It’s not fucking Strictly. If there really is no one you can vote for you should run. This “woe is me” business pisses me off. What people who say this mean is “I’m unable to compromise on my very niche weird political views that I know no one else shares”. It’s not the systems fault you can’t be arsed.
At what point did I say this is the option for me? I went into the booth today stuck between two options both of which I found far from ideal, but I still picked one.
More than that, I had spent quite a few days wondering if I should vote for a party I didn't really want to at all just in case it let in another party I didn't want even more. In the end I decided not because otherwise I'm voting because of what I definitely don't want rather than what I actually do want and that is fucking depressing.
People have every right to do so if they wish but all each of those votes does is marginalise the minor parties so the two main parties don't need to ask how good they can or need to be, just don't be as bad as the other lot - that is a poor fucking state of affairs to be in.
What's more, even if someone does decide to run we work on a constituency basis so at most you're going to be appealing to a very small number of people rather than a nationwide audience. Even if by some absolute miracle you got in on a broad manifesto (virtually all independent MP's are returned due to one local issue) what then? They've still only got one vote out of 650 in the commons and not party whips or whatever to drum up support for their proposals. It's like pissing in the sea - no-one will notice and it's already full of shit anyway.
My main issue in this election, and become increasingly so over the last few, is not the policies but the tone of the campaigning. The lies, bullshit, misinformation and bad blood from all sides. How does voting for any of them encourage that to change?
If the Tories win, as is most likely, and given the same tactics got Trump in in the US, all we're going to see is that escalating in future. There might be a party you think have conducted themselves well throughout the campaign but disagree with their policies - what then? Do you vote for them because of the way they presented themselves even though you know you're going to hate what they actually do?
The only way that will change is to have a choice ON THE BALLOT so the public en masse can show their dissatisfaction with the way politics overall is conducting itself. How else can the entire country turn round and say "we're fed up of all your bullshit" and make this shitfest clean up their act?
*rant ends*
