Voters wary of promises in Britain's unpredictable election

[webfact]

Voters wary of promises in Britain's unpredictable election
By JILL LAWLESS

ATHERSTONE, England (AP) — Posters are being printed and slogans are being polished as Britain's politicians battle it out in the most unpredictable national election in decades. One top election analyst has dubbed it "the lottery election."

Voters, though, don't seem very excited about who gets the prize.

"There's nobody who can run a country. They all lie to us," said Victor Loach, a fishmonger selling his wares in the cobbled central square of Atherstone, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of London. "And why do they shout at each other like children?"

It's a common refrain. Opinion polls suggest voters are lukewarm about both Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives, seeking a second term, and Ed Miliband's opposition Labour Party.

So who is going to win the May 7 vote?

"The simple answer is nobody," said Leighton Vaughan Williams, director of the Political Forecasting Unit at Nottingham Business School. "It's very, very unlikely indeed that any party will get a majority.

"Indeed, it's very, very unlikely that any two parties can put together a majority after the election."

Britain's electoral landscape has become a patchwork of parties, including Scottish and Welsh nationalists, Greens and anti-Europeans. Any of them could end up holding the balance of power in Parliament.

It's a radical change after decades in which Britain's electoral system usually delivered either Conservative or Labour majorities in the House of Commons. Not anymore. Support for the two big parties has plummeted,

Strathclyde University political scientist John Curtice, who coined the term "lottery election," has said that "the 2015 election looks less like a simple battle between two straightforward alternatives than any of its post-war predecessors." Although Labour is traditionally left of center and the Conservatives to the right, increasing numbers of voters find it hard to tell the difference.

"They come in force, promise you the world, and disappear," said Margaret Warman, a retiree in the central England town of Coleshill, already weary with more than two months to go before polling day. Tired of both Labour and the Conservatives, she's planning to vote for the U.K. Independence Party, which wants to curb immigration and leave the European Union.

The cracks in Britain's political system have been visible since 2010. In an election held amid a global economic crisis, the Conservatives won the largest share of Commons seats, but not enough to govern alone. They formed a coalition with the smaller Liberal Democrats.

Since then, the political landscape has fractured further. Supporting the Conservatives through five years of spending cuts has cost the Lib Dems much support, and the party stands to lose a big chunk of its 56 seats.

One big beneficiary of the disillusionment is UKIP, led by the affable, beer-loving Nigel Farage. The party has benefited from — opponents say fueled — a growing resentment of immigrants and European bureaucrats amid a squeeze on British jobs and welfare benefits. Polls put UKIP in third place ahead of May's vote, though Britain's first-past-the-post electoral system means it will likely win only a handful of seats.

Meanwhile, the Scottish National Party has seen support surge since it came close to victory in last year's Scottish independence referendum. The SNP could take many of Labour's Scottish seats and make it hard for that party to form a government.

Despite the electoral drama, politicians are struggling to capture the imaginations and loyalty of voters.

Cameron's Conservatives are centering their campaign on Britain's economic turnaround. Unemployment and inflation are low — proof, they say, that spending curbs and fiscal discipline are working.

Labour argues that millions of middle-class Britons have seen real wages fall, and paints the Tories as a party of millionaire fat-cats who can't be trusted to run the vital but overstretched National Health Service, or NHS.

With the outcome so close, politicians are laboring for every vote in areas like North Warwickshire, a key central England battleground where the Conservatives beat Labour by just 54 votes in 2010.

The area is a varied slice of Middle England that's home to half-timbered Tudor buildings and ancient churches as well as big-box stores and suburban cul-de-sacs of modern brick homes.

Many of the tidy villages and towns look affluent, but they don't feel it. People here are anxious — about the health service, about jobs, about money. Once, the area was home to heavy industry and coal mining. Today, many residents work in retail and service-sector jobs that pay much less than the trades they replaced.

Here, candidates say, the election will be won the old-fashioned way — by speaking to voters, one at a time, on their doorsteps.

"You've got to show how you're different," said Craig Tracey, an insurance broker who is running for the Conservatives. "I'm certainly not a career politician. I run a business and my reason for getting into politics was disillusionment with politicians as well."

Labour candidate Mike O'Brien, a former government minister who represented the area for 18 years until 2010, agrees that some voters are "fed up and switched off."

But he thinks the allure of UKIP and other upstarts will fade as voters focus on what is most important to them.

"The mood is changing," he said. "During the (European election) campaign it was immigration, immigration, immigration. Now it's NHS, NHS, NHS."

Nationally, the outcome remains impossible to predict. Most opinion polls put Labour slightly ahead, but betting markets think Cameron is more likely than Miliband to be prime minister once the dust has settled.

"If I was (Cameron) I wouldn't be going to bed confident I was going to be prime minister," Vaughan Williams said. "I'd be a little bit more confident than Ed Miliband — a little bit."


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-02-25

[Costas2008]

If it is a lottery election, all UK parties should send a delegation to that Wat in Thailand, where they are keeping the Naga bone, all 2 kilos of that and they will know the result immediately.

Simples.

[JockPieandBeans]

Makes no difference.

Nothing will change.

The latest 2 R.Soles caught out are testimony to that.

[DoctorG]

It will be interesting to see how UKIP fare.

[phrodan]

The current government has been excellent. I'd happily settle for a second term of this coalition, but with the impending wipe-out of the Lib-Dems, I doubt it's going to happen.

The way the polls are going the next Parliament will be hung again, and I predict that no one will form be able to form a coalition government. So that will leave us in the rare position of having a minority government, which again would be good for the country.

The dark horse of the next Parliament is likely to be Alex Salmond, and the SNP - I've studied their policies for a while and they are not as left wing as people think. Business rates for small businesses in Scotland have been abolished, for example. That's not the work of a demented Marxist. I even noticed that the Scottish business community at a senior level said that they have never had such a responsive and approachable government. The money flows from business, and anyone that's going to business first has to be welcome.

And rough as it has been too - compliments to David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith for forcing through welfare policies that the majority of us were demanding for years. Don't want to look for work - fine, your benefits are withdrawn.

Who among us is against that policy?

Governments of the day usually get vilified unjustly, or over-praised. John Major was vilified - but I bet the majority of us look back now at how he left the country in 1997 and wish we could get that back. I reckon in a few years time we'll look back at the current coalition and recognize their achievement.

[Asiantravel]

The current government has been excellent. I'd happily settle for a second term of this coalition, but with the impending wipe-out of the Lib-Dems, I doubt it's going to happen.

The way the polls are going the next Parliament will be hung again, and I predict that no one will form be able to form a coalition government. So that will leave us in the rare position of having a minority government, which again would be good for the country.

The dark horse of the next Parliament is likely to be Alex Salmond, and the SNP - I've studied their policies for a while and they are not as left wing as people think. Business rates for small businesses in Scotland have been abolished, for example. That's not the work of a demented Marxist. I even noticed that the Scottish business community at a senior level said that they have never had such a responsive and approachable government. The money flows from business, and anyone that's going to business first has to be welcome.

And rough as it has been too - compliments to David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith for forcing through welfare policies that the majority of us were demanding for years. Don't want to look for work - fine, your benefits are withdrawn.

Who among us is against that policy?

Governments of the day usually get vilified unjustly, or over-praised. John Major was vilified - but I bet the majority of us look back now at how he left the country in 1997 and wish we could get that back. I reckon in a few years time we'll look back at the current coalition and recognize their achievement.

At least you didn't compliment the likes of Malcolm Rifkind.

If he's got so much time on his hands as was exposed in the video that caught him out then he's obviously not doing his job of properly serving his constituents.

After the expenses debacle a year or two ago, is it any wonder voters are disillusioned with people who purport to get into politics for public service but only really there to line their own pockets

Edited February 25, 2015 by Asiantravel

[gerry123]

but only really there to line their own pockets that sort of reminds me of one other country i know of

[Baerboxer]

The current government has been excellent. I'd happily settle for a second term of this coalition, but with the impending wipe-out of the Lib-Dems, I doubt it's going to happen.

The way the polls are going the next Parliament will be hung again, and I predict that no one will form be able to form a coalition government. So that will leave us in the rare position of having a minority government, which again would be good for the country.

The dark horse of the next Parliament is likely to be Alex Salmond, and the SNP - I've studied their policies for a while and they are not as left wing as people think. Business rates for small businesses in Scotland have been abolished, for example. That's not the work of a demented Marxist. I even noticed that the Scottish business community at a senior level said that they have never had such a responsive and approachable government. The money flows from business, and anyone that's going to business first has to be welcome.

And rough as it has been too - compliments to David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith for forcing through welfare policies that the majority of us were demanding for years. Don't want to look for work - fine, your benefits are withdrawn.

Who among us is against that policy?

Governments of the day usually get vilified unjustly, or over-praised. John Major was vilified - but I bet the majority of us look back now at how he left the country in 1997 and wish we could get that back. I reckon in a few years time we'll look back at the current coalition and recognize their achievement.

Cameron and his government excellent - jeez. You must have very low expectations. His gamble on a Scottish referendum nearly backfired, he's done his best to create a nanny big brother police state, and had to back down. Multi millionaire "call me Dave" is completely out of touch with the British people.

His only source of joy must being in seeing how inept and ineffective Milliband and his lack luster opposition are. They're even supposedly bringing Prescott back.

[Mosha]

Makes no difference.

Nothing will change.

The latest 2 R.Soles caught out are testimony to that.

As dad used to say. "They all piss in the same pot."

[phrodan]

He had no choice re the referendum - the SNP won the majority of seats, and were entitled to request the referendum under a bizarre notion that you may not be familiar with.

It's called the democratic mandate.

The current government has been excellent. I'd happily settle for a second term of this coalition, but with the impending wipe-out of the Lib-Dems, I doubt it's going to happen.

The way the polls are going the next Parliament will be hung again, and I predict that no one will form be able to form a coalition government. So that will leave us in the rare position of having a minority government, which again would be good for the country.

The dark horse of the next Parliament is likely to be Alex Salmond, and the SNP - I've studied their policies for a while and they are not as left wing as people think. Business rates for small businesses in Scotland have been abolished, for example. That's not the work of a demented Marxist. I even noticed that the Scottish business community at a senior level said that they have never had such a responsive and approachable government. The money flows from business, and anyone that's going to business first has to be welcome.

And rough as it has been too - compliments to David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith for forcing through welfare policies that the majority of us were demanding for years. Don't want to look for work - fine, your benefits are withdrawn.

Who among us is against that policy?

Governments of the day usually get vilified unjustly, or over-praised. John Major was vilified - but I bet the majority of us look back now at how he left the country in 1997 and wish we could get that back. I reckon in a few years time we'll look back at the current coalition and recognize their achievement.

Cameron and his government excellent - jeez. You must have very low expectations. His gamble on a Scottish referendum nearly backfired, he's done his best to create a nanny big brother police state, and had to back down. Multi millionaire "call me Dave" is completely out of touch with the British people.

His only source of joy must being in seeing how inept and ineffective Milliband and his lack luster opposition are. They're even supposedly bringing Prescott back.

[oldsailor35]

If it is a lottery election, all UK parties should send a delegation to that Wat in Thailand, where they are keeping the Naga bone, all 2 kilos of that and they will know the result immediately.

Simples.

Its a wonder that COSTAS did not suggest the army take over.

[Rancid]

See Cameron is sending military trainers to Ukraine, maybe he is searching for a good war to start flag waving.

At least Maggie had the sense to rumble with Argentina, there again no doubt Russia would be a pushover, wouldn't it?

[gerry123]

military trainers that's what the U S of A call them does the UK have the funds to go poking their shonk in

[elgordo38]

It will be interesting to see how UKIP fare.

Its time to turf all the old parties out worldwide. I can see bringing in immigrants with skills and money but not ones with no skills and extended families that feed off of the system. The people at the helm have had years to prove themselves and always have fallen on their <deleted>. Canada is about to join the UK political war this year and the bullshit machines are cranking up to spout out useless attack drivel that have nothing to do with politics. Its disgusting. They all need a trip out back of ye ole woodshed.

[Jonmarleesco]

What it needs is a dose of electorate poll-fixing; the voters collectively deciding how to split the votes, to produce a three-way hung parliament. That would put the Tory and Labour politicians in their place, like nothing else would.

[peterb17]

Makes no difference.

Nothing will change.

The latest 2 R.Soles caught out are testimony to that.

Agree with that- it's good to see a press / media that can go after very high ranking politicians.

But heaven help the country if Labour have a majority - more notes at the treasury- there's no money left.

( for others not following Brtiish politics- the outgoing minister at the Treasury left a note on his desk for the new Government- saying basically we have spent everything- have run up the largest debt in history and the country is bankrupt . Gordon Brown ( our last Labour Prime Minister has already gone down as the worst in history)

The markets will tumble , the pound will probably buy 5 baht and the amount of benefits you can claim every year will be increased to £100,000

[Stargeezr]

Good Luck to who ever wins the election in Britain.

I hope that who ever wins, will cancel the passports of the three school

girls who went to Syria. Anyone who willingly goes to fight for ISIS, or goes to marry one of these terrorists,

deserves to lose their citizenship of what ever country they are from.

It looks like these British school girls are likely immigrants from some other country

and if so, they do not deserve to be considered to be British any more.

Of course this is just my own humble opinion, but I feel the same way, if someone from

Canada leaves and goes to fight for any terrorist organization, they also deserve to

lose their Canadian citizenship, and of course their passport.

[englishoak]

UK politics

[daveAustin]

Any party hosting a bitch like Theresa May will not get my vote. People are sick and tired of the same old tripe. Let's have a change of tack with UKIP at the helm.

[Mosha]

He had no choice re the referendum - the SNP won the majority of seats, and were entitled to request the referendum under a bizarre notion that you may not be familiar with.

It's called the democratic mandate.

The current government has been excellent. I'd happily settle for a second term of this coalition, but with the impending wipe-out of the Lib-Dems, I doubt it's going to happen.

The way the polls are going the next Parliament will be hung again, and I predict that no one will form be able to form a coalition government. So that will leave us in the rare position of having a minority government, which again would be good for the country.

The dark horse of the next Parliament is likely to be Alex Salmond, and the SNP - I've studied their policies for a while and they are not as left wing as people think. Business rates for small businesses in Scotland have been abolished, for example. That's not the work of a demented Marxist. I even noticed that the Scottish business community at a senior level said that they have never had such a responsive and approachable government. The money flows from business, and anyone that's going to business first has to be welcome.

And rough as it has been too - compliments to David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith for forcing through welfare policies that the majority of us were demanding for years. Don't want to look for work - fine, your benefits are withdrawn.

Who among us is against that policy?

Governments of the day usually get vilified unjustly, or over-praised. John Major was vilified - but I bet the majority of us look back now at how he left the country in 1997 and wish we could get that back. I reckon in a few years time we'll look back at the current coalition and recognize their achievement.

Cameron and his government excellent - jeez. You must have very low expectations. His gamble on a Scottish referendum nearly backfired, he's done his best to create a nanny big brother police state, and had to back down. Multi millionaire "call me Dave" is completely out of touch with the British people.

His only source of joy must being in seeing how inept and ineffective Milliband and his lack luster opposition are. They're even supposedly bringing Prescott back.

The problem with the referendum was the PM treating it like a foregone conclusion until the last minute.

I'd like to see his reaction if UKIP are his only option of staying in power.

[yardrunner]

If it is a lottery election, all UK parties should send a delegation to that Wat in Thailand, where they are keeping the Naga bone, all 2 kilos of that and they will know the result immediately.

Simples.

Its a wonder that COSTAS did not suggest the army take over.

Costas would not suggest that the army take over, he is Greek and we all know that Greece was the birthplace of democracy, oh I have just realized why he left Greece.

[JockPieandBeans]

He had no choice re the referendum - the SNP won the majority of seats, and were entitled to request the referendum under a bizarre notion that you may not be familiar with.

It's called the democratic mandate.

The current government has been excellent. I'd happily settle for a second term of this coalition, but with the impending wipe-out of the Lib-Dems, I doubt it's going to happen.

The way the polls are going the next Parliament will be hung again, and I predict that no one will form be able to form a coalition government. So that will leave us in the rare position of having a minority government, which again would be good for the country.

The dark horse of the next Parliament is likely to be Alex Salmond, and the SNP - I've studied their policies for a while and they are not as left wing as people think. Business rates for small businesses in Scotland have been abolished, for example. That's not the work of a demented Marxist. I even noticed that the Scottish business community at a senior level said that they have never had such a responsive and approachable government. The money flows from business, and anyone that's going to business first has to be welcome.

And rough as it has been too - compliments to David Cameron and Iain Duncan Smith for forcing through welfare policies that the majority of us were demanding for years. Don't want to look for work - fine, your benefits are withdrawn.

Who among us is against that policy?

Governments of the day usually get vilified unjustly, or over-praised. John Major was vilified - but I bet the majority of us look back now at how he left the country in 1997 and wish we could get that back. I reckon in a few years time we'll look back at the current coalition and recognize their achievement.

Cameron and his government excellent - jeez. You must have very low expectations. His gamble on a Scottish referendum nearly backfired, he's done his best to create a nanny big brother police state, and had to back down. Multi millionaire "call me Dave" is completely out of touch with the British people.

His only source of joy must being in seeing how inept and ineffective Milliband and his lack luster opposition are. They're even supposedly bringing Prescott back.

The problem with the referendum was the PM treating it like a foregone conclusion until the last minute.

I'd like to see his reaction if UKIP are his only option of staying in power.

You will see that reaction quicker than you think Mosha.

Sell their Grannie to stay in power.

The general consensus appears to show that the most likelihood will be either a coalition formed between:

Tories and UKIP

Or

Labour and the SNP.

Either way, it will not make any difference whilst the EU call the shots.

[Mosha]

Labour and SNP? The problem there for Labour is the SNP will not vote on English only matters.

[JockPieandBeans]

Labour and SNP? The problem there for Labour is the SNP will not vote on English only matters.

Whilst you may well be correct on that one.

That will not make one iota of a difference when the time comes and wheeling and dealing has to be done.

"If you thought the ultimate nightmare scenario was a Labour Government? Try this: Labour and the SNP in Government.

"A unique, unprecedented coalition of the people who would break up our country and the people who would bankrupt our country.

"The only people who can stop them are us."

His comments came after the latest opinion polls in Scotland put the SNP between 10 and 28 percentage point ahead of Labour in second place.

The Tories trailed a distant third

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/pm-warns-labour-snp-nightmare-scenario-170734704.html?.tsrc=warhol#JKAKg2B

The prospect of a Labour - SNP coalition has certainly got Cameron worried.

[Mosha]

If folks want a referendum on Europe, they'd better not vote for Labour.

[JockPieandBeans]

If folks want a referendum on Europe, they'd better not vote for Labour.

I wont disagree with you on that one.

However, I have my doubts as to the sincerity of Camerons plan for an EU Referendum '' If he wins the next GE '' and '' He does not get concessions that will have to be negotiated on '' As yet, unless I have missed it. Not one comment on what those concessions are.

The most logical choice would have been an in / out tick box on the ballot paper for the GE.

Surprisingly, these so called highly educated R.Soles cant seem to work that one out.

As a further measure of their desperation to milk as much as they can from the system.

The House of Commons has defeated Labour's call for a ban on MPs holding paid directorships or consultancies.

Labour had argued that the move was necessary to "restore public trust" in politics following a cash for access scandal.

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-31624695

Whilst I have no time for any Party or Politician. I can fully understand Labour's stance on this. Especially after the cash scandals that continue to bite Wastemonster in the @ss every couple of weeks or so, and that is only the ones that we actually hear about.

[Grouse]

Most sensible people believe leaving Europe would be a poor decision. Better to fix it from the inside. From my point of view, Northern European social democratic values are appealing. Certainly much more appealing than "values" from the USA.

I was turned off UKIP for just using the easy selling point of all are woes are down to Europe ( could have used the Jews, the communists, the red shirts or any other group). Of course all the red top media jumped on that bus. Now, the uneducated will vote UKIP in droves. However, even if they get, say, 15% of the vote, they will only get a couple of seats.

Now if only the Conservatived would take a pro Europe but anti low rent immigrants line, they could steam ahead. Also a strong anti sharia and banning Halal abattoirs would be a good line!

[Grouse]

UK MPs are not paid nearly enough. Can not buy a decent house!

I would like to see fewer MPs paid much more and have gained experience outside of parliament

[Mosha]

UK MPs are not paid nearly enough. Can not buy a decent house!

I would like to see fewer MPs paid much more and have gained experience outside of parliament

£67,060 basic, not counting fiddles expenses free postal/stationary, turn up for work when their pay rise is due. Yeah I'd like some of that.

[Grouse]

That's not much these days....

Need to be sufficient to reduce the NEED for additional work and also attract good people.

At least 100k would me minimum

Check out how much they get in Singapore...