Old Blighty gears itself up once again for another General Election for the 5th of May 2005 and if memory serves, this would be my third time where I’ll cast my vote. What concerns me however, aside from the potentially low turn-out which may leave a very sour in our mouths on the Friday, is the fact there’s this perception that this country is just a two party system… Labour or Conservative!
What the flying fuck is going on? Seriously? Given a ±3% margin of error, it’s quite clear that roughly 1 in 3 people would vote either Labour or Tory, just short of 1 in 4 would vote for the Liberal Democrats and roughly 1 in 12 that would vote for some other party, be it UK Indepenence Party, The Greens, and so on. Thusly, 11 in 12 people would vote, with pretty much even spread across Labour, Tory and the LibDems. I certainly count at least 3 parties there?
Choose “the lesser of two evils”, then that is just what you… something that’s evil, something you didn’t really agree with in the first place, plus it leaves you with two parties which aren’t really that different from each other except by party name and colours. Aunty Beeb has the 3 major and 2 runner-up parties in a side-by-side comparison of their stance.
Still stuck? Have a gander at “Who Should You Vote For?”… answer 23 statements with how much you agree or disagree with each in turn, click the old button and Bob’s you mother’s brother! A few people that have took it were rather surprised of their left-leaning and conversely others of their hidden right-leaning streak… so in my opinion though a basic quiz, is probably a pretty good guide of which way you should go vote if you’re one of the “floating voters”.
Doesn’t bother me which way you vote… could be for a party supporting Cornish independence for all I care! Just as long as you voted and it was for a party you honestly agree with, then more power to you. Afterall, a democracy only works if there is a healthy opposition to ruling party and if you can’t be bothered to involve yourself properly, then either quit complaining or expatriate yourself to some despot dictatorship. I guess in the latter case you have the luxury in not needing to have a say in anything at all! ;)
Oh and for those curious of what my questionaire results were… here they are:
- Labour: -24
- Conservative: -35
- Liberal Democrat: +68
- UK Independence Party: -14
- Green: +29
Pretty much what I expected… they have me sussed! ;)
