LOL Nice DP Lee =]

Nick Clegg seems to be dropping a bit of bombshell in tomorrows Guardian. It appears that he's got signals from the Tories that electoral reform will not be offered as a bargaining chip in any coalition.....which is going to mean Clegg joins with Labour rather than the Tories.


"In terms of its DNA, the Conservative party is now the party of entrenched vested interests of politics."'"

The result in Warrington South could be quite interesting. According to these guys it might be a three way fight : ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat ... ngtonsouth What's the view from those based there ? I remember the 1992 LAB GAIN result coming in at around 3am. Then the next day being amazed to find that it was so close, the majority was only 191 (which I think was the 2nd lowest majority in the country during that election...)

The result in Warrington South could be quite interesting. According to these guys it might be a three way fight : ukpollingreport.co.uk/guide/seat ... ngtonsouth What's the view from those based there ? I remember the 1992 LAB GAIN result coming in at around 3am. Then the next day being amazed to find that it was so close, the majority was only 191 (which I think was the 2nd lowest majority in the country during that election...)

This is a great thread and helped saved the forum from the abyss.

Clegg has summarised my pereception of the undecided floating voters to a tee. There is a historical, almost intrinsic feeling of self-serving ethos of the Conservatives that thry cannot shake off.

Will May 7th bring an end to Cameron's high profile political career, regardless of the result?

I think those of us fearing a Tory victory are going to have a horrific time when we see the opnion polls in the Sunday papers.

As we all seem to be reading The Guardian today, have a look at Marina Hyde's piece. Spot on.

Told ya...

It seems the Tories may get their majority government, with a little help from their bigoted Unionist friends in Northern Ireland.

I think if that happens, we can almost guarantee a return to the bad old days of IRA bombings, as undoubtedly the Republicans will get the rough end of any politics in Ulster...

A narrow Tory majority would work out well for Labour. Cameron couldn't blame the Liberals when it goes wrong.

I wonder if there will be a leadership contest. According to some of the Sunday papers, Mandleson is lobbying to try and dissuade the likes of Johnson/Harman from running, and letting it be an unopposed contest for David Miliband.

Whilst he has New Labour written all over him, Miliband would be a tough Leader of the Opposition and would quickly be all over Cameron's every move.

I predict major social unrest within 12 months, large scale strikes and possibly riots (its happening in Greece). When unemployment shoots up and public services are slashed to the bones then Cameron will be pleading with the public that "Im only doing this because Labour were so bad".

The fun will start when his own ministers start falling. Good early bet would be for George Osborne to be replaced as Chancellor when the markets start to panic - the option of installing Hague or Clarke there is an easy market stabiliser to be used in emergency situations.

was gonna vote for Clegg but having arrived at Tescos to do my big shop and finding that i could not get in the car park i got annoyed as i had to go to Morrisons and HE cost me more money. May have to look elsewhere now

Would actually go for a Lab/Lib coalition so that the tough decisions Gordon said he only is suited for can be made ........... then, when the unrest hits the fan, another election (18 months?) and the country can work its way back out of this 13 year bad dream.

[i"Clearly, a vote for David Cameron is not a vote for change in any truly meaningful way."[/i

You don't think that getting rid of the worst government in living memory, who have taken us into a dishonest and unnecessary minor war, left the nation's finances in a state without precedent in peacetime, ruined the pensions of millions, and attacked civil liberties in a way that would have embarrassed Judge Jeffreys, might count as a meaningful change? *

* One of the comments to the piece

History would support your theory, although the likelihood would be that rather than call a General Election in 18 months, there would just be a leadership election and Miliband would be installed as leader, he would enjoy a brief popularity bounce, and end up pushing the full term till 2015 until going for a General Election. At that point however a Tory landslide would beckon and they could get in with a 140+ majority which would probably guarantee them 3 terms in office.

The problem with that however, and the reason the Tories are so edgy about this election, is that a Lab/Lib coalition would in reality mean electoral reform and a proportional system in place. The Tories will fight and fight to try and get Labour to produce a halfway house system rather than a genuinely proportional system. PR is the Tories worst nightmare as it could potentially lock them out of government forever. Instead of the old style choice between Labour and the Conservatives, you would have the choice between a coalition of the "progressive centre left", ie Labour, Lib Dems with SNP, Plaid and Greens tagging on, and a coalition of the centre right, ie Conservatives, Ulster Unionists, UKIP if they ever have any MPs. The centre left parties would always have a major advantage.

Three and a half weeks ago, this conversation would have been unimaginable. British politics awakes from its slumber.

Well we could have had this conversation but the thread would soon have been locked because it would have been interrupted by comments like "there all as bad as each other" "wats it got 2do wiv rugby?" and then before long somebody would have said "theres to many imigrants over here taking are jobs and benefits im not racist but" and that would have dominated the debate till Wires71 said something controversial and the mods got edgy and locked it