Skip to main content

Election fever

It's slightly less than two months to go until the UK general election and I'm already a little obsessed with the ups and downs. It helps that I get to keep track of things for work as well. (If you're interested try www.quakervote.org.uk)

There are several interesting factors about this election. For a start we know the exact date whereas in the past, elections usually happened every 4-5 years, and we wouldn't know the date until the Prime Minister asked the Queen to dissolve Parliament, at which point purdah would begin and the date would be set. In 2011 the Fixed-term Parliament Act provided for fixed-term parliaments of five years in length, unless a vote of no confidence in the government is passed, or the House of Commons votes to hold an election with a two-thirds majority. It'll be interesting to see what the long-term effects of fixing the duration of Parliament will be; it has been suggested that knowing the date of the election has meant that politicians are electioneering much earlier and that the business of the House has stagnated, although this may also have been a fixture of elections coming up to the fifth year of a term.

The other fascinating aspect of this election is that it's almost a certainty that there'll be some form of coalition government after 7 May. The election is therefore more about the general direction of travel rather than specific policies, although election manifestos will be released after 30 March (the date of dissolution). So far, the mainstream parties have been using the politics of fear in an attempt to prevent people voting for their smaller rivals.

Like many people of my generation, I don't feel loyalty to a particular political party despite having strong political views. I do, however, know who I won't be voting for. Lots of research has been done on the reasons that people vote the way do, and whilst there's lots of talk about tactical voting, people tend to vote either on the specific policies the party would implement in government, or they vote to send a message about the sort of society they want to live in (more on The Spectator blog).

Personally, I'm pretty torn. I don't like the current direction of this government or the rising inequality in society, but I'm not yet convinced by the direction or the policies of the parties I'm considering and my heart and head are split on the issues. Good job I'm helping to organise hustings so I'll be able to figure out in person.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Burgas, Bulgaria - Day One

First impressions of Burgas aren't too bad despite getting ripped off by the taxi driver and staying in one of the warmest and definitely not the cleanest hostel I've ever stayed in. My initial plan was to take the bus from the airport but since my plane landed stupidly early that meant a long wait in the dark by myself on the side of a road slowly being eaten alive by mosquitoes. Maybe not then. Wandered back to the taxi rank armed with the knowledge that it should not cost me more than about 20 lev (not sure where from, probably Lonely Planet forum) . This information did not come in useful when I discovered that all the taxis were on meters and charged 5 lev per kilometre. My hostel was 10km away. You do the maths... The hostel had a lovely green neon sign above the door, the sort that you might find above a dodgy nightclub or those pharmacy symbols on every street corner in France. Admittedly its reviews were pretty bad but it's the only hostel actually in the t...

Afjalpur Northwest Bangladesh

Here's an example of the work that the ICS Bangladesh team have been doing over the last three months.  This video was made by the North-West team and focuses on some of the work they have done to establish a dairy co-operative and empower women in the village of Afjalpur.  Hannah has also been blogging on the DfID website:  blogs.dfid.gov.uk/2012/03/connecting-girls-inspiring-futures/  if you want to find out more.

On religion (but mostly Christianity)

Let me start by saying that I do not consider myself a religious person and therefore my musings on the subject can obviously be taken with as many pinches of salt as you would like. For the last two years however I have been living and working at a Christian centre. I grew up with religion and over the past few years have lived with two other families, one with a Hindu temple in their front yard, and one where the Orthodox Bishop came round for tea on a regular basis. Despite having been around religion most of my life, or perhaps because of it, I became increasingly angry and frustrated with any form of organised religion. I grew up a Jehovah's Witness and to me religion became a way of holding me back. It was a way of saying you can't do this or that because God/the Elders wouldn't like it, because you're a girl, or because we are 'no part of this world'. I can't pinpoint exactly when I decided all of this was sanctimonious crap but I quietly stopped ...