Well pants!

[WelshBloke]

So our illustrious PM has flopped (or flipped I'm having difficulty keeping up) and called a snap election after saying that she wouldn't.

It's not like our politicians have anything that they need to be concentrating on at the moment. But no! They are going to bless our lives with almost constant political bickering for the next 7 weeks! And there was me wondering how I was going to cope without seeing those numpties all the time.

Now I just have to decide who to vote for.
Theresa Maybe Lord of the underworld and Queen of the the undead, flipper of flops and general untrustworthy person?
Jeremy Corbin the man who redefined grey, and can't even rule his front bench never mind the country?
Whatshisname leader of a party that everyone else has forgotten about?
Or the swivel eyed loon party with no further purpose?

Jesus! What the fuck happened to politics that we get to choose from this shower of shit?

 

[UNCjigga]

It's not like our politicians have anything that they need to be concentrating on at the moment. But no! They are going to bless our lives with almost constant political bickering for the next 7 weeks!

You're complaining about a 7 week election cycle? Jesus Hume Christ, sign me up!

 

[WelshBloke]

You're complaining about a 7 week election cycle? Jesus Hume Christ, sign me up!

That's still about 6 weeks too long!

 

[cytg111]

can any of those candidates cancel brexit? or write out a new unexit?

 

[WelshBloke]

can any of those candidates cancel brexit? or write out a new unexit?

No. They could probably negotiate a deal that left us in a similar position as we were before (free movement of people, access to the free market etc) but we're going out regardless.

Also The Lord of the Dead (Praise her dessicated heart!) is going to win by a landslide anyway given that no one's voting for The Grey one (even half of his MPs are trying to pretend that he's nothing to do with them!).

 

[cytg111]

Flat out lying to our faces politicians .. is it getting worse?
I think its getting worse..

 

[Pens1566]

Eh, I'll trade you.

 

[WelshBloke]

Flat out lying to our faces politicians .. is it getting worse?
I think its getting worse..

It's ironic that the best British party leader wants to leave Britain!

 

[WelshBloke]

Eh, I'll trade you.

Ummm. No! It's not quite that bad over here yet!

 

[sandorski]

Is this because no one wants to take responsibility for Brexit? I haven't paid much attention to things going on there, but it seems that ever since Brexit was accepted even the Politician supporters have been kinda shocked it was happening.

 

[WelshBloke]

Is this because no one wants to take responsibility for Brexit? I haven't paid much attention to things going on there, but it seems that ever since Brexit was accepted even the Politician supporters have been kinda shocked it was happening.

I don't think that she's trying to pull a Boris.

The Tories actually have a fairly slim majority right now, it's just that the total ineffectiveness of the opposition is disguising it. It would only take a small handful of Tories to vote against the government to make thinks a bit sticky for her (and a few of them are likely to do so).
She'll come out of this with a much increased majority and be able to push her agenda much harder.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Vote for the pirate party maybe?

 

[Commodus]

Election systems like those in the UK and Canada bug me: that notion that you can call a snap election to make sure you stay in power for longer. The US' system has its own problems (namely, it encourages perpetual campaigning over actual governing), but this is how Canada ended up with a terrible guy like Harper in office for a decade.

And while their multi-party systems are dramatically better than that the two-party system in the US, that only really works if more than one party stands a realistic shot at any given time.

 

[sandorski]

Election systems like those in the UK and Canada bug me: that notion that you can call a snap election to make sure you stay in power for longer. The US' system has its own problems (namely, it encourages perpetual campaigning over actual governing), but this is how Canada ended up with a terrible guy like Harper in office for a decade.

And while their multi-party systems are dramatically better than that the two-party system in the US, that only really works if more than one party stands a realistic shot at any given time.

Fixed Date Elections bother me. They inevitably lead to predictable cycles of Legislating the Crap first, Goodies later, and an extreme amount of Election Campaigning.

By not having Fixed Dates, it is far easier to change an Unpopular Government. It would seem that the Incumbent(s) have the upper hand in being able to call an Election at whim, but in experience they don't really. Once the Election Campaigning begins a lot changes in that 6ish weeks, often not in favour of the Incumbent(s).

I should also note that it is not just the Incumbent(s) who can call an Election, but the Opposition can force one through a No Confidence Motion. This is a powerful disincentive from an abusive Government.

 

[local]

Jesus! What the *** happened to politics that we get to choose from this shower of shit?

Pretty much my exact feelings about our last election cycle.

 

[WelshBloke]

Election systems like those in the UK and Canada bug me: that notion that you can call a snap election to make sure you stay in power for longer. The US' system has its own problems (namely, it encourages perpetual campaigning over actual governing), but this is how Canada ended up with a terrible guy like Harper in office for a decade.

And while their multi-party systems are dramatically better than that the two-party system in the US, that only really works if more than one party stands a realistic shot at any given time.

They have to get 66% (I think) of Parliament to agree to it, so that includes the opposition parties.
It's basically like the government getting a vote of no confidence and having an election.

 

[Commodus]

They have to get 66% (I think) of Parliament to agree to it, so that includes the opposition parties.
It's basically like the government getting a vote of no confidence and having an election.

In that case, it's odd that enough of the opposition would vote that way. Labour and the Lib Dems know they're not in a strong position. Why support an election that will likely work against you?

 

[cytg111]

cause she is so far ahead that the opposition will have to pull a trump to win?

 

[Sunburn74]

Purely a shameful power grab for May. Trying to get a mandate of force rather than trying to rule via negotiation and compromise between all involved parties.

 

[Jaskalas]

Elections are... shameful?

 

[Sunburn74]

Elections are... shameful?

If they can be manipulated to your advantage, yes. What she's doing is no different than say creating a gerrymandered map with a current slim majority and them immediately voting to boost your majority further.

 

[crashtech]

I suppose the only thing to do is call for the end of all elections.

 

[twjr]

I suppose the only thing to do is call for the end of all elections.

I'd vote for that.

 

[mikeymikec]

No.

Opinion is divided on that one (and I don't mean high court justices versus some guy in the street) AFAIK, though judging by the libdem and labour 'manifestos' just now, neither of them are suggesting that they want to reverse it.

The hilarious thing I find about the tories and brexit is this: They've gone cap-in-hand to the EU a few times while in government and said "we want a better deal", and because it had all the best cards in that negotiation, the EU basically said no and the tories had to accept that. Nothing has changed since to improve our bargaining position, yet somehow the tories are still claiming that they can get a better deal.

IMO if the other parties played their cards right, the tories would be murdered at this election. Unfortunately, the way that Jeremy Corbyn has been acting for quite some time, Labour as the most viable alternative makes this seem like pie-in-the-sky thinking.

IMO UKIP are going to gain ground, because while the tories have been acting like UKIP-lite for several years, I think there's plenty of room for full derp and for plenty of people to think that the brexit vote legitimises their bigotry.

 

[mikeymikec]

In that case, it's odd that enough of the opposition would vote that way. Labour and the Lib Dems know they're not in a strong position. Why support an election that will likely work against you?

My wife suggested that if there's any chance to curb a hard brexit, they'll take it. Plus an SNP coalition with either Labour or Libdems seems like a pretty good match.

Apparently the Libdem leader has not ruled out another coalition with the tories though, despite the fact that their partnership in that coalition and the hike to students' fees is generally considered to have been the cause of the Libdem's catastrophic loss at the last election.