UK General Election

[thekumquat]

A week until polls close in our general election (and, for about 1/3 of the country, local elections

Comments

[fabfemmeboy]

I'm an American in US politics but who has been watching the UK elections with a decent amount of interest.

Personally I would give anything for our elections to be less than a month. Ours are literally 2 years anymore.

The part I find most interesting is how much less partisan your elections are considering they are party elections, where we elect individuals but are much more rabidly partisan.

[tisiphone]

I know, right? When people start campaigning on their way out of the polling station, by the time it comes time to vote for someone again I don't want to because I am sick of all of them.

[thekumquat]

That's changed here - currently the two major parties have got very similar, and people despise the lot, so the candidates seem to be concentrating on personal achievements and personality more.

Back in the 80s and early 90s it was very much yah/boo Tories=posh people and anyone against the unions and anti-welfare state, Labour = spending more to support those who needed it. Class war, even. This is probably the first election in my lifetime where I wouldn't trust certain seats to elect a donkey with a red/blue rosette on it, as the saying goes.

[deke]

I'm an American in the US and, were it not for all the British media I absorb, the only thing I would know about the election is that the PM Whats-his-name (they hardly EVER refer to him by name) called some lady a bigot. But between my BBC podcasts, following Brits on Twitter, reading BBC News online and listening to my British friends rant, I think I've got a pretty good handle on the national election.

I'm with fabfemmeboy, though. I wish OUR elections were over and done in a matter of weeks. One election's just getting over here when they start ramping up for the next one. [sigh]

[winterlillies]

American in the US-the only coverage I've seen is on the BBC World News. I have a few twitter feeds coming in from the UK so I'm keeping up with that and of course some friends. Most of the people I know when I mention the UK Election give me a strange look and ask what that is about. :shakes head:

[serendipityhoo]

American in the US - I've seen CNN mention it 2-3 times, mostly on the debates and how this 3rd party guy 'won the first debate'. Some comparison to the Kennedy/Nixon debate (first one that was televised). Other than that, I haven't seen much news on TV.

[december_clouds]

American in the UK here, I'm being bombarded by two to five flyers (there's a better British English term for that but I can't think of it) every day through my mail box slot. I can't vote, so I just recycle them immediately...