Who do I vote for?

[Meg888]

I'm not particularly political; however, i dont like the way England has progressed under Labour policies. I want to go online and read in all fairness about other parties and their policies, which will run in the election. Can anyone please point me in the right direction? thanks in advance

[vehelpfulguy]

I often think this country votes more for a leader than a political party and their policies.

We then keep this party in power for a while till we have had enough and then kick them out.

In my life time the best leaders (whether you like them or not) got their parties in, almost irrespective of policies.

Back in the 1960s Harold Wilson (good leader) got in for Labour and got rid of the Tories who had been in power for a while.

When he resigned Callagham (a poor leader) took over but Labour struggled.

Then Thatcher (good leader) came along, and swept Callagham and Labour aside.

She had 3 terms but then resigned and we got Major (like Callagham a poor leader) and the Tories struggled.

Then Blair (good leader) came along and got Labour in after we had got fed up with the Tories.

Now he has gone and we have Brown (but the jury is still out).

So I feel it is the leader: Wilson, Thatcher and Blair, who have go their parties in, not their policies.

For example, the Liberals could have the best policies in the world, but without a strong leader and voter confidence they would never get in.

[Kromovaracun]

Wilson a good leader?

Meg: If you want to see the manifestoes/policies of the various parties, the best thing to do is to go to their site. These can usually be found by searching the party name in google.

The Labour Party website is here

The Conservative Party website here (if you feel like marvelling at their dreadful logo)

The Liberal Democrat website is here

The parties of all stamps obviously make themselves very available around election time, if you can wait that long.

If you want to read impartially on their policies, I can only suggest trying to read some of the better newspapers (such as the Times, the Telegraph or the Guardian), though I must warn you it's nigh-impossible to find a non-biased source so you're best off reading as many as you can. The websites of said newspapers often have reports on various parties/governments (I'll link in another post).

[Kromovaracun]

Ooh! I forgot - The Economist gives an excellent political overview in Britain (and the rest of the world). It's just very pricey.

As an example of the reports I said I'd link to:

The Times has this collaboration of various stuff on the Blair Years. The BBC's Nick Watson also has this.

The BBC has this analysis of the Thatcher legacy (and here is a particularly interesting (and far more balanced) series of interviews on the same subject. If you like staring into lightbulbs.

You have to shop around a bit, but analysis of parties/leaders is easy to find. I have to say I prefer books to the internet though (though that's probably due to my dislike of reading large blocks of text on a computer screen).

[Gromit]

If you do not like the way the country is presently run, then your only option if you want them out of power is to vote Conservative. Be careful to read what they stand for though(when they finally decide themselves) as you wouldn't want to replace the present lot with something worse.

[potterfan3]

Vote for The Monster Raving Looney Party. 99p coins is a great idea!

[Kromovaracun]

The Monster Raving Looney Party are getting a bit stale for me.

I like that other satiricial one... erm... whatsit... the BNP! That's it. They always make me chuckle.

[Shadow Man]

Somebody once said, it may have been Mick Jagger, but don't quote me on that.

"My heart tells me to vote Labour
My head tells me to vote Lib Dem
But my bank manager tells me to vote Tory........therefore I shall vote Tory"

From the main 3, there really is only one option and that is the Conservatives.

[curiosity]

I agree with Vehelpfulguy on the leader bit but unfortunately none of the parties seem to have one at the moment.

[NJOK]

"My heart tells me to vote Labour
My head tells me to vote Lib Dem
But my bank manager tells me to vote Tory........therefore I shall vote Tory"

What a wonderful way to live your life.