UK Hung Parliament... Your thoughts?

[fetishdj]

Surprised this has not been posted sooner...

So, UK definitely has a hung parliament now but there is a lot of horse trading over how that is going to work. How do you feel you would like this to go? Not just talking to the UK people here, what do the foreigners and dirty colonials think too?

Does this election indicate the need for serious reform?

Also, as a side note, what do people think of the audacity of the Conservatives to compare David Cameron with Barak Obama with those posters?

[bip0lar]

it's unfortunate, it's a bit surprising, but mostly it's just bollocks (excuse my french).
what really shocked me, however, was that people were turned away from the polls, i really found it hard to swallow (something which normally isn't the case).
What annoyed me when I looked closely at British politics - Gordon Brown appeared at Bradford Uni 2 days ago - was how much more anti-campaigns are valued over pro-campaigns. They don't tell you why you should vote for them, other than "so that the others don't win", which appears to be something the voters are happy with, and that says a lot about the British voters in my book.
But, to be fair, it's not so much the election that indicates the need for serious reform, but the circumstances that led to so many seats for the Tories.
(also, i giggle when i think of "hung" parliament, which probably does say something about how 'important' my opinion is )

[fetishdj]

I hated the smear campaigns - the vote for us because the other lot are going to do this... Unless you actually read the manifestos, it was hard to find out what any party was planning other than to read their opponent's adverts about why you should not vote for them...

[mock serious expression] A hung parliament is a very serious proposition, you should not.... *giggle*

[denuseri]

Welcome to Politics...American Style...lol.

Just imagine if your campaign started at the moment the last government got into office. We allmost have 24/7 TPC (Total prick, er I mean Total Politician Campaigning) here in the States. Kinky huh?

[fetishdj]

No one is *that* kinky... only a real deviant would enjoy TPC

[Thorne]

I don't see the problem. Hanging politicians sounds like a GOOD thing!

[denuseri]

So if the thing cant be resolved do they start over again from scratch with a new campaign?

[craven]

absolutely right Den, yes, if a coalition government can not be formed that has an overruling majority then another election campaign needs to be run
it is best explained here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/p...10/8659878.stm

personally I would like to see a coalition government take control, maybe it is time to break the cycle of party politics, whereby one party with a majority is able to govern without the checks and balances of democratic oversight and accord.

any coalition government with the liberal democrats would undoubtably result in electoral reform, which would more than likely include proportional representation, I feel that this can only be of benefit, less powerful governments would need to govern by consensus rather than relying upon their party whips to drive through unpopular and partisan policies.

interesting times indeed, David Cameron's thirst for power and Gordon Brown's desire to remain in situ could well result in a significant and long reaching overhaul of the UK's electoral and therefore parliamentary system.

a case of watch that space, even from down here I am glued to the developments....

[IAN 2411]

absolutely right Den, yes, if a coalition government can not be formed that has an overruling majority then another election campaign needs to be run
it is best explained here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/p...10/8659878.stm

personally I would like to see a coalition government take control, maybe it is time to break the cycle of party politics, whereby one party with a majority is able to govern without the checks and balances of democratic oversight and accord.

any coalition government with the liberal democrats would undoubtably result in electoral reform, which would more than likely include proportional representation, I feel that this can only be of benefit, less powerful governments would need to govern by consensus rather than relying upon their party whips to drive through unpopular and partisan policies.

interesting times indeed, David Cameron's thirst for power and Gordon Brown's desire to remain in situ could well result in a significant and long reaching overhaul of the UK's electoral and therefore parliamentary system.

a case of watch that space, even from down here I am glued to the developments....

I agree this country needs change and the people have voted for it. If Nick Clegg doesn’t go in with the Tories then he was not worth voting for. Ok I voted Tory for no other reason than I have never liked Gordon Brown or Tony Blair. Gordon Brown was not elected by the people and they have chosen to kick him out. The Labour Party has had 15 years to do something for GB and all they have done is get peace in Northern Ireland and placed us in two wars that we never needed, and I will tread no further in that department. They have done nothing for the voters only lined their own pockets and wasted our money on holding up financial institutes. It does not matter who the British people voted for, because the best thing was a hung Parliament, and if we get a good coalition out of the Lib/Dems and Tories, I think the Labour Party can kiss their ass’s goodbye, because they will never get in again after this fiasco. Because of the Labour Party and their treacherous behaviour half of the UK is owned by Europe the other half is in debt up to its neck, I’ll give you one guess what half the UK people have been left with?

Regards ian 2411

[IAN 2411]

Well here we are Monday and the Lib/dems are sitting on the wall once again, but they had better get their decision right because they will only get one shot at it. If they go lib/dem/lab the government will colaps in less than six months i would think because they would be outvoted on every bill going through parliment. The Torries are the safer bet giving them at least a few years in power of sorts. If they go with Labour and fail after a year or less the people that vote for them would not forgive, and it would be like stabbing themselves in the foot. However Nick Cleg is to big for his boots and most Libs dont like Tory Ideals, so i will be very surprised if he goes that route, and i can most probably expect to be going to the poling station again in the near future.

Regards ian 2411

[fetishdj]

I think the major sticking point with the tories is the electoral reform thing. Without that they are likely to walk and go labour... and now that Brown has resigned (which amusingly I have seen described in two different headlines as 'a big mistake' and 'an astute political move' ) they are more likely to talk to Labour seriously about a coalition.

The other option is a three way split - with tories running a minority govt and the Lib dems/labour either opposing them or agreeing with them. I think the last time this worked was one of the world wars, though, because the only real policy any party had was 'fight the germans' so they agreed on everything

[denuseri]

Awwwww...its not hung so much anymore....lol

Congratulations Cameron I guess.

Whats everyone feel about about it over there?

[fetishdj]

Well, its still not 100% a majority... they have had to compromise ona lot of things to get it and will still have a struggle to pass any law that the Libs disagree with. At least it is a decision, though...

[tedteague]

the solution to every political problem is to make sure the politicians are hung. . . the good kind of hung . . . not the penis kind or the indecisive one

[fetishdj]

Meat is hung, men are hanged... oh, good point. Politicians are not men

[tedteague]

Meat is hung, men are hanged... oh, good point. Politicians are not men

I half considered changing the word but I had already put way too much effort into that pun. seriously, it took 4 revisions for me to to post the finished product

[Jennifer Williams]

Meat is hung, men are hanged... oh, good point. Politicians are not men

But men are meat...

I think political parties changing what they originally stood for is just part of politics. Right now we are having the same issue in the States with the old-timer conservatives calling for a return to the old ways of resisting too much government control, getting back to their "original" cry, which wasn't original at all.

Sometimes you just get so sick of both sides that you welcome the fresh ideas of a newbie party, even if they're a little off their rocker.

[chuck]

But men are meat...

You make that sound so fun.

...they're a little off their rocker.

Got an example?

[fetishdj]

But men are meat...

Well, some of them anyway

[denuseri]

So is the new government going to bring any kind of real change or improvments to Brittian or it's allies?

Are the torries and the libs now going to work together and play nice?

I sure wish our U.S. political parties could do that once elected.

[fetishdj]

tedteague: LOL It works on so many levels I remember getting that phrase almost beaten into me during grammar lessons...

Den: You only have two parties who can seriously compete for the 'big title' so if they co-operated there would be no democracy, just a lot of people agreeing with each other. That was only leads to stagnation and tyranny in a political system

This has only come about for us because we have a third party which is almost, but not quite, big enough to play with the 'big boys'. At present they'd never get elected on thier own steam (though it was close after their leader's performance in the TV debates which depressed me because it implied we only consider politicians now that look good on tele) but they are perfectly placed to tip the balance in favour of one of the major parties.

Had there not been an influx of other, smaller, single issue parties in the past few elections (parties like UKIP, the BNP, The Christian Party and the Common Good party, all of whom are different flavours of nutcase in my opinion...) and I am not mentioning the Monster ravings or the various Zombie parties who all seem to be obsessed with potholes...) then the Libs may have scored a lot better in this election but they lost some of the 'we don't want to vote labour or tory' votes to the single issue parties (not many but enough...).

Though I am pleased that the BNP got roundly defeated. Crazy is fine, crazy with dangerous, discriminatory policies is not. Though the defeat did indicate something about free speech. For years the BNP were not allowed to speak their policies because they were discriminatory. Then (under a load of controversy) they were allowed to speak on Question Time (for the foreigners: its a political show on the BBC where politicians face questions from the audience). It was after this that thier popularity dropped. I think it demonstrates that if you censor something you make it interesting and therefore more popular...

But I will stop ranting now...

[Thorne]

I think it demonstrates that if you censor something you make it interesting and therefore more popular...

This is true in almost everything. The forbidden fruit is always more tempting.

[denuseri]

<<gathers my fruit and hides it where you all can't see it lol

[Thorne]

<<gathers my fruit and hides it where you all can't see it lol

The joy is in the search.

[MMI]

Personally, I think the only valid criterion for voting for any of these people is how good they look on the telly. There's no other difference between any of them. We used to have a socialist party (God bless them) in Labour - representing the working man and supported by trades union and co-operative societies. We used to have a Liberal Party representing the slightly off-beat, left-of-centre (but not too much) middle class teachers and clerics, and we had the Conservatives who represented money. Now the Tories have dragged the centre point rightwards and Labour and the Libs are dancing along with them. Of course, Labour is out of power now, but its politics are the same now as those of the other parties.

The only difference between them is the physical appearance of their leaders.

So what's wrong with a coalition? And what's more, what difference does it make?

[fetishdj]

I am hoping that the recent coalition will cause the labour party to go back to grass roots and actually become a labour party again... however, more than likely the constant drift to the centre will continue...

[denuseri]

The Tea Party or Reform Parties for instance.

[chuck]

The Tea Party or Reform Parties for instance.

I'm not sure if your response (shown above) is in reply to my post asking about "newbie" parties that are "off their rocker" or not. If it is, do you have an example of why you think they are off their rocker?

[denuseri]

I'm not sure if your response (shown above) is in reply to my post asking about "newbie" parties that are "off their rocker" or not. If it is, do you have an example of why you think they are off their rocker?

I was responding to the existance of possible viable third parties...the off the rocker part wasn't my creation lol.

[MMI]

Wiki provides the following names (inter alia) -

No Candidate Deserves my Vote Party (I'm thinking of joining)
Pirate Party
Church of the Militant Elvis
Death, Dungeons and Taxes Party
Fancy Dress Party
Official Monster Raving Loony Party
Corrective Party (which would have got a lot of votes here)

You might think these are all nonsense, but one of them actually got voted into power in a local election