Has Covid changed your political allegience?

[John Luxton]

Quite a few of us, as a result of disagreement with Government (and opposition) Covid strategy, seem to be finding ourselves politically homeless.

If there was an General Election in the next month who would you vote for?

 

[kristiang85]

I've been a lifelong Tory, and whilst I was not wanting Brexit, I stuck with them after that.

But now I will never vote for them again. Labour are worse. Lib Dems were always my backup vote, but their stance on this has mostly been the very opposite of liberal.

If there was an election tomorrow I would probably go for Reform.

 

[squizzler]

The green party talk common sense generally, but I am a little concerned about their previously stated views on HS2. How do they stand on the various parts of Phase 2?

 

[John Luxton]

I've been a lifelong Tory, and whilst I was not wanting Brexit, I stuck with them after that.

But now I will never vote for them again. Labour are worse. Lib Dems were always my backup vote, but their stance on this has mostly been the very opposite of liberal.

If there was an election tomorrow I would probably go for Reform.

Very much my stance.

Though Tories never stand a chance of election both on a constituency and ward basis in my area which goes either Labour / Green/ Lib Dem I have been loyal to the Tories my entire voting life with the exception of some council elections where I have voted strategically for Lib-Dem to keep Labour out.

 

[NorthOxonian]

I've always fluctuated between parties - for example I voted Labour in the 2017 general election (when I could vote for the first time) but Conservative in 2019. I would probably vote Reform if there was a general election next month, but if I happened to live in a different area could imagine myself voting Conservative (for someone like Steve Baker), or maybe even Lib Dem (probably only for Alistair Carmichael).

Though I think that Covid has changed my political views more than my allegiances. It's made me move a little left on economic issues - I'm angry that billionaires have made untold fortunes over the last two years while ordinary people struggled. I'm also much more wary of the government, and the way it can abuse its power - I always was, but it had been an abstract issue for me in the past, whereas now it's much more real. Finally, it's made me much more concerned about devolution - too often we've seen devolved governments bring in new rules just because they can, and just to seem different. That's led to all kinds of strange anomalies and my fear is that more devolution (or more power for the English regions) would just make that even worse.

 

[Ostrich]

I ticked "Other" on the grounds that I wouldn't vote in any general election, which has been my stance for a number of years now. I wouldn't want to be associated with any of them, TBH, and Covid hasn't changed my view.

 

[jfollows]

I voted Conservative 1983-1992, then mainly Liberal Democrat from 1997, sometimes Independent, but I voted Labour for the first time in 2019 and would vote Labour tomorrow. Covid didn't change my political allegiance, Brexit did, but Covid has reinforced my change of allegiance more recently.

EDIT To be honest, my primary motivation for voting Labour in 2019 and now is that they're the most likely party to defeat Esther McVey in my constituency, whom I do not like one bit. So local issues rather than national issues came to the fore for me. I don't see my anti-Esther (rather than pro-anything) vote changing in the near future.

 

[brad465]

Left and right have more or less swapped positions during covid and are a foggy mess now: there are plenty on the right calling out NHS capacity issues, poverty increasing through lockdowns and concerns about control and profits of big pharma, the sort of views you'd think people on the left think, but on the left many of them dismiss those arguments as conspiracy theories and/or not caring enough.

 

[adc82140]

I clicked "Conservative" based on my MP, who is anti restriction, rather than the sh*tshower excuse for a cabinet and Prime Minister.

Labour are a waste of space. Green (my previous party of choice) would have us locked down forever, and I could never vote for anything with Farage's name attached to it.

 

[TheSel]

Until:

1) voting is mandatory
2) Ballot papers must include a 'None of the above' option at the bottom
3) In the event of 'None of the above' getting an absolute majority, a new election, with an entirely new set of candidates, must be held within one month

... I will not be voting again.

 

[BackOnTheTrain]

I’d previously have preferred to vote Green. But I don’t actually know their current policies because tbh I’ve not been paying much attention the past two years.

In the past I’ve voted for probably all of the parties at some point.

 

[Gloster]

I have always been an ABC voter: Anyone But Conservative. My vote often goes to whichever party to the left of the Tories has the best chance of defeating them. However, in my current constituency, if they wrapped a pig’s bladder on a stick in a blue rosette it would get elected. So I have voted Green as it is most in tune with my opinions, even though I know they can’t win. All the pandemic has done is make me loathe the Tories even more than I used to, which was not easy.

 

[Eyersey468]

I will be voting independent for the foreseeable future though if the Monster Raving Loony party had a candidate near me I may well vote for them. That said my local MP is David Davis who does seem to look out for his constituents, but a vote for him means a vote for Boris and as i absolutely despise Boris he has zero chance of getting a vote from me

 

[MikeWM]

It would have to be Reform, as they're the only people opposed to the whole nonsense. Their homepage currently looks like this



so I can't see I could vote for anyone else at this point unless they had at least an equally strong message.

 

[Class800]

Quite a few of us, as a result of disagreement with Government (and opposition) Covid strategy, seem to be finding ourselves politically homeless.

If there was an General Election in the next month who would you vote for?

Honestly, I would not vote. Pre-Covid I was Labour for sure.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Yes.

In fact, Mr. Starmer's reaction to the latest restrictions (saying they didn't go far enough, rather than the opposite) was the final straw for my Labour Party membership, which I cancelled the direct debit for last week.

In the unlikely event of a snap General Election, I'd probably vote for The Yorkshire Party.

 

[12C]

Reform all the way. The restrictions on our lives and continuing loss of liberty is without doubt the biggest political issue which has affected my own life, and I lose sleep at night worrying what sort of world my 2 young children are going to grow up in. Reform are the only party which unapologetically opposes this nonsense.

 

[WelshBluebird]

I've said this before for other reasons (about Brexit) and I'll say it again here, be careful who you vote for especially when it comes to single issue reasonings. Despite the shiny new name, Reform is still The Brexit Party and was still formed and is still run by Farage. If you were against Brexit, or against other things that Farage wants (his views about the NHS should be considered for example) then do you really want to get in bed with the devil?

Left and right have more or less swapped positions during covid and are a foggy mess now: there are plenty on the right calling out NHS capacity issues, poverty increasing through lockdowns and concerns about control and profits of big pharma, the sort of views you'd think people on the left think, but on the left many of them dismiss those arguments as conspiracy theories and/or not caring enough.

I mean, it is the people on the right who are running the country. So not sure how that fits in!

 

[John Luxton]

I've said this before for other reasons (about Brexit) and I'll say it again here, be careful who you vote for especially when it comes to single issue reasonings. Despite the shiny new name, Reform is still The Brexit Party and was still formed and is still run by Farage. If you were against Brexit, or against other things that Farage wants (his views about the NHS should be considered for example) then do you really want to get in bed with the devil?

I mean, it is the people on the right who are running the country. So not sure how that fits in!

I think reform goes much further than being single issue. They appear to have comprehensive ideas - some of those ideas may even find favour with those of a left of centre view such as abolition of the House of Lords. Personally I don't like Farage. Too much in your face "hail fellow well met" type who reminds me of a dodgy second hand car salesman. Richard Tice I do like and whenever I hear him speak I think that he is my sort of politician. I am not to bothered if Nigel is doing a bit of string pulling but I would rather he be pulling Tice's strings than Vallance and Whitty pulling Boris' strings.

Quite interesting to see just how well Reform is doing in the group poll at the moment. The national poll I saw at the weekend suggested 7% neck and neck with the Greens and only 1 point behind Lib-Dems. Be interesting to see any swings identified in the Oswestry by-election. Whilst it is unlikely that Reform would win letting Labour in through a big swing to Reform will hopefully move more Conservative MPs over to the side of the Covid Recovery Group rebels if only to save their own seats that will further increase the pressure on Boris.

As someone who has defected to Reform I would welcome a Labour win as a second best alternative.

 

[WelshBluebird]

To actually answer the question in the title - not really, although it has more deeply entrenched my distrust of the Tory party based on how many dodgy dealings they have been involved in over the pandemic. I doubt we'll truly ever see the real amount of probable fraud and misappropriation of public funds that has happened under our noses.

I think reform goes much further than being single issue. They appear to have comprehensive ideas - some of those ideas may even find favour with those of a left of centre view such as abolition of the House of Lords.

I don't think the party themselves are single issue (though there's absolutely an argument that they are - just look at the screenshot from their website posted above) but just based on some of the replies here, people seem to want to vote for them because of a single issue. To me that is pretty worrying territory because 99% of those people will have no idea what the parties views on say the NHS actually are, despite it's President and founder being well known to be against the very idea of a publicly funded health service (he has called for it to be replaced by private companies time and time again and to be funded by insurance).

Now if you and others here are happy to either be blind to that or look into it and think it is an acceptable price to pay for the anti lockdown, anti restriction etc platform, then that is your and others choice. But I do think people need to make sure that is an informed choice.

 

[nw1]

No, as there are too many things about the Conservatives I fundamentally disagree with (not being sympathetic enough to the unemployed, the low-paid or those on benefits, plus their support for, and implementation of, Brexit).

However it has increased my opinion of *certain* Conservatives who acknowledge the severe economic effects of long and repeated lockdowns and don't try to deny them.

On the other hand, my opinion of the authoritarians and the hypocrites in the Tories, such as Patel, Hancock, Johnson and Javid, has definitely declined - from a pretty low base to start with.

Libertarian-left is my general stance, and always has been, so while I would vote, I would not vote for any candidates with any degree of enthusiasm. However as I despise Johnson and most of the cabinet, I would vote tactically to dispose of them.

 

[greyman42]

Anyone voting for Labour is voting for more restrictions and lockdowns.

 

[John Luxton]

I don't think the party themselves are single issue (though there's absolutely an argument that they are - just look at the screenshot from their website posted above) but just based on some of the replies here, people seem to want to vote for them because of a single issue. To me that is pretty worrying territory because 99% of those people will have no idea what the parties views on say the NHS actually are, despite it's President and founder being well known to be against the very idea of a publicly funded health service (he has called for it to be replaced by private companies time and time again and to be funded by insurance).

But quite often parties use an issue of the day in campaigns.

What I see about their policies basically low tax, small state, removal of nanny statism, and no more C19 restrictions tick all the boxes for me. They would do even if if C19 was not an issue.

As for the Health Service the NHS has along with the even worse Social Care system become a sacred cow that has long needed to see the vet if not the taxidermist.

I don't see it as an asset worth protecting in its current form just to save it, when saving it ruins our lives and the economy.

Whatever its future is needs to be open to debate - I think a bigger mix of private and state with some upfront charges as per the Irish model is what is required.

But lets not worry about the NHS policy of Reform now lets just get through this C19 mess, get back to normal and then see what Reform have to say policy wise. If you don't like what their policy towards the NHS is you can always vote for someone else.

Lets deal with the most pressing issue first.

 

[WelshBluebird]

Lets deal with the most pressing issue first.

The problem with that view is that when you are passed the pressing issue, those people are still MPs / in power.
Look at Brexit. There will be a significant number of people right now who voted for Boris / the Tories to "get Brexit done" but are now utterly horrified by the government they voted in (for various reasons!).

 

[Cdd89]

people seem to want to vote for them because of a single issue. To me that is pretty worrying territory

I agree it’s worrying, but it isn’t the fault of the voter. It’s the fault of the mainstream political parties for both adopting the same stance on what is, for many people, the most important political issue of their lifetimes.

If you had chosen not to be fully vaccinated for whatever reason — and I’m sure you are, which is why it may be hard for you to empathise — can you honestly say you wouldn’t vote for a party standing against a policy that would discriminate against you?

 

[High Dyke]

I would vote Monster Raving Loony, if we had a candidate standing in the constituency. Mmm, maybe an opportunity?

In all fairness, until they provide a 'none of the above' option on a ballot paper, are any of them truly worthy?

 

[yorkie]

If there was a General Election today I would definitely be making a protest vote purely on the basis of lockdowns and other Covid restrictions.

 

[Busaholic]

I've said this before for other reasons (about Brexit) and I'll say it again here, be careful who you vote for especially when it comes to single issue reasonings. Despite the shiny new name, Reform is still The Brexit Party and was still formed and is still run by Farage. If you were against Brexit, or against other things that Farage wants (his views about the NHS should be considered for example) then do you really want to get in bed with the devil?

I mean, it is the people on the right who are running the country. So not sure how that fits in!

Nigel Farage was born in Farnborough, then in Kent: David Bull, deputy leader of Reform UK, was born in Farnborough, by then in Greater London, five years later. Farnborough consists of a bit more than the traditional village, and contains a reasonable size hospital, but it does seem a strange coincidence that two such very right wing characters emerged from there in such a short space of time. As you say, be careful who you vote for.

 

[quantinghome]

The Cameron-Osborne years were the clincher for me. The lies, the born-to-rule mentality, the supreme confidence allied to sheer incompetence, were all present then. Having never had any real inclination to get actively involved in politics, I joined Labour to do what I could to remove the Tories from power. Not without reservations, but Labour are the only party who can realistically replace the Tories. (If you believe Labour have some way to go to achieving this, you'd be right!) The handling of Brexit and now the pandemic have confirmed in my mind that removing the Tories from power is the prime imperative over all other considerations.

 

[greyman42]

The Cameron-Osborne years were the clincher for me. The lies, the born-to-rule mentality, the supreme confidence allied to sheer incompetence, were all present then. Having never had any real inclination to get actively involved in politics, I joined Labour to do what I could to remove the Tories from power. Not without reservations, but Labour are the only party who can realistically replace the Tories. (If you believe Labour have some way to go to achieving this, you'd be right!) The handling of Brexit and now the pandemic have confirmed in my mind that removing the Tories from power is the prime imperative over all other considerations.

So you believe that removing the Tories is more important than loosing your liberties?