especially television. Presenters should adopt a policy of demanding a straight answer to a straight question and not allow a politician to railroad them with the statement they have preprepared.
Wouldn't it be good if Marr,Paxman et al simply stopped an interview with the words "You obviously have no intention of answering my questions so we'll finish".

I've voted Labour and Conservative in the past but I'm frankly amazed that the Labour party can even be considered for the next government. Any party that lies to it's people to go to war deserves consigning to history.

I'd recommend voting for whoever has the best chance of keeping the Tories out in your part of the UK.

But that's just my personal bias, as informed by the years 1979 to 1997, coming to the fore.

My solution? Localize your concerns. Is your local MP doing a good job? Did he or she come a cropper during the expenses row? Ignore the party and judge the person. Sadly its the only solution I can think of.

... if the Tories got in in 2005.

This time it will be if the Tories or Labour get in.

Not sure which country will have me, though.

for a don't agree with any of the above and I wish to register my protest box on voting papers it's now.We will never get it though as our Lords and Masters know it would be the winner by a country mile.As for who to vote for...haven't got the faintest.What really worries me is what might fill the political void.The B.N.P.or some other shabby beast not yet born.

maybe he'd be a bit more himself, a bit more confident and get on it. Plus surely the Tories would be just about finished. If they can't win now they never will...it's an important election.

I'll have to make it down for a massive drinkies in London one time. That education policy discussion is a four pinter, minimum...

I absolutely refuse to vote for Labour after these 2 last horrific terms, but I can't yet bring myself to vote Conservative, and recognise that (in my area) a Liberal vote will be a wasted one, yet I don't want to contribute to that potential vacuum that might let a BNP in the door...

I'm currently edging closest to the earlier idea suggested of just supporting my current local incumbent (Tory, didn't get away scot free on the expenses farrago, but in all honesty does a good job with local issues), but I won't feel good about it.

We've had Conservative MP and local councilor since the last election, and it really isn't very good at all. Both are currently now taking lots of credit for things that they didn't have any part in, and sending numerous mail shots to tell us so (no doubt funded by Lord Ashcroft).

This should probably act as a warning to the rest of the UK.

my old gaffer "the only time they tell the truth is when they call each other liars"

I want to vote for a Labour party that simply no longer exists. I fundamentally cannot vote Tory; being from Liverpool, and having grown up under Thatcher's government of the 1980s, it would break my heart to do it. And whilst I can see the obvious flaws in this subjective reasoning, my conscience is eased by the fact that it's not like they're doing anything to present me with cause for reevaluating.

For me, there really is no credible option: Lib Dem just aren't there; Tory I won't even consider; Labour *should* just be my default setting, but I cannot square their behaviour these last two terms. None of them are good enough for us, and that is mortifying - their political forebears must be turning in their graves.

I suspect I'll end up doing whatever is necessary to mitigate the chances of BNP getting any seats anywhere near me.

A week or so I nearly posted the exact same sentiments and analysis. It is depressing. I really dont want to say A Plague on All Your Houses, but it is getting to that point. I think DH's column in the present issue pinpoints some of the problem: news management and PR ("Dave" C's only attempt at a real job) are usurping political content.

I suppose, in a way, we are to blame - Gandhi used to say "Be the change you want to see in the world."

My local MP is stepping down. She's really been in touch with local issues and what we locals think. Never anywhere near all this nasty expenses kerfuffle. I will really miss her.

Sorry? Her name? Ruth Kelly. Sorry...

I go with the others. I vote for a candidate who I think will do a good job. In the past I have voted for a Lib Dem candidate I knew personnally even though she admitted herself she would be lucky to come third. This time, the only local candidate going out to meet the public is someone who was a director of a company I worked for and I liked. She is a Conservative. The last local Tory I had any respect for was a vice-patron of the charity I am involved with. He also helped to bring down the disastrous John Major government by defecting to the Lib Dems. Funny old world.

My local MP is a vile toad-like creature called Nicholas "Fatty" Soames, a Tory grandee so loathsome that when Cameron asks him to go away and hide for the whole election campaign, as he surely will, he will probably choose to do so in Margaret Thatcher's arse.

Kind of narrows the choice down a bit.

From Tony Robinson (of Blackadder fame),or someone claiming to be him, asking me to sign up to an alternative way of running the country. I haven't done so yet because they don't come across as being clear about they want, just clear about what they don't want.
http://www.power2010.org.uk/

seems to be the only solution. I can't vote Tory (I think I am allergic). I won't vote Labour because of the lies and the control ethos (although I like GB). Lib Dem's it is then. It can't be worse than anything since 1979. Can it?

and make a difference to society or get on the local council, or become a governer of local school volunteer for a local charity. I know most people round here have given up on all this sort of thing and are curled up with their boxsets but nothing good about in the Uk without normal people making a change.
Voting is a good start .

so who I vote for will make very little difference. It'll be a protest vote against Cameron and the particulalry odious Osbourne. Pointless really, but that's all there is.

because my MP works his arse off and actually consults his constituents (he's won awards for his use of the interwebby doodah and email stuff) and listens to what they have to say.

I got an email from him this very day asking about my views on the proposed 'Robin Hood Tax'. I intend to say that I think it's an affront to natural justice, as we need to support our forestry based industries as much as possible.

A Labour alternative doesn't exist round here, and the prospective Tory is the worst kind of all; originally working class. Not only is he standing as a Tory candidate, he's deluded enough to think he's one of them.

Gordon Brown seems like the classic example of someone whose always wanted the top job, but when he gets there doesn't know what to do. Plus the party seems hell bent at times to play the 'toff' card - funny how class shouldn't matter, but only as long as you are working class.

David Cameron has tried to move the Tories on (but seems too weak, not quite sure what they stand for, and ends up trying to appease the older Tories), but they are still handicapped by the last two generations of MP's and the history of the party.

Nick Clegg seems to be a carbon copy of Cameron. The party only seems popular because it was the one that voted against the war.

Having said all that, I'll never vote BNP or UKIP. It's too little Englander for me.

So, who do I go for? Well, where I live is a solid Labour area and I cannot really see what good it's done for the town. Added to that, I see on a daily basis the mess the tax system is in; the bribery of the middle-classes by bringing them into the Tax Credit system.

That just leaves the Tories or Lib Dems... one of them will get my vote, but really by default. I don't want to not vote, either - we need a change of government.

God help the UK.

there is of course the SNP too, which is either:

- a valid alternative to Labour, yet who (unlike LibDems) have a good chance of making a difference, or

- a fourth depressing non-alternative

depending on your politics.

I have no idea who to vote for; or when my priorities lie.

My default setting suggests I should vote for the Labour Party (I'm far more of a socialist, or egalitarianist than not) but aside from that I think I'm too young to understand how a difference is going to affect me. But, do I vote for the party who (supposedly by definition) share the same beliefs as me; or do I go for the Conservatives simply because a change might do us some good? I'm too young to remember Thatcher, and the '97 election is probably the first one I remember.

round here as they always do. It's a tough call nationally because while I would hate to see any extremists hold any sort of power I just feel the big?? 3 need a scare and a shake up. A few BNP MP's or UKIP or Green anything just to shake the apathy and sleeze and general pointlessness of the last 20 years of government. This will be the lowest turn out for an election ever, the winner could have 20% or less of the voting publics vote and be running the country for the next 5 years. How the fuck did it come to this?

P.S memo to Uncle Wheaty this is when I realised I'd turned into a miserable old git.

but I will not vote for any of them; unfortunately it appears that a spoiled ballot is the only option I have in my arsenal, living as I do in a seat with a 4000 Tory majority.

...it's ANYONE but Peter Robinson. Need I remind the massive who this man is(was)? I thought not...

Actually, the choice isn't quite so cynical: I had reason two days ago to try and enlist another local MLA (member of NI legislative assembly) from my constituency to help me with work related matter where a 'question to the minister' might make a difference and I was staggered, and frankly impressed, when Ms Long replied to me within three hours, from Washington, USA, to set up a meeting on her return.

THAT'S public service in action. My cynicism is momentarily suspended and, for the decency of getting back to me so swiftly and accommodatingly, Ms L is getting my vote. Hopefully petulent Pete will be consigned to the expenses-free gravyless train to oblivion he deserves.

..... the government always gets in, or so the old line goes. Therefore, think of your vote as for the least worst party - being a red of an Old Labour hue (is there even such a thing as a Kinnockite? I guess that describes me), it'll pain me voting for the likes of Milliband the Elder or Jack 'We Need A Big Conversation' Straw, but for me Labour are the least crappist amongst the main 3.

I'll never ever vote Tory (in fact, I don't want them to just lose the election, I'll like them to all die in a bus crash, with Cameron first through the windscreen, exploding in a cloud of moisturiser as he hits the macadam!), and the Lib Dems : for every decent sort like Cable, Ashdown, and Norman Baker, there's a useless oddity like Lembit or Clegg.

If this still leaves a taste of twelveday old scotch egg bought from Leicester Forest East service station in yer mouth, then at least put a mark in the Yes column for the Greens. Not voting is as good as putting the Tories in, so when the Beeb and the NHS get nuked from orbit by Dave and The Oik, at least you can say you'd tried.

BR
FT

Do you want Gordon Brown in Downing Street for the next five years?

I live in a true blue constituency where a vote for anyone else than John Redwood is effectively a wasted vote. So I have little choice in influencing the outcome.

But I will still vote. Stopped staying up all night for the results years ago - prefer some kip.

Its going to be crap whoever gets in cos they wont have the bottle to do the right things - only those things which are popular plus blame each other....

There will be an election in Holland in June and Geert Wilders (think charismatic BNP) has a genuine chance of winning. And not only that, being British, I can't vote here.

as none of the candidates appeal to me. This is not a situation I'm pleased about as I consider having the right to vote to be immensely important. If a politician came along that truly spoke my language and didn't set the alarm ringing on my finely-tuned Bullshitometer™ , I would vote for him or her like a shot.

Would be nice if he is going to stay in Downing Street that he at least be elected to do so this time, rather than just taking over power and assuming no-one will mind.

...some sort of farcical aquatic ceremony. You know: women lying around in ponds, distributing swords - that sort of thing, anyway.

for the Falklands war.Is that because we won it? Whatever it was a manufactured situation to boost her popularity. Whatever the wrongs of the Iraq war Blair knew he wasn't going to be popular just from the mass protests alone. Compared to the crap that we had to endure under Thatcher/Major I think Blair/Brown has been a massive success. Brown has a problem with presentation, of that there is no argument. I happen to believe that he is a man of great conviction and no small amount of sincerity.

David Cameron on the other hand is a smarmy wanker who looks like he tucks his shirt in his underpants.

A hung parliament with a greater role for the likes of Vince Cable may not be a bad thing.

... and it would be foolish to think that enough of our politicians have the desire, or the ability, to fix it. We won't really be offered any choice in May, so the Lab-Lib-Con alliance will certainly win.
The best hope of genuine change is to register enough 'protest' votes -or perhaps abstentions- to force the political class to address the concerns of an increasingly disillusioned electorate.
It's the election after May 2010 that might turn out to be one of the most interesting and significant that we'll ever have.

... I've just noticed that 'Lib-Lab-Con' rearranges as 'no cab bill'. Whatever way they dress up their expenses in the next parliament, they'll always find a free ride...

Pretty easy really. Labour may not have been all it was hoped to be in 1997 but IMO anything is better than the Tories. Has everyone forgotten the "Me First" 80s. How anyone can actually think the Tories know or care what it is like to be an ordinary working person is beyond me. Most of their front line politicians are former public school so please don't tell me they have changed. Cameron may come across as all nice, caring and photogenic but isn't that exactly what people ended up disliking about Blair?

It is the only choice I can see to make since they have not got a None Of The Above box.

I personally would prefer it to be illegal not to vote but for there to be a none of the above box. If that box got the majority vote then the election gets held again until people who are palletable stand.

That is however a utopian impossabilty, so after a few years of settling for Green I find myself making this sad decision.

I know it is an easy commonplace thing to say but people DO vote. 27 million of them at the last election. That is nearly half the population of the country, and 61% of the electorate. MORE people eligible to vote do so than do not. And remember many people live in consituencies where there is a huge majority for one party of other.
Do not give up on democracy - it only looks rubbish until you consider the alternative (Churchill?)

There is no Left Wing. There is no Right Wing.

There is only a reaction to events and issues that occur as they seem to arise. Labour will do this if 'A' happens/is happening. Tories will do that etc.

All 3 major parties now inhabit the same centre ground, making for a very dull and crowded venn diagram.

I genuinely do not know how I shall vote this year. Gordon Brown has proved himself, to me at least, as an empty vessel. He may be a dynamic, driven, charismatic chap behind closed doors. In front of them where I see him he's a spoilt, inept and uncomfortable character.

Dave C looks and sounds like an Airfix Prime Minister. He's not at all real. And should be suspended from a ceiling for a few weeks, taken down and melted.

Whatever happens we'll be in for another term of cuts and misery. So you may aswell vote for your cat.

as they haven't got a clue about their own policies so how are we supposed to know? To slip from a 14 point lead to neck and neck shows pretty clearly that the general public think Cameron is a buffoon. That's in the honeymoon period - imagine what he would be like after being married to him for a couple of years. He is a puppet as far as I can see for the far right loonies who will run amok should the unthinkable happen and they get in.

I feel more enthusiastic about Labour than before the last two elections. In 2001 and 2005, Labour took a lot of people's votes for granted, putting themselves forward as the least worst option - for example sticking Hague in a Thatcher wig to put people off.

But now there is a clear choice. The Tories want to use the excuse of the national debt to carry out their long-cherished dream of dismantling public services, conveniently forgetting that the NHS was set up when Britain was skint after WW2 (and we only paid off our war debt to the US in 2005).

Labour may have to cut some of the debt but it will preserve public services.

As for Gordon Brown, he may not have Blair's valuable political gift to gladhand and smalltalk, but it's not X Factor. Brown's a serious thoughtful man and that's the sort of person you want to deal with huge economic problems.

Besides a clear difference between the main parties, there's a chance that many MPs with majorities of under 5,000 could be vulnerable, making every vote in count.

Minor parties such as Ukip, the Greens and the BNP are likely to get a bigger share of the vote too.

after Tony Blair took all of the hope and optimisim of Labour's 1997 and kicked the absolute shit out of it through his duplicitous behaviour over Iraq and his hero worship of the Texan simpleton Bush.

Happily, my local Labour MP voted against the war, is untainted by the expenses scandal and is unfailingly helpful. Easy choice.

I don't like the Tories - don't like what the stand for, don't like their assumptions about how people should live, don't like the way they think they are being polite by using the word "coloured". Though, to be fair, it probably is more polite than what they say in private.

The Lib Dems? They put a woman in charge of local state schools who is cutting their budgets and closing some down, in an appalling heavy-handed manner - and who had her own children educated privately. I find that sort of contempt hard to take.

And apart from anything else, I quite like Gordon Brown. He is a Prime Minister who is bad at PR and spin.

"Dave" Cameron is a former PR professional who would be a bad Prime Minister.

It's Gordon for me.

But I look at the frontbenches for the two biggest parties and see...

nothing.

No one of the calibre of Foot, Healey, Whitelaw, Powell (whatever you may think of him he was highly skilled), Carrington, Castle, Jenkins, Williams, Thatcher (ghastly as she was) even.

We have Bob Ainsworth. Who? Milliband. Ed Balls. Sitting opposite are Cameron, Osborne, Hague and a shadow cabinet that I can barely remember. And I'm supposedly reasonably interested in politics. And then there's Mandelson, who comically has a pop at Lord non-dom Ashcroft. But at least Tricky Dickie can sort out a mortgage without making an utter twat of himself. Then you look at the lkes of Kennedy and Cable, who are capable, skilled (and seemingly decent) men, and then look at Clegg, who's worse than useless.

The choice is awful. And the political culture is an undignified competition to see who can piss highest. It stinks. That's why I'll be spoiling - not because of apathy but out of sheer bloody frustration that en masse, they are fucking useless.

[sorry if that's a bit strong for some]

I've been a Labour Party member since 1981 and Michael Foot was leader. I've seen it transform itself from an amateurish rabble to an unstoppable electoral force and now it seems set to go full circle.

I was a Labour Councillor for six years and later worked for a Labour MP (and current cabinet member) for six years. This election will be the first in nearly thirty years where I have done next to nothing.

But I will still be voting Labour. The alternative of Cameron, Ashcroft, Osborne and Hague taking over is too awful to flirt with.

Brown has poor PR skills and there is no doubt the Labour government has squandered the huge mandate for change it had in 1997 but ditching them just because "it's time for a change" is a bit juvenile.

This government didn't cause the global recession but it has stuck to its policies so that we get out of it with the lowest casualties possible. Compare that with the 1980s with 15% interest rates and mass unemployment. The fragile recovery is underway. I for one don't want to risk handing it over to the people who have criticised every measure the government has taken to cushion the recession for ordinary working families.

wrong place

I come from a solid Labour-supporting background. My Grandad was a Socialist back before the First World War. My dad was a (minor) trade union official in the industry he worked in and my Uncle Ron was a party activist. I have cousins who are Labour activists and my sister is a trade union official at the branch of Tesco where she works. I wish I could support Labour but I cannot at present.

I never took to Blair, considering him a smarmy opportunist only in it for his own interest and was dismayed when he became party leader. Now, after years of following the path he and his kind started them down, I can no longer see anything much worth voting for with Labour.

On the other hand there are certain things on certain other parties' agendas that I am vehemently -against- and I also wish to see my local smug Labour MP Claire Ward given the good kicking she richly deserves, so I will be voting for the LibDems as the least harmful of the opposing candidates who stands a chance of winning the seat.

Some good has undoubtedly come from the recent years of Labour government but a lot of dreadful harm has also been done. Hopefully Labour will come to understand this and get back to some core values.
"From each according to their means, to each according to their need" is what the Labour party are supposed to represent. I think they have lost sight of this.

One of the problems with the current political scene is that everyone is a professional politician; there are very few people who are capable of completely independent thought as they are worried it will cost them their job. What if we don't allow anyone to be an MP for any party until they were, say, 45?

What everyone seems to be saying is that we like the old Labour party when it used to mean something? And we don't like new Labour because of the expenses, but we do like Gordon Brown because he's rubbish at PR? And no-one seems to like the Conservatives because essentially they had a good education because their parents' could afford it?

Isn't it all a bit sixth-form?

And let us consider the legacy of the Labour government shall we? Massive country-wide debt anyone? A genuine chance that I won't get to retire until I'm nearly 70? Higher immigration than migration? Widespread distrust of politics from the populace? A widening of the gap between the rich and the poor? Millions in unemployment (though not completely the fault of the government)? Longer waiting times in hospitals? Rise in teen pregnancy rates?

Thanks for that.

In my honest opinion a change of any sort needs to happen. Even if only for four years, because we cannot go on as a country the way we are. And if we want the Labour party to buck their ideas up and return to the trade union definite leftist Labour of old, then what better way than to have a Tory government for them to rail against. It wouldn't take much...

(I do realise I'll probably get ripped for this, but I don't care - it's my opinion, it's not going to change anytime soon)

after all they are supposed to be regulated by government bodies. Poor regulatory controls have allowed the excesses of the bank to run amok and the government has been happy to turn a blind eye to take the "benefits" via taxation. In my experience banks have never lent irresponsibly to the small and medium end of the private sector and will only lend with cast iron guarantees in place.
The point I am making is that our public sector is bloated, inefficient and tremendously wasteful and has no concept of how to operate in the real world. It appears almost impossible to be sacked in the public sector no matter how useless you are. February and March sees massive spending of government departments so that they can spend their budget in order that they don't lose it for forthcoming years. "Just send us an invoice deliver the goods later" is the instruction at this time of year.

I think the City is a poor comparator, it is awash with cash and creative accounting so the opportunity arises for vast waste. The problem with most large organisations is that employees and manangers are not using their "own" cash so there is no incentive for efficiency.
It may be an idealogy but our public sector could be reduced by probably a third with no effect on efficiency. I have seen Revenue visits take a week which could be done by any competent accountant in an hour. I have done work for government departments because their own staff couldn't be basically "arsed" to do the work despite having the resources and the training.
As a teacher idiotbear do OFSTED give value for money? In our area schools are pre-warned of a visit and then "staff up" to help obtain a favourable report.
Our local council is about to give a senior executive a £300,000 top up to her pension fund after she resigned. This doesn't happen in the real world.
A local flagship hospital appears to have more nurses than patients so it can be hailed a success. Equally, in another local hospital I have observed two nurses valliantly trying to look after more than twenty very ill and often incontinent patients.
I'm ranting, it's late but if we don't address the public sector problem then there will be severe problems ahead for everyone.

"If a man isn't a socailist at 20 he hasn't a heart. If he's still a socialist at 30 he hasn't a brain".

Oh sh*t - a whole month after the election...

Hang-on, look, kittens...

Aaah!

What I find fascinating is the way people will pick up on all the bad things about the Labour Government over the last 13 years - and I won't presume to comment on what those are, we'll probably end up disagreeing - but completely forget the good things. But then, I would say that, I'm a Labour Party member.

The 'time for a change' mentality I've been seeing in some quarters worries me, because it makes me think that people are just voting for a change, and that the election is in the hands of people who probably don't understand what they're voting for. And *everyone* should understand what they're voting for. To be honest, I think quite a lot of people who believe that whatever things have gone awry under Labour are going to be fixed by the Conservatives are probably kidding themselves in the main.

Whatever, I think the point about localising your concerns is absolutely the way to go. Look at your MP, and see what they've achieved, both locally and in Westminster. It's not hard to do if you have a bit of a dig around online. Are they doing a good job? Or are they, frankly, not up to scratch? If the latter, look at the alternatives.

Voting is incredibly important - if necessary, vote for the least-worst, if you really feel that way (and if you do, I'd suggest your expectations of politics in general are probably a little unrealistic). But if you don't turn out and vote, it simply makes it all the more likely that a candidate or party you really object to will get in. Let's face it, nobody will take any notice of your opinions if you don't vote - it's *not* a worthwhile protest.

Monarchy rule as a consideration? Prince Charles seems like a decent bloke.

Sounds a bit like Things Can Only Get Better.

If I was Chris De Burgh or Status Quo I would have written the song Time For A Change by now and be counting the readies as the royalties roll in come election time.

Have we had the bloody date yet? Need to get the beers in.

So we should but we should also make it plain that we are voting for a local candidate to go and represent us, their local constituents. So don't forget to consult us.

It pisses me off when some smarmy minister points out he/she can do what they please because they have a mandate from the electorate. No you don't you twit. If you want a mandate for all your petty pretty ideas that you dreamt up after a night of lobbyist bankhanders then lets have a referendum. Please while you are at it can we have a right to deselect our sitting MP who is making a hash of things. that includes abuse of power, expenses and trips on piss-up "fact-finding missions".

According to today's press reports, it's a Byers market...

No-one seems to have noticed this, but during his volunteered day out at the Iraq inquiry Gordon Brown used the phrase "there will be further interventions". So looks like there is need for a change, any change sadly.

Massive cuts are on the way whoever gets in. The question then becomes who has the best moral position to carry out these cuts. Its quite obvious that four years of the Conservatives doing this is going to leave the place less safe, and probably a lot less socially cohesive. Bankers are more likely to be even richer, and services like Health will certainly have suffered.

So there's only one choice left, fairly pointless trip to the polling station as it may be.

Labour.

In late 2008, NZ elected a National (Tory) government after three consecutive terms of Labour governments. The new PM, John Key, is a bright chap, very funny at times and has a nice relaxed style with the media - which I must say is a breath of fresh air. He's popular too. Also, his Cabinet contains some really talented people who plainly care deeply about their roles.

However, these things are now underway :

1. mining in previously protected areas
2. reduction in benefits for solo mums and the unemployed
3. tax rate reductions, particularly for the highest earners
4. slash-and-burn spending cuts in the state sector

I can see the UK voting in a Conservative government and it may well be a nice change for a while. But ultimately they will revert to the type of things that Conservative governments do. Like most of us, I lived under 18 years of that (1979 - 1997) and I don't want any more of it.

the places you will feel most at home are probably Wales, Scotland and Scandinavia. Lovely places all.

Watched the debate tonight on C4.

My GOD, Osbourne was pathetic: I hardly heard an actual detail fall from his lips. It was all "I believe" this and "I believe" that, with absolutely no specifics. Dreadful.

Vince was good, but we knew that. The real surprise, for me, was Darling. He acquitted himself very well. I always saw him as a capable chap, but he was a much better communicator than he's given credit for.

I can't think that did the Tories any favours.

and I can't help thinking party politics are dead and are the problem. Couldn't we just vote for the best leader who can then choose the best available politicians regardless of their party beliefs. That way the great politicians who happen not to be in the party in power have the chance to influence. Example, Vince Cable as Chancellor I'd trust him with my last five pounds but he will never have the chance.

http://www.votematch.org.uk/

I should vote Green but as they're not standing in Wolverhampton NE as far as I know (a Green in Wolverhampton - more chance of a Martian).

So.....

Conservative.... voted for them in 1979. Never again. and they've got their hands on the Council here. First thing they did - closed my local library and an old folks home. Would they be any different at national level. Not at all.

Labour....didn't vote Labour in 2005 as a feeble protest against Iraq. Was thinking maybe I should vote for them again then up pops Blair - weird accent, weird colour.

UKIP.... lol

BNP.... No, no, no, no.

Lib Dem....a lot of what they say makes sense but so wishy washy. Oh what the hell...they have Vince Cable. Lib Dem it is.

See you all on the other side!

If anyone was in any doubt what a Tory Government will really be like, here's a handy reminder from today's Daily Mail.

Whatever Dave may present as the party's public face, behind it lurks a miasma of xenophobia, casual racism and petit bourgeois nastiness.

My determination to vote Labour again strengthens with every passing day.

The Lib Dems' policies on animal protection are under the "Your family..." section of their manifesto

(their policies on children are under "Your Life...")