Politics at Westminster | BREAKING: UKIP

Given where the United Kingdom now finds itself, on its way out of the EU and with a Scottish independence referendum in recent memory, it is surely a tough claim to say that devolution and European policy was a success.

The settlement of powers across the home nations has rather piecemeal much of the time, and they completely ran away form the idea when it came to England. In part due to self-serving political motives.
Yeah, well, exactly. That's why I didn't put it initially but what else can you say about it.

European integration has been great. Devolution has been great. Cheers tories for mucking that up.

I feel like Child Trust Funds could have been great if Osbourne had embraced them. Instead we are stuck with Child ISA's which most definitely suck (Cash ISAs being basically pointless, S&S ISAs are fine if not quite the same thing).
 
Is it that long since Labour won a general election or two?

Nah, it's not. They'd have largely gone for a similar approach although I'd imagine it's even worse with the Tories in power due to old voting people for them and young people not in greater numbers.
 
Nah, it's not. They'd have largely gone for a similar approach although I'd imagine it's even worse with the Tories in power due to old voting people for them and young people not in greater numbers.

According to this theory then you should be cockahoop, as all the geriatric tory voters will be kicking the bucket in no time, leaving no one but fine upstanding young labour girls and boys to vote in their own.
 
Nah, it's not. They'd have largely gone for a similar approach although I'd imagine it's even worse with the Tories in power due to old voting people for them and young people not in greater numbers.

Except, and the Tories love to bring this up you can be sure, the Coalition built more council properties in five years than did Labour in thirteen.

The answers aren't the same everywhere of course: London, for instance, stands little chance of meeting the present scale of demand (a reality people don't want to accept); whilst in other regions, there is a false/disproportionate shortage created by second homes.
 
Except, and the Tories love to bring this up you can be sure, the Coalition built more council properties in five years than did Labour in thirteen.

The answers aren't the same everywhere of course: London, for instance, stands little chance of meeting the present scale of demand (a reality people don't want to accept); whilst in other regions, there is a false/disproportionate shortage created by second homes.
Not entirely true when you take housing association homes (which represent the vast bulk of new social housing) into account (though the coalition still had a better record per year):

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Nah, it's not. They'd have largely gone for a similar approach although I'd imagine it's even worse with the Tories in power due to old voting people for them and young people not in greater numbers.
And sadly nothing will change because it's the oldies who vote Tory and the rest of us who don't.
Funnily enough it seems the older you get the more you're likely to vote Tory (2015 Gen Elec). In fact every age group from 35 upwards were responsible for putting the Tories in power as a greater percent of them voted for the Tories rather than Labour. You consider 35+ old do you?
 
Funnily enough it seems the older you get the more you're likely to vote Tory (2015 Gen Elec). In fact every age group from 35 upwards were responsible for putting the Tories in power as a greater percent of them voted for the Tories rather than Labour. You consider 35+ old do you?

No, but unless I remember incorrectly the Tory votes become even more prevalent within the oldest demographics. Not to mention that a lot of older people are going for UKIP as well.
 
Why do you think it was that most voted Tory then?

Variety of reasons. I'd say the main one though is that people naturally become more conservative as they age, while younger people tend to be more left-leaning and liberal.
 
Well if that's the reason how do you explain the fact that every single age group voted for Labour over Tory in the 1997 GE?

Because one of the central successes of Blair's Labour is that he was able to move the party in a more centrist direction which tried to appeal to all political orientations and age demographics.

Even in 1997 though, Labour won in the 55-64 and 65+ age categories by 3-5% respectively. That's despite them nearly gaining double the Tory vote in the two youngest categories, and despite it being perhaps the most dominant Labour victory of all-time and one of the Tories worst defeats. Labour won the older demographics, but 55+ was still comfortably the group that voted Tory most.
 
So who's next in our demographic analysis, after the aged @Cheesy ?
Who do women vote most for? How about disabled, blacks, gays, chartered accountants or people with red hair?
Don't make me post the results by housing status.
 
Would the younger generation (of which i am a part-ish) have elected not to take advantage of the housing market which existed previously? Of course not.
 
Barely related to Westminster but oh well, here's Douglas Carswell on the origin of the tides

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Okay I threatened to do it the other day, but now I've seen a handy graph from some new research so am going to:



Also worth noting that the more secure people are in their homes, the more likely they are to vote Tory.
 
Okay I threatened to do it the other day, but now I've seen a handy graph from some new research so am going to:



Also worth noting that the more secure people are in their homes, the more likely they are to vote Tory.


Quelle surprise.

Also it's ridiculous that when turnout is discussed we don't talk about those not even on the electoral register.
 
Meeting Tim Farron tonight at a radio interview and get to ask him a question, any ideas?
- We face the prospect of the Union dissolving within this generation. Labour are in disarray. The public of voted to leave the European Union... Why can't the Lib Dems actually offer something different and meaningful
 
Meeting Tim Farron tonight at a radio interview and get to ask him a question, any ideas?

During the BBC's Brexit debate you suggested that an independent Britain would no longer be a decent, outward looking and tolerant country. Is that really how you view seventeen-and-a-half million of this country's electorate?

Why has the EU lost the confidence of so many people across Europe?
 
Watching Marr and leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson is claiming that it's Corbyn's Labour that threatens the UK's economic security and world standing :lol:
 
Watching Marr and leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson is claiming that it's Corbyn's Labour that threatens the UK's economic security and world standing :lol:

Considering the policies with which Corbyn is associated (economic and foreign affairs), i don't think there is a great deal wrong with such an assertion.
 
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Considering the policies with which Corbyn is associated (economic and foreign affairs), i don't think there is a great deal wrong with such an assertion.

But considering the policies with which Johnson is associated he is clearly not genuinely concerned about threatening our economic security or the UK's world standing. He's done more damage to both than Corbyn's platform would.