll be bullying a lot of my friends who've just turned 18 to vote, I would vote for lib dems as I think that a lib dem/labour coalition would be the best outcome. A lot of people say a hung parliament would get nothing done, but I think it would force a lot of the animosity out of politics as the parties would have to work together rather as ripping each other up and weaking the confidence of investors in the British economy. It would also mean that a broader range of people would be represented. And Vince Cable is by far the most confidence inspiring guy for our next chancellor, a position that will be VERY important in the next 5 years. Did anyone catch the chancellors debate?

 

But that's just my opinion. There was not way I'd consider voting for the Conservatives after Ashcroft, B & B scandal(same old bigots), their policy for instant cuts, and just the fact that even though they've cleaned up the image, David Cameron is only one MP, and I don't think the rest of his party has changed at all.

 

But this is me thinking on a National level. I actually e-mail all the candidates for local parties in Shetland and asked them about some local issues, no reply yet though!

 

Used the power 2010 site so I could get the e-mails of all of the party affiliated candidates up here http://www.power2010.org.uk/page/speakout/ppcpowerpledge?js=true&zip=

[Styles]

I do think Carmichael does a good job but get fed up the ammount of people who vote Lib Dem just because they allways have or their parents do so they do, most dont know a single Lib Dem Policy.

 

I was going to vote SNP but the carry on with the northlink ferries has put me off. Just heard the UKIP guy on the radio who talked a lot of sense plus like their policies and atleast he local for the seat being an Orcadian. But yet again it will be a huge Lib Dem majority.

 

I would like a box introduced in that you vote for none of them.

[ArabiaTerra]

I'll be voting Lib-Dem, for one simple reason: Electoral Reform.

 

Without this, all we're ever going to get is the same old merry-go-round of Liebour/Tory, nothing will ever change. With PR, something will change.

[EM]

So actually I feel disenfranchised.

Quite true. With the current UK electoral system, people's votes are of enormously different effect depending solely on where they live. My vote is almost irrelevant (though I'll still cast it) because it is in a safe seat. This is fundamentally wrong. Why should a tiny handful of swing voters always decide the final government? It is farcical. Nobody should feel that their vote is a "wasted vote" on such a basis.

[Malcolm]

http://www.henden.co.uk/election%20poster.jpg

 

Don’t vote, It only encourages them.

[Malachy]

Something like this is what I've believed should be the first reform of the electoral system. Every voter should be allowed two votes in all elections, in one you could vote for the person you wanted to win, in the other you could vote for the person you definitely did not want to win.

 

This is more or less how the voting system worked in the last council elections, where you ranked the candidates in order, but if you chose not to put any number against one candidate they were essentially losing points when it came to the count (it's a pretty complicated system but better than FPTP).

[crofter]

http://www.henden.co.uk/election%20poster.jpg

 

Don’t vote, It only encourages them.

 

No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in...

[Spinner72]

But I now think Labour may be the best bet for the UK as a whole, again another tactical vote, if they win again, I think the UK will probably descend into utter chaos and hit absolute rock bottom, bankruptcy and complete meltdown which is really whats needed to purge this rotten system of governance.

 

Careful what you wish for, I recall the mid 70's when that happened last. As if that wasn't bad enough, the "solution" was....Thatcher!

 

Thats the thing that bothers me. I completely understand the lack of confidence in the current Govt, but I also remember life under the Tories. Unlike the last shift in power, a change may not be for the good.

 

I'm quite concerned at the amount of support the UKIP is getting (not just here but generally). When you read their manifestos there is very little difference between them and the BNP. Of course their policies on agriculture, fisheries and employment in general are good, but so are the BNP's, the only difference seems to be the "dark side" of the UKIP's agenda is being ignored.

 

(*** Mod - Missing 'f' ***)