General Election - 6th May

[jblove♥]

I'll have to vote Labour. The Liberal Democrats just aren't strong enough as a party yet. The Conservatives are still wanna be American ultra capitalists. In spite of all the recent bad publicity over expenses claims and the like. The conservatives think it's a great idea to flash their cash and swoon around the country in helicopters in a clearly desperate bid to grab power.

I'd never vote for anybody that desperate or that out of touch with reality. Until I start seeing some credible policies being put forward I'd rather stick with the devil I know.

[PumpkinHead]

The expenses scandal is going to have a significant impact - the Tory Parliamentary candidate in my constituency has a tag line on all of his election materials stating that in 10 years as a councillor he has never claimed a penny in expenses.

He'll probably win and if he wasn't a tory, I'd probably vote for him too.

[somethingspecial]

I will not be voting because representative democracy is a system I am not comfortable supporting. I will not be spoiling my vote because even though choosing not to vote is a form of non-participatory participation, spoiling your vote implies you support the system but not the parties. I do not support the parties, true, but I also do not support the system; I do think democracy can work, but I think it works better in places like Switzerland.

I'm expecting a tirade of people will want to respond with something like, "that just makes you lazy" or "people will just assume you're lazy". But, that argument simply doesn't hold up because every time I am asked who I'll be voting for and I receive such derision, I go out of my way to defend my position, which often takes more time than it would to go and vote; thus the lazy thing to do would be to agree for the sake of avoiding hassle and confrontation.

I've also spent quite a bit of time, and continue to spend time, on keeping up-to-date with political happenings.

[MarcotD]

What would you replace the system with?

[Lisha]

A photograph of a giant doughnut.

Did you miss my comment about Switzerland?

[anonymouslaughter]

Are you suggesting that the only system you are willing to interact with is a direct democracy? Cos that aint gonna happen anytime soon.

Would you be happier with a representative democracy operating a proportional representation electoral system?

[Ronq]

Well that's your choice. However if you choose to be silent then your opinions will never be heard by those in a position to carry them forward. Personally I'd like to see a proportional representation system put in place. It works well in Scotland. The minority SNP government has just enough power to get the job done. But not so much they can ram policy through parliament. They're forced to explain and justify their polices and actions. While the opposition are in a real position to hold the SNP to account if anything goes wrong or even looks like it may go wrong.

I'd like to see that level of accountability at UK national level. I don't think the "first past the post" system can deliver that any longer. I'd also like to see the UK parliament adopt the Scottish Parliaments rules on expenses. Everything is published and out in the open.

[HaikuAnswerMan]

The great fear regarding proportional representation is that it will inevitably produce extremist MPs. But it will also produce a lot more lib dem MPs and effectively remove the Labour/Conservative duopoly. If you are happy with all those terms then proportional representation is very appealing, but it is obviously not going to be appealing to Labour/Conservative MPs who would have to vote for it.

[kelly825782003]

I think with the Internet and the use of blogs and the like to transmit ideas across a readily-accessible medium, that's not as true as it used to be.

[TheSydneysider]

First time I've heard of someone not liking representive democracy. Not liking first past the post or taking issue with the party leader dominance I fully understand but not liking RD? Oookay.....