If there was a snap election, who would you vote for? (UK)

[Dartzap]

As some of the more political aware fellows on here may know, there be something in the wind at the moment, with a large amount of politics occurring in a manner that is, as always, known as Electioneering. Brown wants a mandate, Cameron wants Power, Ming wants a Power Nap.

What would your choice be?

[El Moose Monstero]

I'd still vote Labour at the moment I think; I'm not sure I could stomach voting Tory, and David Cameron's big waxy face pisses me off.

Seriously though, I'd vote Labour for the moment, see how Brown's leadership pans out, and then see what happens come the next election.

[Nathaniel]

Yeah it would have to be labour. Besides the Iraq invasion (which the Tories did vote for anyway) there haven't been any huge screw-ups during the last ten years.

[Dartzap]

Yeah it would have to be labour. Besides the Iraq invasion (which the Tories did vote for anyway) there haven't been any huge screw-ups during the last ten years.

That's somewhat debatable, heh.

Who voted Conservative, eh?

[Psychic_Sandwich]

Who voted Conservative, eh?

Not me. I detest Cameron, although, credit where credit's due, he did manage a fairly impressive speech the other day, that might even have contained the seeds of some sort of actual policies. Too bad they were such bullshit things as 'national youth service' or whatever it was.

That said, I'm not a fan of Gordon either, and the less said about Ming the better.

MRLP it is!

[Teebs]

Lib Dem, I'm not a huge fan of Ming's leadership, but I like the party as a whole.

[Lord Pounder]

I'm a member of the Alliance Party so I'd vote for them, but from the options Lib Dems get it as they are fellow LYMEC members.

[Stark]

From the gallery... Is that Ming as in Ming the Merciless?

[Lord Pounder]

Nah, poor Ming the Clueless is not quite as good as PR and holding an audiences attention.

[Masami von Weizegger]

Although I'm not British, I guess I know enough about British politics to have some idea of who's who. Brown. He's not great but he's slightly less keen on Iraq than Blair and didn't exactly destroy the country as Chancellor.

The Tories would rip the life out of the country with their own two hands if given half the chance, again. Smarmy-arse Cameron might be a nice new mask for the party, but they're still the same old Conservative party.

As for the Lib Dems, yeah, no.

[Lord Pounder]

Although I'm not British, I guess I know enough about British politics to have some idea of who's who. Brown. He's not great but he's slightly less keen on Iraq than Blair and didn't exactly destroy the country as Chancellor.

Forget that cheery little summary and remember that Brown was a major player in Blairs administration. A Chancellor is hardly a tea boy, these days Chancellor is second in command if you will, so many of Blairs most unpopular policies and decisions where done with alteast Browns support, and in many cases such as recent budgets, where originated by Gordon Brown.

Though I will go on record as saying that if Brown does call an election I will personally go over to London and kill the dour faced bastard, in Ni we already fought one election this year and in all honesty a GE at this point would destroy what we've created in Stormont.

[Masami von Weizegger]

That's true and all, but even that hardly dislodges Brown as the best choice at the moment.

I was hoodwinked by Cameron initially when he was presented as the face of the "new Conservatives", ending the legacy of Thatcher and the utter destruction they wreaked on Britain for years but the mask is slipping. Playing the jack of all trades suggest to me that go crunch time, the Tories will slip back into old habits.

Labour have committed some right fuck-ups over the years, the most publicised being this damnable war, but Britain holds strong financially, in terms of unemployment and global influence.

I couldn't see myself voting against Labour essentially in protest of some of their more hair-brained policies when I can't bring myself to believe that the Tories would improve upon Britain's lot. Which, all in all, is what I'm supposed to be voting for in such an event.

I might be piling too much blame on the Tories here, but living in Britain in the 80's was a shocking experience, comparing Britain then and now is like night and day. As long as that's fresh in memory, it'll take a hell of a lot to convince me that the Tories would honestly do better for the country than their Labour counterparts.

[Crazedwraith]

Certainly not Cameron. He's a tosser who seems only concerned in sound bites.

Not certain about Brown. Labour has done some very iffy things, such as the war in Iraq and so on, so I'm not sure I trust them.

At the moment probably Lib. Dem but I'd try to take a fresh look at them before the election. Pay attention to their campaigns and so forth.

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

What do the Liberal Democrats stand for actually?

[Dartzap]

Beeb

Brown rules out autumn election
Gordon Brown has said he will not call a general election this autumn.

The PM said he wanted a chance to show the country his "vision for change" and to develop his policies further.

He said an election could have been held based on "competency" in dealing with crises, but he wanted to develop housing, health and education.

Conservative leader David Cameron said Mr Brown had shown "great weakness and indecision", and had made a "humiliating retreat".

Opposition leaders had challenged Mr Brown to end uncertainty over whether he would call an election after mounting speculation in recent weeks.

'Huge difference'

Mr Brown, speaking exclusively to the BBC's Andrew Marr on Saturday in Downing St, said: "I'll not be calling an election. I have a vision for change in Britain and I want to show people how in government we're implementing it

"Over the summer months we've had to deal with crises, we've had to deal with foot-and-mouth, with terrorism, with floods, we had financial crises.

"Yes, we could have had an election on competence and I hope people would have understood we have acted competently, but what I want to do is show people the vision we have for the future of this country in housing, health and education.

"And I want the chance in the next phase of my premiership to develop and show people the policies that are going to make a huge difference and make a change in the whole country itself."

Andrew Marr said outside Downing St said: "I would say in effect, unless something extraordinary happens, he is ruling out a general election either this year or in 2008."

Speculation had been mounting that the PM would call a November election after changes to Parliamentary announcements, such as a statement on Iraq next week.

Marginal seats

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said the prime minister's decision showed "a loss of nerve".

"He should have stated his intentions, clearly and unequivocally. The inevitable conclusion is that he's been acting in the interests of the Labour Party and not in the interests of the country."

The two dates that were most widely touted for an election had been 1 and 8 November.

Speculation had grown when the government also moved forward plans to outline its Comprehensive Spending Review - which sets long-term spending plans - and pre-Budget report to Tuesday, rather than late October.

BBC political editor Nick Robinson suggested the main reason for not calling a snap election would be an unfavourable poll of marginal seats showing a swing to Tories.

A poll to be published by Sunday's News of the World puts the Tories ahead by 6% in marginal seats, with the party overall at 44% against Labour's 38%.

Translated into a general election, it would mean a hung Parliament with Labour holding 306 seats and the Tories 246.

'Verdict' election

Our political editor says the prime minister wants to win with a mandate for real change, but does not think he could do that with an early election, and consequently may not call an election until 2009.



He says Mr Brown will now plump for a "verdict election" - one based on his actual performance, not on how people think he may do in the future.

"This will be a day, a weekend and probably a week of red faces, of awkward headlines and embarrassment for those around Gordon Brown," he said.

The decision would damage the morale of the Labour Party, he added.

'Not realistic'

The BBC's head of political research, David Cowling, said the speculation had had to be stopped one way or another.

"The polls post the Conservative conference have been very good for the Conservatives, the poll that's coming out in marginal seats is very good for them, so it's all drifting in the wrong direction and it's not the sort of moment I think at which a prime minister could turn to his troops and say: 'Well the tides against us - forward to victory!'

"It wasn't a realistic scenario and he's now having to put a stop on it."

Other recent opinion polls have suggested that Labour's lead over the Conservatives has fallen.

An ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper on Friday suggested the Conservatives and Labour were level - on 38% - compared with a 7% lead for Labour one month ago.

The poll surveyed 1,008 adults on Wednesday and Thursday, after Mr Cameron's address to the Conservative conference in Blackpool.

And the results of an earlier YouGov survey for Channel 4 News - which interviewed 1,741 people, also on Wednesday and Thursday - suggested the government, on 40%, was four points ahead of the Tories compared with a lead of 11 points last week.

That's the end of that guessing game then, heh.

[Dartzap]

What do the Liberal Democrats stand for actually?

Regular naps, regular tea breaks and being a mockery of their former selves.

Bring back Boozy Kennedy!

[Ubiquitous]

Oh dear. It was all going so well for Labour 10 days ago. In the last few days their popularity has gone into meltdown, and I can't wait to see how the newspapers react to Brown's indecision tomorrow morning.

Cameron has done a superb job to turn things around from what looked like terminal decline for the Tories. Whatever your opinion of Cameron the politician, you have to tip your hat to that guy for having balls of fucking steel for his speech in Blackpool. 70 minutes, speech of his life, and no notes - I wish I had that kind of confidence.