UK: Labour, Tories, Liberals - All Awful So Who To Vote For?

Lets face it ladies and gentlemen, the Labour Party, the Conservatives and the Liberals are all pretty damn awful. They are out of touch with reality, no clue at all what most people are going through on a daily basis. For a long time i have been annoyed with these parties but with the entire recent MP expenses debacle i'm finally done with them. The labour party has turned into a nanny state party, they may as well call themselves communists. The conservatives looked like they were having a revival and then carried on with the old boy network rubbish and the liberals, don't get me started. So who should we vote for?

UKIP? An awful party. Whilst they talk rather nicely they fail on many issues and their organisation isn't in place to take over a government.

BNP? A racist bunch of scumbags who would deport anyone who wasn't white if they could get away with it.

The greens? Absolutely no direction, they talk about the enviroment but they struggle on any serious issues like the NHS or benefits.


There are many others but the point is i cannot see a good party through all of this. I really will vote independant. What do others on ATS think?

The conservatives are the only realistic option imo. Labour needs to go and no one except maybe the Lib Dems would stand a chance; I don’t think a weak government would be a great outcome either.

The best that can be hoped for imho is for the Conservatives to have a decent majority and for Labour to be pushed back into third putting the Lib Dems into opposition.

I say that a strong Tory majority would be best because in the current economic climate a lot of tough choices will need to be made; and I don’t put it past Labour to be very spiteful in how it responds to any measures the Conservatives put forward.

A Lib Dem of course would offer the most polarized view to the Tories thus making them the best choice for opposition.

reply to post by Mike_A


I liked David Cameron when he first became leader, but not anymore. He just seems to be Tony Blair in conservative clothing. Whilst i am liking his idea to scrap ID cards and such things, his overall policies are rather awful. It is hard to pick them apart in comparison to Labour. I'm sorry but the two main parties are a joke.

I agree about Cameron, though he may surprise. I was more in favour of David Davis to be honest; I think Cameron was elected precisely BECAUSE he was a bit of a Blair clone. Like him or loathe him you have to admit that Blair was a charismatic leader.

However the fact is it is going to be one or the other. In this case I don't think it's better the devil we know.

Their policies are different enough to make the Conservative's better in my opinion. I'm still worried it'll largely be more of the same but I'll take those key differences rather than nothing at all.

What we really need is a completely new party devoid of the existing parties' baggage and with a substantial range of policies. UKIP has shown that it's possible for a new party to get the exposure and support to form a solid base; it's just that they're so hideously single issue that they couldn't do anything with it.

reply to post by Mike_A


Charismatic? Appearance over subtance?

I would agree we need a new party, but which one? Ths is the issue we're having as we have no real alternative. But maybe without voting differently we will never get that aprty. So by voting conservative or labour we are just keeping the problems with us. I'm not sure what you would think of that.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984


It doesn't matter who you vote for, they are all pre-selected anyway- to keep the status-quo.
We've got a rediculously inept political system here too; I have no faith in Politicians and only vote so that I avoid a fine.

i have some fam connected to various ranks of politicians of different parties and there isnt much difference in who you vote for. People in the uk are saying you want an election and your non democratically elected prime minister says no and just gives afew billion tax payers pounds to the bankers brings in some new anti terror laws and lies through his freaking teeth. And if you think the silver spoon millionaire Eton, Oxford widows son David Cameron is any different ,Wrong

mayb the people of the uk should vote for that bull statue with the human lords robe out the back of the houses of parliament or the ghost of Guy Fawkes for all the good it will do.

reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984

Charismatic? Appearance over subtance?

From the perspective of a party that wants to win an election that’s a very big factor, and a big reason I think Cameron was chosen over Davis. I’m not saying that I agree with appearance being held above substance though!

I would agree we need a new party, but which one?

No I mean something that doesn’t exist at all yet. I meant someone, with the experience, motivation and means needs to step up and offer a valid alternative. All the existing parties are either too one dimensional or come with huge political baggage. What we have now can’t offer what is needed.

But maybe without voting differently we will never get that aprty. So by voting conservative or labour we are just keeping the problems with us. I'm not sure what you would think of that.

Like you say we have no realistic alternative now. Given that is the case, and no brand new party is going to spring up in the next year, we are left with one logical choice. In my opinion that would be the Conservatives. Consider it damage limitation, it’s not going to solve the problem but it’s going to cause less damage than keeping Labour in power.

There is little choice to the major 3 parties and I guess their leaders are expecting to get their fair share of seats in the EU elections.

Of course, people can not bother to vote at all but that seems to be a waste. I am a fan of a box on the ballot paper where you can express your displeasure with all the candidates listed, rather than spoil or ballot paper which is an option but that just get recorded as a spoil paper.

There is a better record in the EU elections of smaller, minority parties gettting some seats in Europe, but the issue with the Westminster elections is the winner takes all system we have, which does not reflect the fact that in any given constituency, a majority of the electorate have not voted for the candidate returned to Westminister.