British Elections 2010

[Sandwich]

Well I realise that not everybody will be able to take part in this and that some people won't have much if any knowledge of it, but for anybody who is interested by it, whether or not they're eligible to vote, I thought it would make a good discussion -- largely because the outcome is, in my opinion, very undecided. Unlike in other big elections (e.g. in the US) where the agendas are at extremes and you can have some person-politics as the President is very significant, I personally think the agendas of both main parties are close and none of the candidates really qualify for people-politics. Actually, I would go so far as to say that we now have three main parties rather than the traditional two. After the interviewing of the leaders of the three main parties on TV for the first time, I genuinely feel the Liberal Democrats are less like underdogs than ever before.

So! You don't have to say how you will (or would, if you were able) vote unless you want to, but what does everybody reckon to the political landscape at the moment? Do you think a hung parliament is likely? Do you think it's a good thing? What about engagement with politics? Would you even vote this time round? And all the other when/why/where questions!

[davidns]

I follow UK politics a little bit. We have had 2 hung parliaments in a row in Canada, and I can't say they have lead to very impressive governments. The government rammed everything that they could through whenever they were doing well in the polls by claiming everything was a motion of confidence and forcing the opposition to abstain. Likewise the opposition held up a lot of things in the Senate (similar to house of lords, not us senate) which they still control.

I don't think they are really suited for a country used to the First Past The Post System. The leaders don't seem to have any huge differences, which is a shame given that the UK is running a >10% GDP deficit. I would have liked to seen some creative ideas in fixing the economy. All in all I think it is best summed up in the cover of this weeks "The Economist"

Brown: The Devil You Know

Cameron: The Devil You Don't Know

Clegg: Who The Devil?

[paullaucm]

Brown: The Devil You Know

Cameron: The Devil You Don't Know

Clegg: Who The Devil?

That is one of the best summaries that I can imagine in this senario.