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Are you going to vote in the upcoming elections?
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If you are for who and why. If not why not?
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I don't even know what the vote is for.
So no. -
Council elections?
If I can be bothered going to the polling station. I think I voted Green in previous council elections; local authorities are probably where their policies can be best implemented was no doubt my reasoning. -
have not registered or even voted since the 1997 general election.
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I had an SNP canvaser turn up on my door step yesterday, he had a picture of Nicola Sturgeon in his pocket. They very sight of her mug sent me in a rage.
If the Pirate Party are running the council elections I'd probably vote for them -
I think Local Authority elections may be as important or more important than national elections. Local Authorities are where most of the decisions are made that actually affect people's lives (potholes anyone?!).
I usually vote Green, but I need to do a little more research before the election, as local candidates don't usually reflect the national party line. For god's sake, try not to just to go the polling station and vote by party - try and find out who the good candidates are (their voting records etc are online).
That said, I'm moving to London in a month and a half, so I'm not going to be affected by the council that I vote in... -
not really sure honestly need to read into it all to see who I agree with most, way I see it is if you dont vote you cant complain
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ThePossum said:
not really sure honestly need to read into it all to see who I agree with most, way I see it is if you dont vote you cant complain
Only, you can.
You yourself say you need to read into it to see who you agree with, I can't imagine anything more boring than reading political manifestos and noone/no party present theirs in a way that apeals to me, therefor, I don't vote.
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It's not something you do because it's exciting. Not voting because you can't be bothered to read the manifestos is a bit weak.
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Which means you're leaving the voting in to the old dears and the 'middle class'. Think you agree on the measures they want to impose?
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islipaway said:
Which means you're leaving the voting in to the old dears and the 'middle class'. Think you agree on the measures they want to impose?
Was that directed at me? If so, I think you misunderstood what I was saying. I'm saying that you don't read manifestos because it's exciting, you do it because it's an important part of voting. I was commenting on MVs apparent idea that the voting process should be more entertaining. -
Nono, in reply to not voting! The main reason I vote is because, as I perceive it most voters opinions are quite at odds to mine, I feel there's a lot of people who share my views in a sense but don't represent them politically because voting is boring or some other throwaway reason. So we end up with a government that represents a very narrow section of society and one I feel quite at odds with.
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#islipaway said:Nono, in reply to not voting! The main reason I vote is because, as I perceive it most voters opinions are quite at odds to mine, I feel there's a lot of people who share my views in a sense but don't represent them politically because voting is boring or some other throwaway reason. So we end up with a government that represents a very narrow section of society and one I feel quite at odds with.
With first past the post, a small dip in turnout from any one side begins to make a huge difference.
mechanical_vandal said:
You yourself say you need to read into it to see who you agree with, I can't imagine anything more boring than reading political manifestos and noone/no party present theirs in a way that apeals to me, therefor, I don't vote.
Their leaflets are delivered direct to your door, and are rarely more that two sides of A4. Couldn't be easier.
Full manifestos are but a google away, and are no more of a dirge to read through than any other paperwork you need to deal with (I just googled manifesto, found the lib dems, and it looks quite well laid out, clear, without any huge blocks of unbroken text). No big deal as far as I'm concerned.
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I will be voting, as I have in all previous elections. It is a right we have in this country which some countries don't have that right. Please use it....
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islipaway said:
Which means you're leaving the voting in to the old dears and the 'middle class'. Think you agree on the measures they want to impose?
Maybe not but then I don't think voting anything changes the fact that decisions are ultimately made by people of a different age to me, from a different part of society, who have very different values to me, ie. the "old dears and middle class" anyway.
demagawd said:I will be voting, as I have in all previous elections. It is a right we have in this country which some countries don't have that right. Please use it....
We have democracy. We get to make our own choices.
VOTE GODDAMMIT. I TELL YOU, VOTE, VOTE, VOTE OR ELSE.
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I'm undecided at the moment, I've voted Labour, SNP and Green in the past. These elections are Single Transferable Vote so you vote for candidates in order of preference. I'm not going to lecture anyone but I would strongly advocate voting for someone. Even if you are completely uninterested in what they do it's the local council that amintains roads and fixes (or not) potholes which must be least one issue everyone has a direct interest in!
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Most elections I vote for whoever's standing against who I don't want to get in.
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Tojo said:
I'm undecided at the moment, I've voted Labour, SNP and Green in the past. These elections are Single Transferable Vote so you vote for candidates in order of preference. I'm not going to lecture anyone but I would strongly advocate voting for someone. Even if you are completely uninterested in what they do it's the local council that amintains roads and fixes (or not) potholes which must be least one issue everyone has a direct interest in!
I'd sooner see the money spent on removing all cycle lanes. Are any of the people I could vote for going to do that?
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Sitting doing nothing changes nothing. Too many people don't vote because they don't believe in any party yet don't know their manifestos. If you want to make a stand at least spoil your paper. Nobody is saying they are perfect but some of them do try.
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I'd sooner see the money spent on removing all cycle lanes. Are any of the people I could vote for going to do that?
Not that I know of. You can always ask your councillors http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/addressSearch.asp
Or your local candidates http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/en/YourCouncil/Elections_Voting/LocalElections2012/Candidates/NoticeOfPollInfo.htm?Grid=1&searchtype=Candidates
You can put your views to them directly. All their contact details are listed.
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demagawd said:
Sitting doing nothing changes nothing. Too many people don't vote because they don't believe in any party yet don't know their manifestos. If you want to make a stand at least spoil your paper. Nobody is saying they are perfect but some of them do try.
Done that in the past and will probably do so again this time actually as at least going to the polling station gets the gf off my back.
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Tojo said:
...Even if you are completely uninterested in what they do it's the local council that amintains roads and fixes (or not) potholes which must be least one issue everyone has a direct interest in!
The problem here being the last person I want to vote for is someone who's manifesto is pandering to motorists!
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Just think Ande all this time you've been spouting a lot of nonsense on this thread you could have actually decided who to vote for.
And then you really could complain. -
The cycle lanes are very good for people who have just begun cycling and are scared of traffic to build their confidence, however I think they should get all the buses to fuck and get people cycling. Then again I also think everyone who owns a car should be made to hand their keys into the DVLA for 1 week of the year where they are given a bike with a mileage counter and made to use it for a week... I bet the attitude of many car drivers would change then. I can get quite hitler about it...
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Buses are an important aspect of public transport. More people on buses = better for everyone
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no, get them cycling, solves the obesity problem.
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mechanical_vandal said:
I don't think voting anything changes the fact that decisions are ultimately made by people of a different age to me, from a different part of society, who have very different values to me, ie. the "old dears and middle class" anyway.
your vote and that of anyone else who takes that stance would have gone a long way to help against the arts funding cuts which have taken place. they would also have helped elect a government who isn't bent on dismantling our health service (which i'm sure you enjoy), our education system (which i'm sure you've enjoyed) and privatising our roads (which i'm sure you enjoy).
granted, most of the decision makers are older than you, but that doesn't mean that they're all opposed to your values. if you took a little time to read about the standing parties you would be able to help effect change aligned with your beliefs.
there will never be a party manifesto which is 100% in line with what any one person wants, but we have a responsibility to pick out the candidate or party who most reflects our beliefs and back them. we can't have everything, but if we can make our lives even a little bit better then that's no bad thing.
i'll wager that your life is worse off as a result of voter apathy than it would have been if everyone who thought that their vote against the 'old dears and middle class' was in vain had just voted. the tories scraped through the last general election, yet they are acting as though they have a mandate to dismantle our society. every vote would have made a difference.
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@mechanical_vandal while yes we do live in a democracy and have the right to a choice you also have the right to a vote and if you pass on the right to vote you pass on the right to complain as far as I see it.
I never voted in the general election because I as I put it the time "couldn't be fucked" and I regret it. I may have only been one vote but if everyone took the stance of "I'm just one vote" it would be a shambles.
A persons age can't be called into play if the opinion is the same, I learned that from my modern studies teacher in high school and I hold on to it today. -
The age thing comes into play from my perspective with baby boomers, getting free university and taking up all the housing and high level jobs then refusing to retire or move out when the kids have grown up, which leaves the rest of us cramped into tiny new build box flats we can't afford while struck half way up a career ladder to pay off the national debt they created. Kill the old, or at least don't let them vote after 60 or something.
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Well if all I have to do is accept I can't complain then so be it as I can't actually remember the last time I complained about, well, anything.
Ok, actually I do, gritting. They put way too much fucking grit on the roads in winter. Which party has it in their manifesto that they'll stop over gritting? Coz those are the cunts that'd get ma vote.
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mechanical_vandal said:
Well if all I have to do is accept I can't complain then so be it as I can't actually remember the last time I complained about, well, anything.
Ok, actually I do, gritting. They put way too much fucking grit on the roads in winter. Which party has it in their manifesto that they'll stop over gritting? Coz those are the cunts that'd get ma vote.
Fair play then
And over gritting fucking sucks use it all in two days then there's fuck all left for the rest of the time its needed -
Nobody has to vote. If they don't want to, or are not interested in politics, that's up to them.
That said, there's actually something fairly rebellious these days about giving a shit about politics (esp. local politics), even a little bit. It suits the main political parties to appeal to their core voter base and a small band of undecided voters. If they actually had to appeal to the whole of society, their job would be a lot harder and they might actually have to follow through on their promises.
And as things currently stand, it suits politicians for the majority of people not to give a shit about local politics. The result is a massive lack of public oversight and transparency in possibly the most crucial area of politics. Local Councils get away with incredible ineptitude, corruption and opacity because everyone apart from a few cranks thinks local politics is boring and meaningless.
One of the many downsides to my moving around all the time is that I never get properly invested in local politics, because I have no long term investment in it. -
Know your friends, know your enemies bcs the decisions they make will have effect on you at a local level. Hospitals, schools, roads, etc.. Bury your head in the sand if you want, but don't come crying. These are the people that spend most of your taxes. Think about it - really - for 5 minutes. Then make a decision and cast your vote. Any opinion is better than no opinion. :0)
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I'm really struggling to choose this time, the only people who have even bothered to come round my door are Labour, but they have been corrupting the council for the last 30 years or something. SNP, I really dont like the Independence thing, I respect the level of power they won in the last election quite remarkable for a small party, but the whole Salmond courting Rupert Murdick to lobby for him to gain control of BskyB is disgusting... the reason people liked him was because he was meant to stand for more than corporate media power. The Lib dems have had it, I used to vote them for years and in the last election and felt physically sick when they joined forces with the tories. One of them came round my house after the last election and practically left in tears the amount of grief I gave them. Glasgow Council need more different partys sharing the decisions. I want to vote someone like Green party but they are a wasted vote as far as I'm concerned and dont really have a realistic view of the world.
I might call them all up and ask what they are doing about fat people and cycling in the city. -
I don't think that national policies are so important in local government elections. Think more about roads, bin collections and more Glasgow-centric initiatives.
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yes, Ive been looking into it a bit and I actually think I might vote green, I never thought I would say that. I don't like their 20mph zone stuff but that's a little thing they say they will spend 10% on transport budget on cycling and walking improvements. And promoting more local produce etc..
http://votegreenscotland.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/National-Manifesto-2012.pdf
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Well having considered my local candidates I'm voting 1 Green and that's it. No 2 or 3 as I can't condone any of the rest of them either for engrained values I've inherited or for personal reasons based on my my own experience. TBH I think Labour's plans (or at least manifesto pledges - obviously not always the same) are the most credible cycle friendly. However, cycling issues are well down the pecking order in terms of priorities for me in any election, I will concede. I just wanted to see if there were any clear winners in terms of bikes/votes or votes/bikes!'
The Greens are never going to be a real political force but under STV I think it's a worthy protest vote.
I am from a staunch Labour background and clearly that's coloured my view. However I think the current GCC lot need to have a think about their conduct. Yes they've got rid of a lot of what they consider 'dead wood' by not allowing a lot of long standing councillors/old guard to stand again. But replaced by who? Or whom for the pedantic. Similarly I've got sympathies with the SNP but they're hardly a credible alternative. Alex Salmond is a very good politician (I'm not saying I like him but remember when he 'retired' the SNP's vote plummeted and when he came back he got elected First Minister) but the rest of them?.. John Swinney? Nicola Sturgeon?
Tories? Won't even consider it for hundreds of reasons. Obviously not many others in Scotland do.
Liberals. Hm, well in principal yeah but as above but being part of the 'Austerity' govt which is the first sniff of power for generations they've hardly covered themselves in glory. I can't admire the 'if it wasn't for us it'd be a lot worse' arguement'. It's like the school bully kicking shit out of you ('one' for those with lots of dinner money) and throwing you a sweet from your own packet as a pre reward (bribe?) for not telling.
So yes, it's a protest vote and no I don't expect the promises to become reality. But at least I bother my arse to even think about it. And clearly you do too! :)>- -
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Yeah the terms are interchangeable but that's where we are. Politics has always been about capturing peoples imagination. By Any Means Necessary as some might have it. Remember when politicians using soundbites was news?! Now with social media it's so much more real!! Ha Ha! People will adjust and while others claim credit for the Arab Spring we'll be sitting back laughing about how we got the council to increase blue bin collections : 0 )
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ThePossum said:
Aye that would be a good thing once a fortnight really is extracting the micheal.
Eh? How's that then. Our household is a family of 4 and our wheeliebin is usually only half full after two weeks.
I think people should consider how much stuff they put in the waste stream before complaining about the regularity of the collection. -
Getafix said:ThePossum said:
Aye that would be a good thing once a fortnight really is extracting the micheal.
Eh? How's that then. Our household is a family of 4 and our wheeliebin is usually only half full after two weeks.
I think people should consider how much stuff they put in the waste stream before complaining about the regularity of the collection.
While that is a valid point all I can talk about is personal experience and for the last month or two both our bins have been getting filled past the brim, same with the rest of the street. We might just be getting fat now though. -
Getafix- you live in a self contained house tho no? It's different when you share communal bins and
people don't recycle/do recycle but don't collapse cartons/bottles cans etc/ don't even make the effort to put rubbish IN the bin/either lack the knowledge or will to know what it at takes to just keep things tidy.
This discussion is rubbish :0)
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They rarely collect our recycling maybe once a month if they can be bothered, an ongoing issue with gcc. The council also withdrew 67% funding for childcare, and our after school centre closed down, it's now an extra 15 miles a week and either s car journey or subway travel extra cost under Labour, I'm not bitter though.
