Today is general election day. Take a walk down to your local polling station and exercise your democratic right. Don’t take the lazy man’s way out and say that voting never changes anything. It can. The debates have proved that there are real differences between the parties. If, like, many, you wish a plague on all their houses because of the expenses scandal, don’t take the lazy man’s way out. Go down to the polling station and spoil your ballot paper. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain about what happens in the next 5 years.
Every one of our families has had family members who have died to protect our democratic right to vote. It would be an insult to their memories not to use it today.
Polling stations are open until 10pm.
I sincerely hope you'll support David Cameron and vote Conservative. By now, you know the reasons why and I won't repeat them. But if you don't, I'll still love you, as at least you have the good taste to read this blog!
I texted David Cameron last night to tell him an anecdote...
"90 year old Aunty Nora - always vvoted Lib is voting Con for the first time to "get rid of that 'effing awful Gordon Brown'. If you've got Aunty Nora you've got the country! All the best 4 tomorrow."
He texted back: "Thanks and fingers crossed". For each of the party leaders it is the biggest day of their political lives. Think how they must each be feeling. The calm before the storm.
If you have nothing better to do from midnight until 6am, I hope you might tune into LBC 97.3 and listen to me present their election night programme with Gaby Hinsliff. If you’re abroad, you can listen on www.lbc.co.uk. It would be great to get calls from blogreaders! 0845 60606973!
9 comments:
It's not just protecting our democratic right to vote - today we have a chance to move towards a proper democratic electoral system in Britain for the first time.
In a democracy every vote has to count. That's a no-brainer isn't it? FPTP is indefensible and the Conservatives pathetic attempts to defend this outmoded and anti-democratic system are a disgrace.
The need for change and the imperative to introduce a proper democracy are such that no true democrat can in all conscience vote Conservative today.
Gosh, a text from Him. Not sure that he really sent that you that text himself though - surely he has people to do that? Not to mention being utterly wrecked from the "all-night campaigning" in chip shops, furniture warehouses, etc!
Seriously though, well done for urging people to vote though - it is disgusting when you think of all the brave people in our past who stood up to defend freedom and who fought, suffered and died for it, that so many people just can't be arsed. I know it feels like "my vote doesn't count" but that just isn't true. My vote counts as much as anyone else's.
As a Yorkshireman living in New Zealand , I pray that my old country will end the dark days of ZanuLiarbore.
I have some misgivings about David Cameron but this old Thatcherite sees him and the Conservatives as the best realistic hope for Britain given the voting system.
The priority for Britain is to dump Brown today just as New Zealand dumped Helen Clark and her Liarbour government 18 months ago.
The fresh start John Key (who is very similar to Cameron in age and values) did wonders for the country.
Consumer confidence shot up, more people thought the country was going in the right direction and confidence in government increased too.
Such boosts to confidence helped New Zealand avoid a particulalrly severe recession which had begun in earnest thanks to the tax and spend Clark government.
When she left office, it was as if a huge burden had been liften of all our shoulders.
It was morning again in New Zealand.
I am sure that should you dump Brown today, the psychological effect on people will be so amazing that not only will so many feel so happier, there will be an economic pay off too.
Now, if Gordon Brown is re-elected, with or without the Lib-Dems and this causes an inevitable exodus of Britain's best and brightest, will there be enough productive left behind to support the unproductive?
Thus, even those on a benefit should consider it is in their interest to dump ZanuLiarbore.
I see Brown's legacy is government debt that will exceed that of Greece.
Thank God, the Tories oppose the Euro, so unlike Brown and Clegg, whose policies would have British taxpayers bailing out Greek socialists.
As if you did not have enough expense funding your own socialists!
Good luck Iain and everyone!
I am feeling distinctly odd. As a lifetime Labour Party supporter, I have today voted for the Conservative Party. Like others, I do not want Gordon Brown as leader or PM.
Both of my parents and both of my in-laws, lefty pensioners the lot of them, are voting Tory for the first time too - it's been a difficult decision for them all and I'm rather amazed (and have been effusive in my thanks). I'm crossing all my fingers and everything else for the result.
Oh - and incidentally, I'm in Cambs SE, where John Cowan, the Labour PPC, was deselected a couple of weeks ago. I wondered at the time if he'd still be on the ballot, and presto, he was - and there were no notifications anywhere that he wasn't running. The Lib Dems did pop something through the door the other day reminding people, but I'm sure plenty of voters remain unaware that a cross in that box is wasted, which seems somewhat undemocratic to me.
This whole debate about voting reform and a better, fairer democracy is an important one and you need to look at the 2005 election results to see why.
If you look at the votes cast in England, the Conservatives had a 35.7% share compared to Labour's 35.5%.
As you can see, it was a very close call and the tories actually got 65,000 more votes than Labour, but the share of seats hardly reflected that.
The Conservatives won 104 seats compared to Labour's 286. The system needs to change and I hope it does.
By the way, the Lib Dems share was 22.9% of the vote which won them 47 seats.
Send him my love. I expect he's sleeping now.
Interesting but possibly tongue in cheek comment from Paddy Briggs. Isn't it amazing that the FPTP system was perfectly acceptable to Brown and his gang when they had a comfortable parliamentary majority with no general election in sight but it is suddenly anti-democratic now that they are likely to be booted out.
Well done for encouraging people to vote. We are so fortunate in this country that we can vote without putting ourselves in danger and can make a real difference to our country. So many people risk their lives all over the world to cast a vote.
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