Bye bye Gordon Brown?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/default.stm

No prizes as to what will be dominating our television news for the next month.

Having looked at the main policies (if you can call them that and trust they'll actually stick to them), the main thing which comes through is the similarity, only tinkering around at the margins, partly as most major legislation is now dictated from Europe. Although governments rarely give credit for it and claim legislation as their own anyone in the know can easily trace it back to EU orders, whether they agree with the laws or not.
But even without the EU the variations are minimal, quite unlike 30-40 years ago, so really voting for the big three will mean more of the same (fine if you want the same again) with either the rich, the poor or the slightly wacky favoured against the others.

Unlike previous elections for many decades at least one fringe party has a chance of gaining a measurable percentage of the vote if nothing else. They proved it in the European elections, as UKIP came second, which even with the use of PR still needed a substantial support. They of course want to leave Europe and have their own policies more or less the opposite of most popular ones which the others all seem to agree with. The number of idiots (as they are throwing away the one chance they have) who call the radio and say they aren't voting because of this drives me to write and encourage them to realise if they simply vote for any of the others then if we all did that the main parties would no longer be the main parties. It's up to us, and we do have a choice, and bigger for the first time in ages as there's also no clear leader showing so may force some actual changes in order to hold the government together.

I hear this is the first time there will be a televised leaders debate.

Yes that's true agony - "presidential" style. Baffles me as we don't have a president, but it should be interesting...David Cameron dressing casually, trying to shrug off his privileged, rich life (epitomised by his Bullingdon days) in order to 'connect' with the voters. I was a member of the Conservative party for a year but even I realise that the only thing that Cameron has in common with the likes of me (living in one of the poorest areas of the UK) is the same Linnaean binomial nomenclature!

Then we will have Dr Gordon Brown stuttering his way through his lists of meaningless statistics...which if they are theoretically true, don't seem to match up with how things are in reality. Go on Gordon, take the glory for the 'unprecedented' quarters of economic growth but blame somebody else when the British economy fails. We will also see him proclaim to be massively religious and we will no doubt hear of his moral compass once again. Something has gone terribly wrong with that compass, it is though he has introduced a local magnetic field which tells the compass to point in the direction of disaster. He may well be religious but he is clearly trying to buy the votes of the religious community in Britain. I don't think the religious population of Britain are so easily bought...but no harm in trying eh Gordon. At least it isn't as bad as the Conservative party trying to pretend they are all gay friendly. When Chris Grayling was in the news the other day the wonderful song "True Colors" came to my mind...very, very apt I think.

Haven't really got much to say about the Liberal Democrats - it would be nice to see a true three party system but I will only start believing that the Lib Democrats can get into power when they start believing it. Nick Clegg is just David Cameron dressed in yellow.

David (satguru not Cameron ) is right, it is a big opportunity (perhaps once in a generation) to vote for a minority party and have it count for something. It just takes a collective effort from the electorate. One thing is likely...the turnout is going to be awful. The fact the turnout will be awful could however work in the favour of the minority parties, as one vote in a smaller total number of overall votes is a greater percentage.

I'll be voting SNP as usual, not that it will make any difference, middle England will vote for the Tories.

Ah, Dizart, I feel for you. I'm 52 years old, have voted in every election I've been eligible for in my lifetime, and never once has anyone I've voted for ever been elected.

Jonno, David Cameron may seem to be the 'privileged Tory toff', but he's really quite a nice guy. I've met him several times (he's my local MP until I move house in the next few weeks). He's very interested in his constituents concerns and acts on their behalf. I've raised several issues with him over the years and always got either a personal reply or a letter to say he has raised my issue with the Minister responsible. I suppose, living here in west Oxfordshire we've been lucky to have high profile MPs for the last 30 years plus. Gordon Brown comes across as someone who doesn't really trust anyone but himself, especially his Chancellor. Nick Clegg, in common with all Liberal Democrats, is living in a dream world. The best they can hope for is a hung Parliament, and if there is there will be another election within weeks. And they still won't get voted in.

I am not going to argue with that - as a constituent of his you know far more about him than I. He just typifies that "toff" image (I haven't got a problem with "toffs", I do have a problem though when their status gets them places that they do not merit; to places that would be above the glass ceiling to most working class people). It is in this regard that the Tory party cannot truly connect with the electorate. Is the man who has worked manual labour for 30 years and has been overlooked for promotion time and time again going to really feel that David Cameron, who got what he wanted with a little word from Dad, knows what life is about? Over the last year or so the idealism has been kicked out of me, hence my refusal to renew my membership with the Conservative party.

My local MP is Peter Hain, current secretary of state for Wales, formerly Northern Ireland as well as Work & Pensions. I have been to see him on occasion and asked for help. He was willing to write a few letters...didn't get anywhere though. So not a fan of Labour either...don't know who to vote for in my first General Election.

As you said with the Liberal Democrats, dream world! If it is a hung parliament RMG (I know this happened in, I think 1974?) do you think they will be less likely to call another General Election immediately considering the utter contempt that the British public feel for politicians? Would an immediate GE just after a scheduled GE be seen as the politicians ignoring the wishes of the electorate? I suppose the real question would be, would they care?

Jon, if there is a hung Parliament the 'leading' party will try to work out a relationship with the minor parties, but I don't think it will work. The last coalition we had was during WWII. Another election would be almost a certainty.
You mentioned the working man, how many Labour politicians have done a real days work? Prescott is the only one I can think of. The likes of Mandleson would run a mile if they had to get their hands dirty. These days it's not about the party of the rich or the party of the working man, it's about who will do their best to run the country. Brown has had his time. He and Blair got us into the mess we are in now. Brown has had his chance to get us out of it, and he's failed. Take your time to think about who to vote for, let your conscience be your guide.Whatever you do, use your right to vote. If you don't you have no reason to complain about government policy later.

Jon, a vote always counts for something. We have a mentality in this country that because a particular constituency has always had either Labour or Tory MPs that's the way it will always be. It doesn't have to be that way. I understand how the Welsh people feel about the loss of their traditional industries. I was brought up in a mining area in Leicestershire. When I was a child there were 9 coal mines. By the time I was 20 every one had closed. Make your own mind up. Vote the way you want, not the way your predecessors voted.

IS a "hung parliament" what we in Canada would call a minority government? Where the party with the most votes does not have a clear majority and therefore has to make alliances with other parties in order to get bills passed? Over here they are fairly common, and some people think they make for the best government, as the governing party is forced to find a consensus. They tend to work out quite well for the smallest parties, as everyone is courting their vote, and some quite progressive legislation can be passed that wouldn't have a hope in a regular, majority parliament.

You got it. The problem here is that few of the smaller parties will ever agree 100% with either of the two major ones, and THEY don't want to compromise or depend on MPs who they have no control over. If a piece of unpopular legislation is presented the parties will get the whips to cajole or even threaten wavering MPs to toe the party line. You can't do that with an MP who isn't in your party.

Has anyone received this one yet (apart from from me)? I found it very funny.<


As a rule, I don't pass along these "add your name" lists that appear in emails,
BUT this one is important.
It has been circulating for months and has been sent to over 20 million people.

We don't want to lose any names on the list so just hit forward and send it on.

Please keep it going!

To show your support for Gordon Brown please go to the end of the list and just add your name.




1. Mrs Brown.
2.