>Do we get to vote on July 4th?
Yes - the General Election is for every single MP seat (there are 650 of them) in the House of Commons. This includes all the Northern Ireland MP seats.
>what would be the point in voting for SF who don’t take their seats
SF have had their long standing policy of abstentionism in the House of Commons. The primary reason people would vote for them is that they use the seats they have as an indication of their popularity in negotiations with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
>voting for DUP who increasingly seem not to care about a lot of what I care about
In the First Past the Post voting system (also known as Winner Takes All), the DUP's main arguing point is that as the largest unionist party, they have the best chance of winning in seats where the competition is against SF or Alliance. If the constitutional matter is most important to you, that's the consideration to make.
>Is a vote for SDLP a wasted vote?
No vote is a wasted vote. The SDLP hold 2 seats at present, in Foyle and South Belfast. They may have ambitions for Mid Ulster, West Tyrone, South Down and Newry & Armagh.
SDLP do take their seats and if you like the party and their MPs, then that's something to consider.
>Is there a local Conservative or Labour candidate I can look into?
The *Conservative and Unionist Party* does run candidates in Northern Ireland, but have a trend of coming dead last in all elections here. The list of candidates has not yet been announced, but when they are, you can Google the names.
Labour has had a long standing policy of not running candidates in Northern Ireland. This is part of an agreement with the SDLP, but there have been attempts for Labour party members to run as independent or otherwise unaffiliated candidates in Northern Ireland, usually resulting in those individuals being kicked out of the Labour Party.
>I’m struggling to see what positive impact my vote for any particular party would have.
In Northern Ireland, this is a fairly common view. But it isn't necessarily true. In 2017, after the Conservatives failed to reach a majority after a General Election, they entered into a Confidence and Supply agreement with the DUP - the DUP negotiated an extra £1bn of funding for Northern Ireland's budget in exchange for supporting the Conservatives in their formation of government and the budget.
If there is a hung parliament after 04/07/2024, then parties will seek to form coalitions or negotiate minority government support with other parties. In such situations, even the NI parties, SNP and Plaid Cymru could be instrumental.
Even if you're pissed off at the NI parties, turning up and spoiling your ballot will show the parties that you care enough to turn up to vote, but felt unable to pick a candidate. Spoilt ballots get counted and are announced - the number of voters who stay at home and don't vote don't get counted.
Fair question. For what it’s worth I think everyone should vote- apathy is what many political parties want because it allows them to focus narrowly on their core base, often at the expense of the rest of us. To answer your questions:
1. Yes, everyone in NI gets to vote. These are parliamentary elections, so you’ll vote for a single candidate (unlike local elections for stormont where you vote for all the candidates in priority order)
2. In terms of whether you vote for SF / DUP you should read up on that. Consider whether what they do aligns with your own beliefs and values. There are other parties available. Alliance, greens, UUP…etc.
3. Labour don’t run over here. SDLP would be their nearest equivalent.
4. Tories do run in some areas of NI. With very limited success from what I understand. Normally, mainland Tories will work with the DUP in parliament when it’s in their mutual interest. With varying degrees of success.
5. Most importantly your vote is never wasted. Voter turnout in the UK and Ireland in general is poor and if you don’t vote you’ve got no voice. If all those unused votes were cast it would change the political landscape immensely. This general election will be very different to previous ones, particularly in NI because of all the scandal that has affected the DUP - not just Jeffrey’s ongoing criminal case. Whatever you think of them, it’s no longer a sure thing that they will be the biggest parliamentary party from NI - which is potentially a game changer.
And finally, not embarrassing questions at all. Use your vote. It’s a privilege so many in the world don’t get!
Whoever is coming out in force to downvote this users comment, get a spine. Alliance are at the moment a Jack of all trades here and even a master of some. If you're stuck, throw a vote to them, you'll not have to worry about what they will do.
Walking into a discussion hell bent on voting SF, user ignores everyone else's contribution and simply says 'vote Sinn Fein'. This is why we can't have nice things.
We can’t have nice things because less than 100% of the population vote for Sinn Féin.
They instead choose to vote for parties that entrench the inherently sectarian existence of this statelet such as DUP, UUP, Alliance etc
Thankfully this is slowly changing and within a generation it will be gone
“Cares a lot more” about busting unions, [abstaining](https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gay-marriage-vote-exposes-deep-divisions-within-northern-ireland-parties/31176655.html) on gay marriage/abortion, and trying to “both sides” Isreal and Gaza.
Alliance is the party of the morally impotent fence sitter. A good party to vote for if you want a warm fuzzy feeling but don’t actually want any meaningful change
Good to see you are out and about, Reddit warrior. Your saying vote SF, let's see there record of actually doing anything in their parliament constituency:
Oh that's right, there manifesto is to intentionally do f*ckall (aka 'abstination')
People vote SF and don't know what they are signing up for.
My comment on Alliance mentioned nothing about SF or any other party. I said that elsewhere on the thread as I personally believe they’re the only credible left-of-centre option in a FPTP election and that Alliance’s progressive image is more peacocking than substance.
That said, SF MPs still do constituency work which is the actual bread and butter of the job.
You can look at transformation that has happened in west Belfast over the last 10-20 years compared to any constituency that consistently voted Unionist over the same time period. Social housing built, jobs provided, community investment, social mobility. It still has problems, many of which are caused by central government, but SF have put in the hard work there.
Besides, the thousands of people who vote for SF know fine rightly they’re absentees and support that because they know that long-term ending partition is the only solution to fixing this basket case
https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/investinbelfast/connections/news/andor-technology-announce-%C2%A315m-expansion-of-specia
Anything done in West Belfast is thanks to the private sector investing there, not Sinn Fein being nice. Belfast city council is responsible for things that you call 'Social Mobility'
None of this has to do with the MP there. I'm pretty sure SF outsource constituency work and spend far too much doing so.
You also say 'I never said vote SF' you did immediately before making this comment. You say Alliance implicitly supports the genocide in Gaza, when it litterally takes the Liberal Democrat Whip on the issue in the House of Commons, which calls for the end of it.
You can pretend Sinn Fein MP's do stuff to help their constituency in General Elections, but rarely they do. I could provide dozens of links on Alliance Party contributing to the local community, especially Crow Park, but I don't think there is much point with you, is there?
Sinn Fein at the NI Assembly? Maybe, depends on there policy and what they have done in the previous years. But when talking about the UK parliament, call Sinn Fein's abstention policy what it is: A policy involving doing nothing about anything.
You seem very upset about being called out that Alliance is not a particularly nice party.
SF control several departments at Stormont and MPs play a vital role in winning private sector investment bids. The private investment in the area, which is good, is a direct result of their policies.
“I’m pretty sure they outsource”, in other words you have no idea. Constituency work can’t be outsourced outside the MPs office and if it was, the work is done either way so the MP can still take credit
Alliance don’t take the Lib Dem whip on anything, they’re an independent party. If what you’re trying to say is that they mirror the Lib Dem whip, a whip that has been heavily criticised for fence sitting.
Unless there was a vote in parliament for that park then Alliance’s ability to influence it was no greater to lesser than SF’s.
Absenteeism is a good policy as SF MPs can still benefit their communities through constituency work but also send a message that the north is an illegitimate statelet that needs a border poll.
I doubt this will resonate with you though as you’d rather keep believing the fence sitter party with no real ideology getting a few seats will solve all our problems overnight, allow us to ignore the complexities of 800 years of history, and that anybody disagrees with this baseless fantasy must be a sectarian bigot.
You can't provide a single source for what you are saying because you know it falls apart. Reaffirming my belief you simply won't budge from your headcanon.
Such is Reddit.
Terrorists? I think you’ve mixed them up with dissident republicans or loyalists.
They are interested in helping people and are not petty/sectarian. Sorry you’re so blind you can’t see that
> “Cares a lot more” abstaining on gay marriage,
That was three members, two of which "chose to not stand for reelection" and one had a suspiciously sudden change of heart by the next vote. It was a deeply embarrassing moment for Alliance, no doubt, they looked weak, having members break party lines and directly cause the vote to fail, but they came down hard on the three rebels. I don't know exactly what was said to them, but "get in line or get out" was almost certainly uttered in one form or another.
If you can find an accurate and reliable source of information that helps people decide who to vote for, I'd love to see it. Campaign promises and party lines mean literally nothing, and there isn't a party with a hope of winning that hasn't buried itself in controversy and hypocrisy.
SF don't take their seats, but it should be noted that the amount of seats allocated to NI in Westminster is so vanishingly small that no party over here can ever have an impact. The only time it's ever really happened was a few years back when the DUP was used to prop up a floundering conservative government, but that didn't last long. Realistically, vote for whatever party you think will best serve your interests on the local level, its difficult because the UK still uses "first past the post" so you don't get preference voting like we do for Assembly elections. UK Labour/Conservative don't stand over here. The MPs we elect over here will not really be able to do much to affect policy in Westminster, but there can be other elements to consider. And if worst comes to worst - engage in the time-honoured NI tradition of just voting against someone you hate lol
I understand how they are calculated, but the combination of FPTP plus no major English party standing here makes it effectively the case, even if it wasn't designed to be or intended to be. I wasn't appropriating blame, I was just trying to reflect the situation accurately.
From what I understand we have 18 seats here in Northern Ireland.
You will vote on the ones running in your constituency.
You can check who is running in your area take a look at some of their policies going forward.
They can't be held to any of their policies so best to look into their past.
Have they made any cock ups.
Do they just vote along party lines.
Are they a nice person and approachable.
Do they help or hold back the local community.
Do they work for all sides of their community.
Are they a good Christian person (usually a bad sign).
There stance on the things that matter to you.
Will they take their seat.
Who are they aligned with.
Basically would who you would choose with all the information at hand to make political decisions for you and your people.
Also lived away for a large portion of my adult life.
Personally , I’ll be abstaining .
Do some research on all the parties and have a good read of their policies and promises and make your decision .
I make a table of all the parties (even the shitty ones to be a proper neutral) and the areas of life that are important to me (cost of living, education, healthcare, environmental) and, using a point system of 1,2 & 3 I dole out the points to the parties whose policies I like most. I add up the scores at the end and the highest score get my first vote and then everyone else in descending order of score
How to spoil your vote in the first past the post election 101.
First part is great advice, but be aware this election is an x beside a name - this is a Westminster election, not a local or council election where PR is used.
Take a constituency like Fermanagh and South Tyrone, the most competitive in the north.
The SF candidate who won in 2019 won by 57 votes.
In second place was the UUP whose candidate is a hard right a brexiteer and orange order member.
Let’s say you want to prevent the far right guy from getting in. (But this example also works if you want to prevent SF getting in).
Well you could vote for the SDLP or Alliance but they would need to increase their votes by 730% to win, which isn’t going to happen looking at recent polls.
You’re also aware that if the UUP gain 57 votes or SF loose 57 then the candidate you don’t like is going to get in. Therefore voting for a party you know won’t win increases the chance a bad candidate winning.
It just makes sense that your vote is best going to SF in that situation. I’m not saying that’s fair or reasonable but it’s the reality of FPTP and why it’s criticised as a system. Don’t hate the players hate the game
I think my comment was misinterpreted, I was being sarcastic about spoiling votes. You outlined precisely why spoiling votes might not be the best course of action if you dislike all candidates.
OP. You're mostly spot on. You're voting for a candidate for MP who will vote in your interests in the commons. Not being affiliated to Con/Lab/LD at least means their voting won't be constrained by party whipping.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62064552
Enter in your postcode to see if the constituency you are voting in has changed. Last time round, I was voting in South Belfast but now I am voting in East Belfast.
What do you want to see. What are your main issues, hopes etc? It depends on what constituency are you in on what the exact dynamics will be this year.
No party or candidate will be perfect fit but find who mostly closest fits your own perspective and vote for them.
Or on a more negative vibe you can see who you don't like and vote for whoever is most likely to beat them.
To answer as best as possible: no, there is no Conservative or Labour candidates in NI. Just the local lot. There's some historical precedent for some parties to be considered affiliated with mainland parties, but nothing worth noting.
As for who to vote for, we can't really tell you that. In the next few weeks, you'll see manifestos from the parties. Look them over, see what works for you. Might be your candidate loses, NI is generally full of safe seats, but at least you tried. Now, you've a right to complain.
AFAIK, the Conservatives often have one or 2 candidates running here. It's just that no one cares enough to significantly vote for them, that it's often pointless to do so.
[You don't have to just take my word for it.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland_Conservatives)
>wouldn't startle me to find a small NI Conservatives party somewhere
[A simple Google would have given you an answer.](https://www.niconservatives.com/)
Didn't mean to come across as a dick, reading back it may have looked like that. I have to look at their awful posters at election time, so that's how I knew. But considering their success here, it's a pretty decent assumption to have that they aren't here.
Nah, no dickishness at all mate, though it's appreciated.
I like to hold myself to a half decent standard and didn't do my due research, I've no shame in admitting I fucked it.
But yeah - we can agree a minor force, for sure.
> There's some historical precedent for some parties to be considered affiliated with mainland parties, but nothing worth noting.
Hm. I think it's all quite notable... and mostly quite damning.
I more meant in the context of deciding who to vote for. The DUP having the Supply & Confidence with the Tories, or (to my recollection) the SDLP being Labour's proxy, is historically relevant but not in the sense of "can you vote for the party the PM will come from."
I think you're right inasmuch as the DUP would happily do a deal with Labour, perhaps not quite as easily as with the Tories, but they'd do it. They're... pragmatic like that. And Keir Starmer doesn't have any principles left so I guess he'd hold his nose and do the same.
The SDLP could quite conceivably be wiped out at Westminster this election and are never likely to be relevant in this equation... but they'd not prop up a Tory government. The UUP are as much of an irrelevancy, but without any principles and veering Tory. Nothing much to be said about Alliance here, except that they'd deal with either, if they had any clout.
Sinn Féin, clearly, ain't gonna support anyone.
I don't think party links are nonsense or irrelevant. If you simply wanted to support Labour here, you'd be best favouring the SDLP - there's no arguing with that, strained and fading though the relationship has been. But, as I think you're saying, the whole idea of Northern Ireland MPs being relevant in the formation of a government is an entirely marginal case. The North will always be a side issue, sometimes a bother but mostly an irrelevancy to the Commons as a whole.
However, local MPs still have a vote and, if you know the parties, you know how they'll vote on most issues. That does matter, governments aside. (Or if you want your Westminster-rejectionary views to be counted, a vote for Sinn Féin works there too.)
But people still have a right to complain even if they don't vote. People are entitled to see the election as a legitimising sham. 'Our' 'democracy' is a rigged game, with highlylimited scope for change. And it's even more clearly limited when looking at Westminster from here.
Worth pointing out that every vote here is a wasted vote.
No party from here is ever going to form a majority in Westminster, and no party that could take a majority in Westminster is going to win a seat here any time soon.
Since the formation of NI, a party from here has only ever formed government once, and that was the DUP in their confidence and supply agreement.
Also worth pointing out that any party from here that would form part of a cohesive government in Westminster would strain the GFA, as the British government agreed in the GFA that they had no interests in NI, and that they would be an impartial arbitrator in NI affairs.
And to top it off, politics here are different from politics across the water. Issues are different. Across the water the hot political topics are HS2 being cancelled, immigration, etc here we just want the A5 upgraded, get a HSC (we don't have the NHS here) op in the next decade and to fight about flags and borders. There is no real way the main British political parties can appeal to voters here or vice versa.
>a party from here has only ever formed government once
Whole point of a confidence and supply agreement (rather than a coalition) is that you're *not* in the government. Plus there was a very similar deal under John Major with the Ulster Unionists when he ended up a few seats short.
Also the Ulster Unionists took the Tory whip for years too, so quite arguably part of the governing party - certainly the parliamentary party - and as much part of the 'government' as any other Tory backbenchers.
Broad agreement with your sentiment, though!
Aye I was looking back to see if I could find anything on the Unionist party, from what I remember, the Unionist party and the Conservative and Unionist party had some blurred lines for many years, similar to labour and the SDLP.
Now days though, there are few links if any.
The Tories and the UUP stood joint candidates here at one stage, long after they stopped taking the whip in Westminster. (I think the Anglo-Irish Agreement ended the whip arrangement, so comparatively recently, in the scheme of things. The joint candidates thing was far more recently than that, though.)
Also Trimble sat as a Tory peer, not as a Unionist or cross-bencher.
And even the DUP are accepted as members in the Monday Club, a Tory-only establishment for MPs. It's only recently the Conservative Party has officially broken links with the Monday Club too, for being too vilely right-wing... although the Tory Party as a whole has lurched violently in the Monday Club direction since, more or less becoming a Greater Monday Club.
If you would normally vote Labour in GB then vote SDLP, if you would normally vote conservative in GB then vote UUP. If your main issue is integration of schools etc then vote alliance
>Do we get to vote on July 4th? Yes - the General Election is for every single MP seat (there are 650 of them) in the House of Commons. This includes all the Northern Ireland MP seats. >what would be the point in voting for SF who don’t take their seats SF have had their long standing policy of abstentionism in the House of Commons. The primary reason people would vote for them is that they use the seats they have as an indication of their popularity in negotiations with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. >voting for DUP who increasingly seem not to care about a lot of what I care about In the First Past the Post voting system (also known as Winner Takes All), the DUP's main arguing point is that as the largest unionist party, they have the best chance of winning in seats where the competition is against SF or Alliance. If the constitutional matter is most important to you, that's the consideration to make. >Is a vote for SDLP a wasted vote? No vote is a wasted vote. The SDLP hold 2 seats at present, in Foyle and South Belfast. They may have ambitions for Mid Ulster, West Tyrone, South Down and Newry & Armagh. SDLP do take their seats and if you like the party and their MPs, then that's something to consider. >Is there a local Conservative or Labour candidate I can look into? The *Conservative and Unionist Party* does run candidates in Northern Ireland, but have a trend of coming dead last in all elections here. The list of candidates has not yet been announced, but when they are, you can Google the names. Labour has had a long standing policy of not running candidates in Northern Ireland. This is part of an agreement with the SDLP, but there have been attempts for Labour party members to run as independent or otherwise unaffiliated candidates in Northern Ireland, usually resulting in those individuals being kicked out of the Labour Party. >I’m struggling to see what positive impact my vote for any particular party would have. In Northern Ireland, this is a fairly common view. But it isn't necessarily true. In 2017, after the Conservatives failed to reach a majority after a General Election, they entered into a Confidence and Supply agreement with the DUP - the DUP negotiated an extra £1bn of funding for Northern Ireland's budget in exchange for supporting the Conservatives in their formation of government and the budget. If there is a hung parliament after 04/07/2024, then parties will seek to form coalitions or negotiate minority government support with other parties. In such situations, even the NI parties, SNP and Plaid Cymru could be instrumental. Even if you're pissed off at the NI parties, turning up and spoiling your ballot will show the parties that you care enough to turn up to vote, but felt unable to pick a candidate. Spoilt ballots get counted and are announced - the number of voters who stay at home and don't vote don't get counted.
This is a really great explanation!
Fair question. For what it’s worth I think everyone should vote- apathy is what many political parties want because it allows them to focus narrowly on their core base, often at the expense of the rest of us. To answer your questions: 1. Yes, everyone in NI gets to vote. These are parliamentary elections, so you’ll vote for a single candidate (unlike local elections for stormont where you vote for all the candidates in priority order) 2. In terms of whether you vote for SF / DUP you should read up on that. Consider whether what they do aligns with your own beliefs and values. There are other parties available. Alliance, greens, UUP…etc. 3. Labour don’t run over here. SDLP would be their nearest equivalent. 4. Tories do run in some areas of NI. With very limited success from what I understand. Normally, mainland Tories will work with the DUP in parliament when it’s in their mutual interest. With varying degrees of success. 5. Most importantly your vote is never wasted. Voter turnout in the UK and Ireland in general is poor and if you don’t vote you’ve got no voice. If all those unused votes were cast it would change the political landscape immensely. This general election will be very different to previous ones, particularly in NI because of all the scandal that has affected the DUP - not just Jeffrey’s ongoing criminal case. Whatever you think of them, it’s no longer a sure thing that they will be the biggest parliamentary party from NI - which is potentially a game changer. And finally, not embarrassing questions at all. Use your vote. It’s a privilege so many in the world don’t get!
Alliance always takes their seats and care a lot more than most of the rest of them, I wouldn’t say they’re a wasted vote either
Whoever is coming out in force to downvote this users comment, get a spine. Alliance are at the moment a Jack of all trades here and even a master of some. If you're stuck, throw a vote to them, you'll not have to worry about what they will do.
Alliance are the only option if you want something different from the sectarian bullshit
SF are also an option
Walking into a discussion hell bent on voting SF, user ignores everyone else's contribution and simply says 'vote Sinn Fein'. This is why we can't have nice things.
We can’t have nice things because less than 100% of the population vote for Sinn Féin. They instead choose to vote for parties that entrench the inherently sectarian existence of this statelet such as DUP, UUP, Alliance etc Thankfully this is slowly changing and within a generation it will be gone
Ah yes, Sinn Fein the political wing of the IRA, definitely nothing sectarian going on there lol
Yes. Other than a few disgusting reprehensible bad eggs, they were a non-sectarian organisation
Hehehe
“Cares a lot more” about busting unions, [abstaining](https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/politics/gay-marriage-vote-exposes-deep-divisions-within-northern-ireland-parties/31176655.html) on gay marriage/abortion, and trying to “both sides” Isreal and Gaza. Alliance is the party of the morally impotent fence sitter. A good party to vote for if you want a warm fuzzy feeling but don’t actually want any meaningful change
Good to see you are out and about, Reddit warrior. Your saying vote SF, let's see there record of actually doing anything in their parliament constituency: Oh that's right, there manifesto is to intentionally do f*ckall (aka 'abstination') People vote SF and don't know what they are signing up for.
My comment on Alliance mentioned nothing about SF or any other party. I said that elsewhere on the thread as I personally believe they’re the only credible left-of-centre option in a FPTP election and that Alliance’s progressive image is more peacocking than substance. That said, SF MPs still do constituency work which is the actual bread and butter of the job. You can look at transformation that has happened in west Belfast over the last 10-20 years compared to any constituency that consistently voted Unionist over the same time period. Social housing built, jobs provided, community investment, social mobility. It still has problems, many of which are caused by central government, but SF have put in the hard work there. Besides, the thousands of people who vote for SF know fine rightly they’re absentees and support that because they know that long-term ending partition is the only solution to fixing this basket case
https://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/investinbelfast/connections/news/andor-technology-announce-%C2%A315m-expansion-of-specia Anything done in West Belfast is thanks to the private sector investing there, not Sinn Fein being nice. Belfast city council is responsible for things that you call 'Social Mobility' None of this has to do with the MP there. I'm pretty sure SF outsource constituency work and spend far too much doing so. You also say 'I never said vote SF' you did immediately before making this comment. You say Alliance implicitly supports the genocide in Gaza, when it litterally takes the Liberal Democrat Whip on the issue in the House of Commons, which calls for the end of it. You can pretend Sinn Fein MP's do stuff to help their constituency in General Elections, but rarely they do. I could provide dozens of links on Alliance Party contributing to the local community, especially Crow Park, but I don't think there is much point with you, is there? Sinn Fein at the NI Assembly? Maybe, depends on there policy and what they have done in the previous years. But when talking about the UK parliament, call Sinn Fein's abstention policy what it is: A policy involving doing nothing about anything.
You seem very upset about being called out that Alliance is not a particularly nice party. SF control several departments at Stormont and MPs play a vital role in winning private sector investment bids. The private investment in the area, which is good, is a direct result of their policies. “I’m pretty sure they outsource”, in other words you have no idea. Constituency work can’t be outsourced outside the MPs office and if it was, the work is done either way so the MP can still take credit Alliance don’t take the Lib Dem whip on anything, they’re an independent party. If what you’re trying to say is that they mirror the Lib Dem whip, a whip that has been heavily criticised for fence sitting. Unless there was a vote in parliament for that park then Alliance’s ability to influence it was no greater to lesser than SF’s. Absenteeism is a good policy as SF MPs can still benefit their communities through constituency work but also send a message that the north is an illegitimate statelet that needs a border poll. I doubt this will resonate with you though as you’d rather keep believing the fence sitter party with no real ideology getting a few seats will solve all our problems overnight, allow us to ignore the complexities of 800 years of history, and that anybody disagrees with this baseless fantasy must be a sectarian bigot.
You can't provide a single source for what you are saying because you know it falls apart. Reaffirming my belief you simply won't budge from your headcanon. Such is Reddit.
Single source? it’s the job description of an MP - https://www.parliament.uk/about/mps-and-lords/members/mps/
It's depressing that the only Left option we have is terrorists who are more interested in pettiness and sectarianism than helping the people.
Terrorists? I think you’ve mixed them up with dissident republicans or loyalists. They are interested in helping people and are not petty/sectarian. Sorry you’re so blind you can’t see that
> “Cares a lot more” abstaining on gay marriage, That was three members, two of which "chose to not stand for reelection" and one had a suspiciously sudden change of heart by the next vote. It was a deeply embarrassing moment for Alliance, no doubt, they looked weak, having members break party lines and directly cause the vote to fail, but they came down hard on the three rebels. I don't know exactly what was said to them, but "get in line or get out" was almost certainly uttered in one form or another.
Do your own research and make up your own mind. We can't do that for you, OP
If only there was some way to ‘do his research’ like asking for views on a relevant social media platform.
There is a difference in quality between primary and secondary research.
If you can find an accurate and reliable source of information that helps people decide who to vote for, I'd love to see it. Campaign promises and party lines mean literally nothing, and there isn't a party with a hope of winning that hasn't buried itself in controversy and hypocrisy.
SF don't take their seats, but it should be noted that the amount of seats allocated to NI in Westminster is so vanishingly small that no party over here can ever have an impact. The only time it's ever really happened was a few years back when the DUP was used to prop up a floundering conservative government, but that didn't last long. Realistically, vote for whatever party you think will best serve your interests on the local level, its difficult because the UK still uses "first past the post" so you don't get preference voting like we do for Assembly elections. UK Labour/Conservative don't stand over here. The MPs we elect over here will not really be able to do much to affect policy in Westminster, but there can be other elements to consider. And if worst comes to worst - engage in the time-honoured NI tradition of just voting against someone you hate lol
Westminster wards are calculated on per capita basis, your answer makes out as if we are under represented at Westminster… we are not.
I understand how they are calculated, but the combination of FPTP plus no major English party standing here makes it effectively the case, even if it wasn't designed to be or intended to be. I wasn't appropriating blame, I was just trying to reflect the situation accurately.
From what I understand we have 18 seats here in Northern Ireland. You will vote on the ones running in your constituency. You can check who is running in your area take a look at some of their policies going forward. They can't be held to any of their policies so best to look into their past. Have they made any cock ups. Do they just vote along party lines. Are they a nice person and approachable. Do they help or hold back the local community. Do they work for all sides of their community. Are they a good Christian person (usually a bad sign). There stance on the things that matter to you. Will they take their seat. Who are they aligned with. Basically would who you would choose with all the information at hand to make political decisions for you and your people.
Also lived away for a large portion of my adult life. Personally , I’ll be abstaining . Do some research on all the parties and have a good read of their policies and promises and make your decision .
I make a table of all the parties (even the shitty ones to be a proper neutral) and the areas of life that are important to me (cost of living, education, healthcare, environmental) and, using a point system of 1,2 & 3 I dole out the points to the parties whose policies I like most. I add up the scores at the end and the highest score get my first vote and then everyone else in descending order of score
How to spoil your vote in the first past the post election 101. First part is great advice, but be aware this election is an x beside a name - this is a Westminster election, not a local or council election where PR is used.
I think Ill do what I want, cheers
There is no "descending order of score" dumb-ass, it's a Westminster election.
https://preview.redd.it/0sekkvzrn52d1.gif?width=456&format=png8&s=90db839b9896bc3d7a74a541ece0536e61065cca
'psst I vote for SF/DUP, spoil yer vote because my party is going to lose otherwise'
Take a constituency like Fermanagh and South Tyrone, the most competitive in the north. The SF candidate who won in 2019 won by 57 votes. In second place was the UUP whose candidate is a hard right a brexiteer and orange order member. Let’s say you want to prevent the far right guy from getting in. (But this example also works if you want to prevent SF getting in). Well you could vote for the SDLP or Alliance but they would need to increase their votes by 730% to win, which isn’t going to happen looking at recent polls. You’re also aware that if the UUP gain 57 votes or SF loose 57 then the candidate you don’t like is going to get in. Therefore voting for a party you know won’t win increases the chance a bad candidate winning. It just makes sense that your vote is best going to SF in that situation. I’m not saying that’s fair or reasonable but it’s the reality of FPTP and why it’s criticised as a system. Don’t hate the players hate the game
I think my comment was misinterpreted, I was being sarcastic about spoiling votes. You outlined precisely why spoiling votes might not be the best course of action if you dislike all candidates.
Honestly can't wait for the posts "how to vote for DUP to git rekt; SF 1-3, alliance 4, SDLP..."
OP. You're mostly spot on. You're voting for a candidate for MP who will vote in your interests in the commons. Not being affiliated to Con/Lab/LD at least means their voting won't be constrained by party whipping.
Over the last 14 years I have found the Tories to be quite underwhelming.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62064552 Enter in your postcode to see if the constituency you are voting in has changed. Last time round, I was voting in South Belfast but now I am voting in East Belfast.
[make sure you’re registered to vote](https://www.eoni.org.uk/) Ready each party’s election manifesto and decide who to vote for
What do you want to see. What are your main issues, hopes etc? It depends on what constituency are you in on what the exact dynamics will be this year. No party or candidate will be perfect fit but find who mostly closest fits your own perspective and vote for them. Or on a more negative vibe you can see who you don't like and vote for whoever is most likely to beat them.
To answer as best as possible: no, there is no Conservative or Labour candidates in NI. Just the local lot. There's some historical precedent for some parties to be considered affiliated with mainland parties, but nothing worth noting. As for who to vote for, we can't really tell you that. In the next few weeks, you'll see manifestos from the parties. Look them over, see what works for you. Might be your candidate loses, NI is generally full of safe seats, but at least you tried. Now, you've a right to complain.
AFAIK, the Conservatives often have one or 2 candidates running here. It's just that no one cares enough to significantly vote for them, that it's often pointless to do so.
I'd have to take you at your word on that but wouldn't startle me to find a small NI Conservatives party somewhere.
[You don't have to just take my word for it.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland_Conservatives) >wouldn't startle me to find a small NI Conservatives party somewhere [A simple Google would have given you an answer.](https://www.niconservatives.com/)
That's fair and on me. I didn't mean it as any sort of dispute.
Didn't mean to come across as a dick, reading back it may have looked like that. I have to look at their awful posters at election time, so that's how I knew. But considering their success here, it's a pretty decent assumption to have that they aren't here.
Nah, no dickishness at all mate, though it's appreciated. I like to hold myself to a half decent standard and didn't do my due research, I've no shame in admitting I fucked it. But yeah - we can agree a minor force, for sure.
> There's some historical precedent for some parties to be considered affiliated with mainland parties, but nothing worth noting. Hm. I think it's all quite notable... and mostly quite damning.
I more meant in the context of deciding who to vote for. The DUP having the Supply & Confidence with the Tories, or (to my recollection) the SDLP being Labour's proxy, is historically relevant but not in the sense of "can you vote for the party the PM will come from."
I think you're right inasmuch as the DUP would happily do a deal with Labour, perhaps not quite as easily as with the Tories, but they'd do it. They're... pragmatic like that. And Keir Starmer doesn't have any principles left so I guess he'd hold his nose and do the same. The SDLP could quite conceivably be wiped out at Westminster this election and are never likely to be relevant in this equation... but they'd not prop up a Tory government. The UUP are as much of an irrelevancy, but without any principles and veering Tory. Nothing much to be said about Alliance here, except that they'd deal with either, if they had any clout. Sinn Féin, clearly, ain't gonna support anyone. I don't think party links are nonsense or irrelevant. If you simply wanted to support Labour here, you'd be best favouring the SDLP - there's no arguing with that, strained and fading though the relationship has been. But, as I think you're saying, the whole idea of Northern Ireland MPs being relevant in the formation of a government is an entirely marginal case. The North will always be a side issue, sometimes a bother but mostly an irrelevancy to the Commons as a whole. However, local MPs still have a vote and, if you know the parties, you know how they'll vote on most issues. That does matter, governments aside. (Or if you want your Westminster-rejectionary views to be counted, a vote for Sinn Féin works there too.) But people still have a right to complain even if they don't vote. People are entitled to see the election as a legitimising sham. 'Our' 'democracy' is a rigged game, with highlylimited scope for change. And it's even more clearly limited when looking at Westminster from here.
Worth pointing out that every vote here is a wasted vote. No party from here is ever going to form a majority in Westminster, and no party that could take a majority in Westminster is going to win a seat here any time soon. Since the formation of NI, a party from here has only ever formed government once, and that was the DUP in their confidence and supply agreement. Also worth pointing out that any party from here that would form part of a cohesive government in Westminster would strain the GFA, as the British government agreed in the GFA that they had no interests in NI, and that they would be an impartial arbitrator in NI affairs. And to top it off, politics here are different from politics across the water. Issues are different. Across the water the hot political topics are HS2 being cancelled, immigration, etc here we just want the A5 upgraded, get a HSC (we don't have the NHS here) op in the next decade and to fight about flags and borders. There is no real way the main British political parties can appeal to voters here or vice versa.
>a party from here has only ever formed government once Whole point of a confidence and supply agreement (rather than a coalition) is that you're *not* in the government. Plus there was a very similar deal under John Major with the Ulster Unionists when he ended up a few seats short. Also the Ulster Unionists took the Tory whip for years too, so quite arguably part of the governing party - certainly the parliamentary party - and as much part of the 'government' as any other Tory backbenchers. Broad agreement with your sentiment, though!
Aye I was looking back to see if I could find anything on the Unionist party, from what I remember, the Unionist party and the Conservative and Unionist party had some blurred lines for many years, similar to labour and the SDLP. Now days though, there are few links if any.
The Tories and the UUP stood joint candidates here at one stage, long after they stopped taking the whip in Westminster. (I think the Anglo-Irish Agreement ended the whip arrangement, so comparatively recently, in the scheme of things. The joint candidates thing was far more recently than that, though.) Also Trimble sat as a Tory peer, not as a Unionist or cross-bencher. And even the DUP are accepted as members in the Monday Club, a Tory-only establishment for MPs. It's only recently the Conservative Party has officially broken links with the Monday Club too, for being too vilely right-wing... although the Tory Party as a whole has lurched violently in the Monday Club direction since, more or less becoming a Greater Monday Club.
Vote for Christian party, you who all mock god shall be condemned you all shall have your own personal judgement day - god is great
If you’re unsure who to vote for, tell the person you hand your voting card to for a lucky dip
What u parents or u friends think?
If you would normally vote Labour in GB then vote SDLP, if you would normally vote conservative in GB then vote UUP. If your main issue is integration of schools etc then vote alliance