I voted for my local councillor because I know him, he does a good job in my area. I couldn't care less which party his sponsorship and funding comes from. I'd have preferred it if the ballot paper just had a list of names.

Anyone who can't be bothered to find out the names of the local candidates and what they stand for but rather base their choice on a national party and their manifesto shouldn't be voting.

So to be clear, he'd get your vote even if he defected to the BNP, EDL or the I Want to Drop a Blancmange Down Terry Wogan's Y-Fronts Party?

What do you mean what is the point of voting for the Greens?

This election was done under PR you know so if you preferred their policies to those of UKIP there was every point voting for them and thus not voting UKIP.

I don't understand the process of elimination idea either. Just because you don't want to vote Labour or Tory or whatever you aren't compelled to vote for whoever you consider the "least worst" with that being UKIP.

If you had dismissed all the others why on looking at UKIP's policies didn't you eliminate them as well?

Or in reality do you actually agree with something they claim as policy so made a conscious choice rather than just defaulting to UKIP because the others are rubbish in your view?

Mind you whichever it is, neither is an excuse for casting a vote for that bunch of fascists.

Is there an excuse for voting, say, Communist?

What a bag of crap all that was. Still it was nice to see Nick ( Bog eyed lunatic ) Griffin lose his seat.

To be honest the Greens haven't got much presence round here and will be perennial number 4 for the conceivable future imo, so cant really see much point in voting for them.

It really came down to a simple process of elimination, like I say, I dont put much stock in pre-election promises from any party so the manifestos have little to do with it. If they come in and screw up then its only 4 years, if not - job's a goodun!

Better that than just not bothering...

Apart from the fact that I know him and know he wouldn't defect or support said parties policies. That sort of proves my point. If you voted for someone you didn't know, that could happen.

You've just given the programme controllers at Channel 5 their next big hit!

Voting should be compulsary for all major elections. Imagine the panic in the main parties who suddenly have to take into account the opinions of the 50-70% who regularly don't tick a box.
The main parties know exactly who votes at every election and the breakdown across the various social strata, they don't target policies at groups of people who in the majority don't vote.

Slap a 50 quid fine out to everyone who doesn't vote and watch the numbers go up and the politicians change their tunes.

That's a horrible idea, you can't force people to engage with politics if they don't want to. Besides, I reckon the party who introduced that law would be voted out by an absolute landslide at the next election if I am any judge of British mentality.

I voted UKIP

Regards

King James

If we agree that UKIP are a protest party. Then everyone who doesn't vote because they cannot be bothered due to disinterest of politics or as a protest is forced to vote................

Can you fill in the next part. Scary thought.

Voting is compulsory in Australia. $170 fine of you fail to do so. They seem to deal with it without any dummy spitting.

You can not "engage" as you put it by spoiling your ballot paper. I fail to see any downsides to compulsory voting nor any reasons to object to it. Put a box on there for "I do not wish to vote in this election" would also solve the problem of those who don't want to vote.

It is certainly true all the main parties pander to a small sector of those who do vote in order to win these particular peoples vote. The result is in effect the views of a small section of the voting public determine the politics of the country.

Getting all the voting population into the polling booth (or voting by more modern methods) by making it compulsory to vote is clearly the best way to get the government to reflect the view of the majority whatever that may be. The idea we would then be governed by a government without a mandate goes out of the window.

I can't fathom why anyone can seriously object to the idea.

I don't see any parallels with the say UK communist party and UKIP in terms of then being something sensible to choose to support. The communist party offers a coherent philosophy which you may or may not disagree with. Anyone can see what they stand for and decide to vote for them or not based on that. UKIP are a IMO a bunch of fascists who aren't offering anything remotely coherent or workable.