UK General Discussion

[Smid]

It's amazing that half of the right-wing party voted for gay marriage.

Eh, a lot of the UK Convervatives are probably similar to those New England Republicans who are now Independents who vote Democratic.

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that many Tories would vote Democratic.

I was at a Conservative Future (under-30's wing) election hustings in London the other day, and the topic of 'who would you support in the 2012 US election' came up. All the candidates said they would have supported Romney or Gary Johnson. One drunk girl in the audience shouted 'I LOVE OBAMA', then the vast majority of the room shouted 'SHAME' and 'UNSOUND' in response. I overheard the person in front of me say 'how can you be a Conservative and a Democ-RAT'? 

Obviously this is just one little snippet, but Conservatives are not like-for-like Democrats, although I would agree that there is significant overlap on social issues.

In my experience, the members of the youth wing of conservative parties try to prove that they're the most right-wing person in the room. I think in many cases it's just an act - they move into the grown-up wing of the party and stop making fools of themselves.

[Smid]

Just seen a random tweet saying that UKIP are in the same position Labour was in 100 years ago. They're a hilarious bunch.

100 years ago, Labour had over 40 MPs.

To be fair, UKIP is polling better than Labour did in the PV in the Dec 1910 election.

What electoral reform will be undertaken in the UK, which will allow the UKIP to gain voters (or the other parties to lose voters), in the way that universal suffrage allowed Labour to gain voters in the years following 1910?

[Smid]

Sorry to be a pain, but when you next update them, would you mind putting some zeros or blanks for the months prior to September 2010 for Miliband? Just make it easier to compare with the charts above and below, not that it really makes much of a difference, just a friendly request.

[Smid]

Afleitch is spot on, of course. The party was going to have to put one side or the other into office, and would have alienated about half of their voters either way.

Edit: I've heard it said (and it's probably a quote from somewhere) that you campaign in poetry but govern in prose. The Lib Dems, never having to worry about the unpopular decisions made by governing, were able to attract a broad range of support. When they actually had the power to make a decision, they obviously upset some of that support.

[Smid]

"Insist that the Nazi salute you were performing..."

Me thinks this is fake.

The problem with some on the left is that they have no idea how Conservatives think. You're to the right of Obama? Well clearly you're a closet neo-nazi.