General Election 2010 Thread

[natweststaffmember]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

http://www.mydavidcameron.com/images/kitten1.jpg

pmsl!!

[Smasher]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

[Sapphire]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

At the risk of sounding a complete numpty, what if the result is a tie and we end up with a 'Hung Parliament' ?

Can someone please explain how that would work (in plain English please), I've tried looking it up but its all very confusing.

[enaid]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

Another famous site have a poll going this is the result so far

Which political party will you vote for in the general election on 6 May?
22%
Labour


23%
Conservative


32%
Liberal Democrat


11%
Other (e.g. Green, UKIP, SNP, Plaid Cymru)


12%
I haven't decided who I'm voting for

[enaid]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

At the risk of sounding a complete numpty, what if the result is a tie and we end up with a 'Hung Parliament' ?

Can someone please explain how that would work (in plain English please), I've tried looking it up but its all very confusing.

What is a hung parliament?
A hung parliament is one in which no party has an overall majority, which means no party has more than half of MPs in the House of Commons.
It means that the government will not be able to win votes to pass laws without the support of members of other parties.
At the next election the number of seats contested will be increasing from 646 to 650 as a result of boundary changes.
That means that on the face of it, an absolute majority would require one party to win 326 seats and that if no party won that many seats there would be a hung parliament.
In reality, it is not quite that simple because the speaker and his deputies, although members of parliament, do not usually vote.
Also, in the current parliament, there are five Sinn Fein MPs who refuse to take the oath of allegiance to the Queen and as a result are not entitled to vote.
But in the simplest terms, the Labour Party will lose its absolute majority if it loses 24 seats and the Conservatives will gain an absolute majority if it gains 116 seats. Any result in between will result in a hung parliament.
What happens if there is a hung parliament?
The incumbent Prime Minister will remain in power until he or she resigns and may try to stay in government even if his or her party did not win the largest number of seats.




In 1974, Edward Heath stayed in power for four days after the election trying to put together a coalition, even though Labour had the largest number of seats in Parliament.
A party can stay in power without an absolute majority by trying to forge an alliance with a smaller party to create a coalition government, which would usually involve policy concessions and allowing members of the smaller party into the cabinet.
In some countries, instead of forming coalition governments, they have reached agreements with smaller parties that they will support the government if there is a vote in parliament aimed at bringing down the government and forcing an election.
Another possibility is for the biggest party to form a minority government with no agreements with other parties and just try to form majorities in favour of each individual bill as it comes up.
If no party is prepared to go down one of these paths then parliament will be dissolved again and there will be another election, although in effect that is relatively unlikely to happen because two elections so close together would be unpopular and the result would probably be the same.

[Amy]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

At the risk of sounding a complete numpty, what if the result is a tie and we end up with a 'Hung Parliament' ?

Can someone please explain how that would work (in plain English please), I've tried looking it up but its all very confusing.

It means vote Lib-Dem and you'll get Gordon (again). If you want Gordon again, then vote Labour.

[Amy]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

The first legislative programme of a Conservative administration would include a 'Great Repeal Bill' to dismantle Labour's 'Big Brother' legislation by scrapping ID cards and home information packs, restoring jury trial in complex cases and abolishing powers of bailiffs and council tax inspectors to enter homes.

David Cameron admits facing 'difficult and tough decisions' over spending cuts to plug £163bn deficit | Mail Online

[WendyB]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

Have just checked the candidates names again to make sure I vote for the right one tomorrow. My constituency has been held by labour since 1945, in the last election 53% of the vote and a ten thousand majority. Would need a major swing to change it and I have been told by various people that my vote isn't going to make any difference, cos Labour will win anyway. Well if everyone thought like that then there would never be any change would there. Tactical voting wouldn't have any effect and even if it did, I wouldn't do it. I shall vote for who I want to be in power, not against who I don't want, so to speak. The only chance of voting green is the BNP candidate who's surname happens to be Green (probably a deliberate ploy to get some of the dimmer members of the community voting for him so they can say they've voted Green lol)

[Sapphire]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

If you're still confused as to who to vote for try using this site, loads of questions and you'll have a better idea who to support afterwards. I've just done it and got a complete shock.

MyVoteAdvisor

[WendyB]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

Just done it. It agreed with who I was going to vote for...suprisingly, though, it placed UKIP above Labour in the also rans..

[Sapphire]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

Well has anyone voted yet ? We're going later this evening, take the dog for a walk too lol.

Apparently on the news they are reporting a big turnout.

[natweststaffmember]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

I have voted in Local and National elections....

[Jester]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

I voted two hours ago. Prefer to go just before lunchtime as I find it is the quietest time (having worked at the polling stations several times in the past when I worked for Local Authorities). Early morning and between 5-7 are the busiest times as people call in on their way to or from work !!

[enaid]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

I have been and gone and done it lol :_thedoctor__by_GuyF

[Amethyst]

Re: General Election 2010 Thread

I'm off up the community centre to vote now. Fully expecting Dennis Skinner to keep his seat tho, comes with living in an ex mining village I guess, still at least he doesnt rip us off with his expenses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYtAU...ext=1&index=16 reminds me of monty python lol.