Sign of the times - UK conservative party predicted major wins

[sandorski]

Sign of the times?

Well, it seems, taking Canada into account which also has gone to a Conservative Minority(key point), it seems the Sign, if there is one, is that Voters are keeping Conservatives on a very short leash. A Minority prevents a Party from implementing their Agenda and forces them to not just Compromise, but often to adopt Policy that they would normally Oppose. Here in Canada, for eg, the Conservatives have been forced to adopt some Policy that the Liberals had Campaigned on and the Conservatives Campaigned against.

Another Spidey Fail.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Spidey, where is that major conservative UK win?

 

[Atheus]

Update: Gordon Brown has now officially resigned as leader of the Labour Party, recognising the fact he now cannot remain Prime Minister, having lost his majority share of the vote. Meanwhile the Conservatives do not have an overall majority either and are negotiating a deal with the Liberal Democracts to form a strong govornment with enough seats to pass legislation. If the deal does not go through the conservatives will have to continue with a minority govornment and will be forced to call another election within the year.

The Liberal Democrats (holding all the cards right now) support smaller govornment with spending cuts to big projects, but would still tax the rich in order to give large tax breaks to the poor. They are also very pro-European (and hence perhaps anti-American) and also cruially are demanding a reformed voting system - namely a move towards some form of proportional perpresentation. Maybe AV or AV+.

Within the last few hours the Conservative negotiator has publicly offered a referendum on the new voting system as part of any agreement with the Liberal Democrats, however they will not accept any spending cuts to education or military projects. The Liberals will take this deal IMO.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8673826.stm

 

[yllus]

They are also very pro-European (and hence perhaps anti-American) and also cruially are demanding a reformed voting system - namely a move towards some form of proportional perpresentation. Maybe AV or AV+.

Any more information on the proposed reforms? I'm not a fan of the proportional voting system after having watched Israeli politics for some years, but maybe there are some variations on the theme that aren't so bad.

 

[werepossum]

I'm betting on a coalition government between Labour and the Liberal Democrats (with the Libs assuming the PM) rather than between the Tories and the Libs. The two are much closer in viewpoint than are the Tories with either, and I see neither agreeing on the kind of small government planks that would make a Tory government worth doing for the Tories. Also, if the Libs join with the Tories they must forgo the Prime Minister-ship, whereas with the badly defeated Labour the Libs could assume most of the more important ministries including Prime Minister.

I also think that, no matter which party the Libs join with, the British involvement in Afghanistan is going to drop quickly.

 

[ShawnD1]

Sign of the times?

Well, it seems, taking Canada into account which also has gone to a Conservative Minority(key point), it seems the Sign, if there is one, is that Voters are keeping Conservatives on a very short leash.

I kinda like this. I voted for Harper because I liked his financial policies a bit better, but he has a lot of ideas that are just fucking crazy. The other parties seem to do a good job of keeping him in check.

It isn't really a shock to see that UK operates in a similar way. Many parties to choose from, and it makes it slightly harder for one party to have enough power to do anything they want without compromise.

Obama is an ultra conservative compare to those conservatives across the pond.

He's a hardcore conservative in every country that isn't the US.

 

[yllus]

I kinda like this. I voted for Harper because I liked his financial policies a bit better, but he has a lot of ideas that are just fucking crazy. The other parties seem to do a good job of keeping him in check.

What are some of these crazy ideas? I'm pretty attuned to Canadian politics and haven't heard of a single policy idea of the Conservatives that really made me sit up and take notice in all of the years they've formed a government. The minimum drug sentencing law is the worst I can think of.

Harper/Flaherty have been a godsend for us fiscally in the last year or two (not so much before that with the drunken sailor style spending). Signing on to the global tax on banks and crap like Copenhagen would have been disastrous for us as a nation.

 

[ElFenix]

seems german conservatives are on the wane. of course a lot of that may be resentment by germans that merkel's government is bailing out greece when germans at home are ailing.

 

[Atheus]

Gordon Brown and David Cameron are heading for the palace for the ritual handover. This indicates a deal has been done between the Liberals and Conservatives.

I'm betting on a coalition government between Labour and the Liberal Democrats (with the Libs assuming the PM) rather than between the Tories and the Libs.

Since Brown stepped down this would have been almost impossible as the new leader of the Labour Party would not have stood in the election as PM candidate.

 

[Atheus]

Up is down, left is right, Liberals are Conservatives, human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria.

 

[Atheus]

Cameron has arrived at number 10 as the new Conservative Prime Minister of Great Britain.

"A new dawn has broken, has it not?" -- Tony Blair, 1997



/edit: details of agreement with Liberals still to come...

 

[ElFenix]

what are the liberals getting out of it?

 

[werepossum]

Gordon Brown and David Cameron are heading for the palace for the ritual handover. This indicates a deal has been done between the Liberals and Conservatives.



Since Brown stepped down this would have been almost impossible as the new leader of the Labour Party would not have stood in the election as PM candidate.

Heh, shows what I know about UK politics as I thought this the least likely scenario. Glad to see Cameron in and the Libs out though, as that means the UK will likely be a closer ally (or at least as good an ally, which is pretty darned good.)

 

[Pepsei]

Sounds like Cameron gave away the store to get the job. According to the BBC Lib Dems got pretty much everything they wanted...and looks like they might get 4 cabinet positions too. are lib dems more left compare to labour party?

List of Prime Ministers of Queen Elizabeth II:

Winston Churchill 1952–1955
Anthony Eden 1955–1957
Harold Macmillan 1957–1963
Alec Douglas-Home 1963–1964
Harold Wilson 1964–1970 / 1974–1976
Edward Heath 1970–1974
James Callaghan 1976–1979
Margaret Thatcher 1979–1990
John Major 1990–1997
Tony Blair 1997–2007
Gordon Brown 2007–2010
David Cameron 2010–

 

[ShawnD1]

What are some of these crazy ideas? I'm pretty attuned to Canadian politics and haven't heard of a single policy idea of the Conservatives that really made me sit up and take notice in all of the years they've formed a government. The minimum drug sentencing law is the worst I can think of.

Yes I'm talking about his anti-drug strategy, which involves several ideas. It's basically the exact opposite of what every peer reviewed study says to do. Harper's plan can be summarized as: 1) increase the spread of HIV and hepatitis, 2) increase crime, 3) increase government spending by putting people in jail for longer periods of time.
article

 

[spidey07]

Well that was fast. Conservative agreement will quickly restore civil liberties that have been totally destroyed in the last decade. Wonder if they'll lift the knife and gun ban? Maybe their country has some glimmer of hope now that conservatives are back in to stop the insanity.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/new...ive-Liberal-Democrat-coalition-agreement.html

10. Civil liberties

The parties agree to implement a full programme of measures to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour Government and roll back state intrusion.

This will include:

A Freedom or Great Repeal Bill.

The scrapping of ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the Contact Point Database.

Outlawing the finger-printing of children at school without parental permission.

The extension of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act to provide greater transparency.

Adopting the protections of the Scottish model for the DNA database.

The protection of historic freedoms through the defence of trial by jury.

The restoration of rights to non-violent protest.

The review of libel laws to protect freedom of speech.

Safeguards against the misuse of anti-terrorism legislation.

Further regulation of CCTV.

Ending of storage of internet and email records without good reason.

A new mechanism to prevent the proliferation of unnecessary new criminal offences.

 

[ShawnD1]

Part from spiderman's quote:

The scrapping of ID card scheme, the National Identity register, the next generation of biometric passports and the Contact Point Database.

I don't understand why this would be scrapped. Having reliable identification is something I think is a top priority. If my credit card or passport is stolen, the last thing I want is for somebody else to use it. I also don't want people saying they are me or are related to me.

I'm really surprised how many people are against having a large system in place to keep track of people. When I worked in a retail store, some people would get very offended when I asked for photo ID when they tried to use a credit card. So you'd rather have me accept the credit card with no proof that you really are this person? Yeah, identity theft and credit card fraud isn't really a big deal; it's not like some thief charging thousands of dollars of stuff to your name could ruin your credit history or anything like that.