U.K. General Election campaigning is underway

The big three parties are: The Labour Party, The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democratic Party.

They're competing to get the most Members of Parliament in the House of Commons to form a majority (and thus the next government). The election is on May 5th.

If you're interested in British politics, or you want to know more there is a United Kingdom forum - so why not drop in and see us?

We're at: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=191

We'll be nice - I can guarantee it*

:hi:





*Legal Disclaimer: not guaranteed. The above paragraphs do not apply to the United Kingdom or any other country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law.

"The following paragraph does not apply to the United Kingdom or any other country where such provisions are inconsistent with local law:"

:)

I know I wouldn't be in the Conservative party, but would I be Labour or Liberal Democratic?

at times. They're both centre-to-centre left.

Traditionally, Labour was a democratic socialist party up until 1983. It's focus then became gradually more Social Democratic up until 1997. After 1997, Labour became a mix of Social Democrats and Neo-Liberals; and it's policies reflect this.

The Liberal Democrats formed from two parties. The first was the Liberal Party that used to challenge the Conservatives as the largest party in the 19th and early 20th Century. After the rise of Labour, it become the third party. In 1981, the SDP (Social Democratic Party) was formed by a group of four MPs who split from Labour and then formed an "alliance" with the Liberal Party. The Liberals and SDP formally merged in the late '80s. The Lib Dems policies are broadly traditionally liberal with some social democratic policies.

The Labour government supported the Iraq War, but many of it's MPs voted against it. The Lib Dems voted against the Iraq War. The Labour Party is traditionally closer to Trade Unions than the LibDems. The Labour Party's policies have a moderate amount of wealth redistribution and support this line more than the Lib Dems.

From a non-policy standpoint, many people are voting according to who stands the best chance of "defeating the Tory" in their constituency, this practise is known as "tactical voting". This means some Labourites are voting LibDem if they are challenging the Tories (conservatives) in their local area, and some LibDems are voting for their Labour candidate if they have the better chance of beating the Tories.

Anyway, very confusing :bounce:

EDIT: The U.K. forum features a mix of (reluctant) Labour supporters, Lib Dem supporters, Green Party supporters and a supporter of the RESPECT coalition (A left-wing populist minority party). We're a wide-mix of the Left and Centre.

;-)

Sounds like I would do the same....vote strategically depending on the Tories.

I do know this much: Tories = blech. Very deep understanding of British political doings, I'm tellin' ya.

It's the most important thing you need to know (the Tories = GOPlite), the rest will come naturally to you.

:kick: