It’s election time again!

[Haliotis]

Electioneering - I’m fed up with it already. Differing parties accusing others of being useless. Pledges flying about like confetti if a party is returned to office.  Those pledges should have been in previous manifestos.  Polls stating who will, or will not, win and the possibility of a hung parliament.  Well, whoever gets in, I just hope they are capable and run matters for the benefit of the whole country - not just for favoured sections of it.   I might just get an inflatable and an outboard motor, ready to cross the channel and sneak into France! 😎

[Roy124]

In 1992 we were on a Nile cruise when John Major had an unexpected win.  This year we shall be on a Med cruise.  As we only use that cabin TV for the chart displays I think we shall be spared much cattle excrement. 

 

[Parts-King]

I went to the NEC one year with a pal to the Motor Show, we were just walking through the front doors and there were some barriers and red carpet out, with that a motorcade pulled up, all with blue lights flashing in the bumpers etc and we thought, wonder who this is? Hardly anyone around so we waited to see who got out. John Major stepped out and onto a podium to give a speech about the motor trade, bla bla bla. A plain clothes officer stood inches away from me, looking side and as he did so, his jacket opened and revealed a pistol and holster, one under each armpit. I thought to myself, what would happen if you reached in for one of those, he was really close and ive always thought that wasn't particularly clever 😂😂🤦‍♂️ That was as exciting as politics gets for me 😁

[Cyker]

Whew you're lucky you got away conscious! Mr Major's speeches could be weaponized as a mass tranquillizer!   

 

[Big_D]

We've had a number of letters telling us why we should vote for a particular party. One, addressed my daughter as Mr, even though her first name (included on the front of the envelope) is clearly feminine. The other letter was addressed to my son, daughter, and myself. No mention of my wife. Who knows why she wasn't included with the rest of us.  Perhaps, being British, she isn't entitled to vote 😁 

If they can't get simple things like this right, how can they run the country. I certainly won't be voting for them

[Primus1]

It doesn’t matter who you vote for the government always get in…

[dannyboy413]

11 hours ago, Haliotis said:

I just hope they are capable and run matters for the benefit of the whole country

Everyone loves a comedian. 😄

[forkingabout]

I'm voting for Larry the cat 👍

[Primus1]

8 hours ago, forkingabout said:

I'm voting for Larry the cat 👍

He wouldn’t pussyfoot around..

[Haliotis]

3 hours ago, Primus1 said:

He wouldn’t pussyfoot around..

Larry is tired of politicians staring into his litter tray - he knows that is where they get all their inspirations.

[Cyker]

It's a sad state of affairs when a cat and a lettuce would be more popular candidates than what we have!  

[Roy124]

I still think "none of the above" should be a valid voting option.  If NOTA gets more votes think again.  

Perhaps eliminate all but the top 3 after NOTA and have another election.   Or require a new election with NOTA from the previous election 'encouraged' not to stand again.

[Primus1]

11 hours ago, Roy124 said:

I still think "none of the above" should be a valid voting option.  If NOTA gets more votes think again.  

Perhaps eliminate all but the top 3 after NOTA and have another election.   Or require a new election with NOTA from the previous election 'encouraged' not to stand again.

But then you’ll get someone standing as the none of the above party…and win with a landslide..

[Roy124]

I have another theory.  This applies to US Presidential elections too.

Anyone who wants to be president or prime minister must be mad.  Anyone who is mad should be disbarred automatically. 

Farage is a perfect example.   He didn't want to lead the party or be PM until Farage twisted his arm.

Candidates should go into the hustings representing themselves.   Party leaders should step down when Parliament closes.   After all, the current leaders might not get elected (one hopes).

[Haliotis]

Personally, I like a hung parliament, and a coalition government.  The minority party wants the people to believe in them, so they can hold back any outrageous government policies.  The two of the smaller parties can together keep the major party in check.  This situation is probably the only time when all main parties are prepared to listen to the voting public.

[Roy124]

Apologies for this but it illustrates 'lies, damn lies  and statistics'

We made good on our pledge for 20,000 more police officers since 2019, meaning that there are now more police officers than ever before. And it has made a massive difference, with overall crime down by 54 per cent since 2010.

So, in 14 years crime has gone down by about 3.9% per year.

There are 20 000 more police officers than ever before: before when?

What has been the drop in crime since 2019.

And they all do it.

[Haliotis]

When any politician starts to show an interest in you, and tells you how his/her party is the only one that can save the country, you know that they are on the back foot.

[Primus1]

It was actually claimed they recruited an extra 24000 police officers, but they got rid of 20,000 so it was actually only an extra 4,000 , smoke and mirrors with this lot..

[JARC1]

The lot of them are like characters from an Enyid Blyton story book.

[Rhymes with Paris]

Famous five, secret seven?

[dannyboy413]

Not calling something a crime, that used to be called a crime, immediately reduces the crime figures. I know I am going back 50 years, but criminal damage, with a value of £10 or less was reclassified as 'Minor Damage', (which was not a crime!). A few years later, the value was upped to £20. And what's more, we were encouraged to get the 'victim' to say that the damage would cost less than £10/20 to repair.  As Roy @Roy124 says, "lies, damn lies and statistics" !

[Roy124]

I am about to spend longer typing this than I spend reading the Tory or Labour manifestos. 

Does anyone read them?  Life is too short. 

We have an MP standing for our new constituency.   On electioncalculus she will probably win.

Her chances are better than Victoria Atkins, our previous MP. Edward Leigh who had been our MP 30 years ago looks for the chop.

Now there's an idea to enliven the canvassing. 

[Roy124]

"Tory voters are more cynical still. The manifesto could have vowed to give every man, woman and child a Labrador puppy, £30 billion in tax cuts, zero potholes and at least 17 illegal migrants on a flight to Rwanda in July (well, OK, July 2031) and the response would have been the same eye-roll: “Yeah, right, that’s never happening.”"

love it

[Corolly Poly]

42 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

"Tory voters are more cynical still. The manifesto could have vowed to give every man, woman and child a Labrador puppy, £30 billion in tax cuts, zero potholes and at least 17 illegal migrants on a flight to Rwanda in July (well, OK, July 2031) and the response would have been the same eye-roll: “Yeah, right, that’s never happening.”"

love it

I expect even some of the most hardened Tories are tired of the continual brass-necked, bare-faced lying. Systems in place to remedy lying even seem to have failed with lies put forward in the HoC, so they now feel empowered to lie their ***es off everywhere. The success of lies during the Brexit campaign has also shown them the benefits of trying it on but I don't think the electorate will be as gullible this time round.

[Haliotis]

Yesterday we had a knock on the door from our local Conservative MP.  The conversation was quite cordial and he did agree with much of what I said.  Right from the start I told him that, although I had voted Conservative all of my life, the shenanigans of the latest Tory government has left me with a complete lack of confidence in them.  I said I am still on the fence - and that it was a toss up between Tory and Reform UK.  He said the problem with that is it would help increase a Labour majority, so I said I appreciated that and, if I could not support the Conservatives, I might do a “first” and not bother to vote.