Who will win the General Election?

[Darlo_Pete]

I guess unless something drastic happens over the next 2 or so months, it will almost certainly will be a hung parliament. Labour looks like it's ruled out a coalition with the SNP and the Conservatives with the help of the Ulster Unionists are very unlikely to have a parliamentary majority. I reckon there will be a new General Election within a year.

[davidcorks 40yard OG]

Tories = rich boy scum who plan on exterminating anyone who doesnt make 100k a year...

Labour = Used to vote for them but now they just havent got a clue and are far too pro Europe

Lib Dems ...sell out arse kissing bastards, will want a coalition with whoever gets in ...be lucky if they have 10 seats left after election as they have really shot selves in foot with selling out to the tories for the last 5 years..

UKIP ..would vote for these but theyve got nothing other than leaving the eu as a policy ...which might be good hopefully before we have to changeEnglands name to Poland 2

Countrys fucked imo ...dosent matter who gets in same s*** different party..


Monster raving loony for me I reckon

[Darlo_Pete]

The hard thing to predict, is where will the protest vote go and how that will affect seats. It will probably have a different effect on many types of seats. What will be bad for the country will be a weak government and the instability that will cause on the financial markets. For once the result will probably not be known as soon as the polls close, which at least will be a novelty.

[lo36789]

it will almost certainly be hung.

I suspect that Labour/Conservative + Lib Dem will be enough to get in again. I don't see UKIP picking up more than 1 or 2 seats maybe Farage's if anything.

Does anyone actually know the rest of their candidates? The only ones who have seats now are Tory defectors.

[Spyman]

it will almost certainly be hung.

I suspect that Labour/Conservative + Lib Dem will be enough to get in again. I don't see UKIP picking up more than 1 or 2 seats maybe Farage's if anything.

Does anyone actually know the rest of their candidates? The only ones who have seats now are Tory defectors.

No, bit I also don't know the names of an awful lot of Tory/Labour candidates. People don't tend to vote for a candidate, they vote for a party and its ideology, and failing that they vote for a leader.

I'm still completely undecided as to who to vote for.

[Darlo_Pete]

Doing a protest vote in a by-election or a council election is a whole lot different from voting for that party at a General Election. As lo36789 says UKIP will probably win only a handful of seats and they may lose some or all of the seats they have gained at recent by-elections.

[DarloOnTheUp]

Doing a protest vote in a by-election or a council election is a whole lot different from voting for that party at a General Election. As lo36789 says UKIP will probably win only a handful of seats and they may lose some or all of the seats they have gained at recent by-elections.

Lol, I don't think I've ever seen anyone use lo's full name before.

What do those numbers mean anyways

[theoriginalfatcat]

What do those numbers mean anyways

Pin number on his internet Swiss savings account.

[Darlogramps]

Darlington's UKIP candidate is David Hodgson. Not that one, of course....

[Darlo_Pete]

Doing a protest vote in a by-election or a council election is a whole lot different from voting for that party at a General Election. As lo36789 says UKIP will probably win only a handful of seats and they may lose some or all of the seats they have gained at recent by-elections.

Lol, I don't think I've ever seen anyone use lo's full name before.

What do those numbers mean anyways

Probably his old prison number!!!

[lo36789]

Haha last bit is date of birth, 3 is my shirt number - or was back in the day...

I'm not so sure Spyman I think part of it is also having a candidate with a bit of a profile is appealing. I'd have thought generally means the constituancies views get more visibility.

If it is all about the party ideology how on earth did George Galloway end up with a seat?

[bedaledarlo]

Tough one.

Looks to me like Tories minority government / Tory Lib Dem coalition 2.

- Lib Dems wont lose that many seats, they are strong in the constituencies they fight in. Their candidates on the ground are well liked, despite fluctuations in their popularity nationally from election to election. Expect them to lose some, but hold on to maybe 15-20 of their 30. At the very worst they'll hold 10 seats I think. Maybe not enough to get them back into a formal coalition.

- Tories to hold around what they have, losing a few seats, say 10 to 15, a few to Labour in the marginals, not significant numbers.

- UKIP wont translate that many seats. 4-8. Not enough to hurt the Tories in anything other than the odd marginal but they will get a good percentage of the national vote (10%-15%).

- Greens to take 3-5 seats from a mixture of Labour / Lib dem. Largely cancelling out the UKIP effect on the Tories?

- SNP to be the deciding factor. They are going to win a ton of Labour seats (up to 50 is polled) in Scotland which may well be enough to form a coalition with Labour, but crucially Labour wont be then the largest party. Labour have paid a huge price for being involved in the No campaign with the Tories.

Miliband may have the numbers with the SNP, but he will not have the legitimacy to form the coalition. The largest party gets first dibs on forming something - Cameron may be lucky enough to find himself in a position where the opposition votes and seats are completely split. He gets in with less seats than he got last time....

Cameron to become Prime Minister for the second time after losing his second election....

[theoriginalfatcat]

Looks to me like Tories minority government / Tory Lib Dem coalition 2.

Thinking about it, this could well happen.

Whichever out of the two main parties edges it - the Lib dems will be there to jump into bed with them.

I can hear the sound bites now "we've done a good job last time round/we're experienced now" etc.

[Darlo_Pete]

I don't think the Lib Dems will win enough seats to form a coalition. The Ulster Unionists could win more than the Lib Dems and they are more a natural fit for the Conservatives.

[Darlogramps]

I don't think the Lib Dems will win enough seats to form a coalition. The Ulster Unionists could win more than the Lib Dems and they are more a natural fit for the Conservatives.

The Ulster Unionists won't get above double figures.

The Lib Dems will do badly, but if they were below the DUP/UUP, it'd be one of the most shocking results ever.

I saw a great graphic which showed how the incumbent party normally gets a late upturn, so if I was a betting man, I'd say the Tories will be the largest party, but with no majority.

[Darlo_Pete]

The Sun today has an article saying that there has been a 3% swing to the Conservatives after the budget. We'll all be sick to death of opinion polls well before the election is held.

[grytters]

Tories = rich boy scum who plan on exterminating anyone who doesnt make 100k a year...

Labour = Used to vote for them but now they just havent got a clue and are far too pro Europe

Lib Dems ...sell out arse kissing bastards, will want a coalition with whoever gets in ...be lucky if they have 10 seats left after election as they have really shot selves in foot with selling out to the tories for the last 5 years..

UKIP ..would vote for these but theyve got nothing other than leaving the eu as a policy ...which might be good hopefully before we have to changeEnglands name to Poland 2

Countrys fucked imo ...dosent matter who gets in same s*** different party..


Monster raving loony for me I reckon

UKIP have more policies than leaving the EU.

"The response to Dunblane was an overreaction, and people should be allowed to own handguns"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tback.html

Maternity leave should be restricted

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens ... -Fact.html

An end to holiday pay (and other miscellaneous attacks on "ordinary working people")

http://web.archive.org/web/201404292143 ... hir.co.uk/

[bedaledarlo]

Tories = rich boy scum who plan on exterminating anyone who doesnt make 100k a year...

Labour = Used to vote for them but now they just havent got a clue and are far too pro Europe

Lib Dems ...sell out arse kissing bastards, will want a coalition with whoever gets in ...be lucky if they have 10 seats left after election as they have really shot selves in foot with selling out to the tories for the last 5 years..

UKIP ..would vote for these but theyve got nothing other than leaving the eu as a policy ...which might be good hopefully before we have to changeEnglands name to Poland 2

Countrys fucked imo ...dosent matter who gets in same s*** different party..


Monster raving loony for me I reckon

UKIP have more policies than leaving the EU.

"The response to Dunblane was an overreaction, and people should be allowed to own handguns"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... tback.html

Maternity leave should be restricted

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens ... -Fact.html

An end to holiday pay (and other miscellaneous attacks on "ordinary working people")

http://web.archive.org/web/201404292143 ... hir.co.uk/

Ordinary hard working families. Benefit scroungers. Don't you love how much those MPs of all colours have the brass neck to talk about benefit scrounging when their own noses were so firmly in the trough? It still amazed me that Cameron and Osbourne sit in the seats of power after Gideon's 2nd home flip and Call me Dave's Wisteria being payed for by us?

'We're all in it together' People thought they meant were all in the s*** together, they meant the gravy train

[joejaques]

Tories = rich boy scum who plan on exterminating anyone who doesnt make 100k a year...

Labour = Used to vote for them but now they just havent got a clue and are far too pro Europe

Lib Dems ...sell out arse kissing bastards, will want a coalition with whoever gets in ...be lucky if they have 10 seats left after election as they have really shot selves in foot with selling out to the tories for the last 5 years..

UKIP ..would vote for these but theyve got nothing other than leaving the eu as a policy ...which might be good hopefully before we have to changeEnglands name to Poland 2

Countrys fucked imo ...dosent matter who gets in same s*** different party..


Monster raving loony for me I reckon

While I agree with you about UKIP's lack of policies, I will be voting for them anyway. Seems to me that this is the best chance in my lifetime of breaking the two (all too similar) party stranglehold on government in this country. And wouldn't youm just love to see Cameron crawling up Farage's jaxxy to form a coalition?

[lo36789]

Just won't happen. This is how I expect the election to finish up. SNP will take more seats off labour than UKIP take off anybody.

1. Conservative
2. Labour (will lose to SNP and take from Lib Dems)
3. Lib Dem (will lose to labour)
4. SNP (will take from labour)
5. Green
6. UKIP (will take possibly 3 seats all ex-Tory seat)

I think UKIP is possibly the worst and most wasted protest vote there is.

I think Paxman may have done Ed a favour tonight, the lasting/biggest thing he played against him was that he is a geek and looks funny. Also his persistence to put a value on "when is Britain full" was ridiculous - there isn't a figure you can put on that. It is simply a case of having the resource to support the population you have, and that is dependent on generating resource (growth).

[bedaledarlo]

Just won't happen. This is how I expect the election to finish up. SNP will take more seats off labour than UKIP take off anybody.

1. Conservative
2. Labour (will lose to SNP and take from Lib Dems)
3. Lib Dem (will lose to labour)
4. SNP (will take from labour)
5. Green
6. UKIP (will take possibly 3 seats all ex-Tory seat)

I think UKIP is possibly the worst and most wasted protest vote there is.

I think Paxman may have done Ed a favour tonight, the lasting/biggest thing he played against him was that he is a geek and looks funny. Also his persistence to put a value on "when is Britain full" was ridiculous - there isn't a figure you can put on that. It is simply a case of having the resource to support the population you have, and that is dependent on generating resource (growth).

Paxman roasted Cameron though didn't he? It was almost like Paxman murdered Cameron then Miliband did the same to Paxman. A strange thing to watch all round. I do think after the extreme persistence of Paxman on how Miliband looks it played well for him. He was right to say people don't really care what the leader looks like.

Biggest problem for Miliband is no matter how well he comes across in these things the right wing media will relentlessly push for Cameron and slur Miliband and they are very good at it.

The question time before the election with the three leaders is the same kind of big chance for Miliband. He could do with putting numbers behind the amount of growth we would get and tax receipts from his minimum wage rise. Otherwise it is too conceptual for the electorate and can't back up his claims he needs to cut less. If he does it's a vote winner

[Darlogramps]

Paxman roasted Cameron though didn't he? It was almost like Paxman murdered Cameron then Miliband did the same to Paxman. A strange thing to watch all round. I do think after the extreme persistence of Paxman on how Miliband looks it played well for him. He was right to say people don't really care what the leader looks like.

But that is an issue people care about - I do. Even Labour MPs, such as Simon Danczuk this week, are saying voters are telling them Miliband's image is a big turn off .

As an undecided voter myself, I don't think Miliband is up to it, and he comes across as an oddball. I wouldn't want him as PM (I'm no fan of Cameron either).

As a neutral, I'd say Miliband shaded it last night.

Paxo tore into Cameron from the off, which put him on the back-foot and Cameron looked uncomfortable throughout, although he improved towards the end of the interview.

The audience Q+As were a waste of time - the political equivalent of a part-time off-spinner throwing down some tiddlers to experienced batsman. No threat to either Cameron or Miliband.

Paxo's interview with Miliband was poor. He made the interview too personal, and there wasn't enough on policy. I wouldn't say Miliband "murdered" Paxo, as Bedale did. Miliband to me didn't look comfortable either, but he was better in the interview than Cameron.

Ultimately, it was all good theatre but won't have changed many people's minds. Most people tuning in will be politically minded, so have their own views and know who they're voting for.

[Darlo_Pete]

The conservatives could take seats off the Libdems like Berwick for example. Don't assume they will all go to labour.

[loan_star]

Paxo's interview with Miliband was poor. He made the interview too personal, and there wasn't enough on policy. I wouldn't say Miliband "murdered" Paxo, as Bedale did. Miliband to me didn't look comfortable either, but he was better in the interview than Cameron.

I thought Paxman was poor, not the style of interview that makes good watching. Andrew Neill would have done a better job.
As for the two candidates, I thought Cameron started poorly and got better whereas Miliband started well and got worse. He also looked like a pissed off child who had lost his favourite toy at the end, even Paxman asked if he was ok.

[Bogratsteve]

Paxman believes his own hype, he's unable to vary his interview and just comes over as a twat nowerdays full of self importance, ruins many an interview


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[Darlo_Pete]

And Paxman was being touted as a potential Conservative MP, I bet Cameron is thinking differently now.

[Darlo_Pete]

Bit of a blow to Labour, that these 100+ business leaders have come out in support of the Conservatives and Labour can't say that they are all Conservatives, even Duncan Bannatyne a previous Labour supporter has added his name to this letter.

[joejaques]

Bit of a blow to Labour, that these 100+ business leaders have come out in support of the Conservatives and Labour can't say that they are all Conservatives, even Duncan Bannatyne a previous Labour supporter has added his name to this letter.

It happens every time Pete. What price will Ladbrokes give you about a similar letter emerging backing Labour within the next 48 hours? Pretty short odds I would guess.

[Darlo_Pete]

Bit of a blow to Labour, that these 100+ business leaders have come out in support of the Conservatives and Labour can't say that they are all Conservatives, even Duncan Bannatyne a previous Labour supporter has added his name to this letter.

It happens every time Pete. What price will Ladbrokes give you about a similar letter emerging backing Labour within the next 48 hours? Pretty short odds I would guess.

You're right there has been some sort of list, but I don't think the names are anywhere near as big hitters and I very much doubt there are any former conservative supporters on their list.

[joejaques]

Bit of a blow to Labour, that these 100+ business leaders have come out in support of the Conservatives and Labour can't say that they are all Conservatives, even Duncan Bannatyne a previous Labour supporter has added his name to this letter.

It happens every time Pete. What price will Ladbrokes give you about a similar letter emerging backing Labour within the next 48 hours? Pretty short odds I would guess.

You're right there has been some sort of list, but I don't think the names are anywhere near as big hitters and I very much doubt there are any former conservative supporters on their list.

Correct, they've all gone to UKIP.