coalition and mockery of manifesto

BigG67

My 10yo asked why he couldn't vote.

"Because the policies are very complicated and while you're a smart lad you've not got the experience to make an informed choice" came the sage advice of his wise father. 8)

"So do all the adults understand them, do you understand them?", came the reasonable question back.

"I'll get me coat", said I...... :oops:

Pross

passout wrote:

I live on the edge of two seats - just outside Preston Lancs. The one I live in is rural and got 52% Conservative votes including mine. The other is urban and got around 50% Labour votes I think with Conservatives in 4th. place. People talk about the split between Scotland, England and Wales but I bet the difference between the rural and urban vote would be far more clear-cut.

Labour are an urban party, their votes come from towns/cities - they have done nothing for Rural England (possibly Britain) over the last 10 years. Fox-hunting, post office closures and a distinct lack of interest in rural affairs mark a pretty miserable time in the countryside. More controversially the handling of foot on mouth was criticised by many. Personally I want them out.

Typically the Libs Dems can't decide whether they are pro or anti hunting as a party. I guess the answer is anti but they didn't want to loose the rural vote, so they sat on the fence.

This post has no particular point as such, I just wanted to highlight this election from a rural perspective as others have done for Scotland. Significant parts of this country do want a Conservative government and, above all else, want Labour out.

This certainly seems to be the case in most rural areas but again Scotland seems to be an exception. It is predominantly rural but has very little Tory support :?

bompington

Pross wrote:

This certainly seems to be the case in most rural areas but again Scotland seems to be an exception. It is predominantly rural but has very little Tory support :?

Scotland isn't predominantly rural at all - the vast majority of the population live in the towns & cities of the central belt, together with Aberdeen & Dundee which form a kind of extnesion of the central belt up the east coast. The rest of the country is just kind of empty; never mind the Highlands, have you ever driven up the M74?
I can't be bothered looking up the demographic stats, but I would guess that the proportion of people who live in "rural Scotland", however you define it, is no greater, or possibly even less, than in England.

Pross

Fair point. My memory of driving up to the Highlands is that there was only one road option. So I suppose what you say is true and that the majority of land area is rural but the population doesn't live there.

passout

Agree with the above - that's why I love the Highlands!

shouldbeinbed

Pross wrote:

I'm also fed up of hearing people saying 'this shows our electoral system needs reforming'. It doesn't, it shows the opposite - if we end up with PR we'll have this horse trading at every election.

we've only got such a balls of it because its new and was not at all expected by any of them. and we're ecxpecting a major decision in days rather than the weeks and sometimes months that other stable and well governed countries take to establish their coalitions.

its new to us, it'll take time for the politicos on the inside and us wth our noses pressed against the glass outside to get our heads round it as a way of forming a government whether this is a one off or the start of a new electorial paradigm. I recently got a new car and have only recently stopped washing the windscreen and swearing when I want to turn left because the controls are all different and it took me time to get used to the new ones,