6mo ago

UK General Election voting megathread

We are past midnight, so all campaigning is over. The polling stations open at 7:00 (and close at 22:00). So it's time for the voting thread.

It's trickier this year because of voter ID requirements but gov.uk have all the details. However, note this: "You can still use your ID even if it has expired." So an out-of-date passport, for example, will work as long as the name is the same and the photo still looks like you. Don't forget that there are other polling stations rules.

There have been problems in some areas with people getting their postal vote on time but if you haven't got yours and you aren't on your holidays, it's not too late. Details on what to do.

Tactical voting can make a difference in some places and there are a number of sites to help with this. They'll largely be similar but check a couple before committing:

Get Voting - which also has ID info and a boundary checker
tactical.vote
StopTheTories.vote
Win As One has broader aims to change the voting system

If you want your vote to count you can try SwapMyVote.uk.

Other things you can do:

Offer lifts to people so they can get out and vote - contact your party of choice

If you have any other resources then throw them in below. If you have any questions then ask away and, hopefully, someone can rummage the answer up for you. edit: If I've cocked up, then let me know.

NB: we aren't endorsing any links, so you will have to use your best judgement on who you trust with your details.

122 comments

First time voting today. Fuck the tories
- I fired off the dirtiest vote today. I'm not a huge fan of Starmer but I hate the Tories much more, and they recently changed the rules so if you've been abroad for more than 15 years you're allowed to vote again.
  So I sent a 100% tactical fuck-you vote from overseas via proxy, motivated by nothing more than wanting to join in kicking the shit out of the Tories while they're already down.
  Greasy as hell but I regret nothing lol
- Hopefully that's with Labour, not Reform?
  
  Obviously it needs to be greens.
  Jokes aside it literally can't be worse than Tories no matter who they pick.

Wife's birthday tomorrow, and she wants rid of the Tories as a present. Fortunately, that's what I was going to get her anyway.
- Best husband ever for organising this whole business. It becomes clear now that the Tory disarray is part of some massive years-long plan that would dwarf Palpatine's Grand Plan.

The tories have been incumbent for 116 years in my neck of the woods (the previous one was a whig). The surveys say that is likely to end this time. I am sooo looking forward to that.

Febrile atmosphere here, febrile.
Hoping that we can be rid of the tories today. More distant hope is for a change to the voting system...
- The problem here is that any government that wins an election is disinclined to change the system that resulted in their victory.
  Reform definitely wouldn't do it.
  Honestly think that the only way that we will get electoral reform is if Lib Dems become the official opposition and they really push Labour on it. The daft thing being that if they actually introduced electoral reform Labour would practically win every time, albeit with a smaller majority, not that it would make any difference to them.
  
  The latest YouGov poll actually has the Lib Dems as official opposition in one of their predictions. It's unlikely though as things need to go particularly well for them and bad for the Tories in most of the borderline seats. I'd love to see it happen!
  
  This assumes labour and the current parties would continue to exist as they are under PR.
  
  I guess that or some coalition government. But that didn't really go well last time.
- Labour aren't going to change the voting system. Unfortunately we have to wait for another hung parliament and then some more before we get representation.

I've already postal voted.... but work doesn't know that. Should I leave early claiming I need to line up to vote and go off to the pub instead? Lovely weather for it.
- My polling station is the village pub
- England expects that every man will do his duty... and naff off down the boozer given half the excuse.
- How is the pub treating you?
  
  We left after the exit polls. Was fun whilst it lasted but otherwise no dramas. Need sleep now 😴. Tomorrow will be a good day.

Hello everyone, please vote. Here's my tiny little bit of useful information. Even though voting closes at 10pm, if your in a queue leading up to to that time, you will still be allowed to vote.
Fingers crossed.

With TERFs voting Tory or Reform because if trans rights and Reform support being so high amongst young men I'm already done with asking people if they've voted as they aren't shy about disappointing you. Back in the day no-one but the most ardent Nazi would tell you they voted BNP.
- Catching up on James O'Brien episodes today and he mentions a poll that asked both sides what are the issues important to them.
  In both Labour and the Tory results, transgender issues aren't shown. It's the media trying to whip up people in a frenzy.
  
  It's definitely a Tory press angle for pushing the Culture War but it has cut through to some degree - the recent Guardian article heard from a number of women voting Tory or Reform because if trans rights. We just had someone post that Starmer can't define what a woman is.
- The positive news. Voting reform is very unlikely to win more than 7 seats. But will split the right wing vote from Tories. Letting Lib Dems or even Labour win seats from the Tories.
  They are where fptp works for the left for a change.
  While Id def prefer a situation where a seat cannot be taken, with >60% wanting any other MP. Here it helps. While maybe convincing more voters, FPTP is shit.
  
  I've always worked factory jobs and have grown used to people showing their true colours at voting time. This year I'm in a different workplace that seems a bit more left leaning, but a few at the table at break time said they couldn't vote for Labour because they would take us back into the EU (I corrected them and told them that's a Tory bullshit and Starmer has outright rejected the idea).
  They said that's fine but they still can't vote Labour and they were thinking about voting Reform.
  My first instinct was to go on a rant about that mealy-mouthed frog-faced cunt with a french name that wants to stop foreigners crossing our border. Ask the cunt how Brexit went, twat!
  Instead I said "Hey great, go for it, if you ain't voting Tory I don't give a flying fuck who you're voting for, it's not a Tory vote and that's all that matters to me."
  I would get all thrombo at the last workplace with it's Boris-lovers, I've grown.
- Reform are peddling gutter politics but the BNP was explicitly a fascist party. You could argue that it's a matter of semantics given that all the BNP vote has just switched over to Reform but "populist Tories" is a modest improvement over a party whose 1992 manifesto stated:
  Fascism was Italian. Nazism was German. We are British. We will do things our own way; we will not copy foreigners.
  
  We are British. We will do things our own way; we will not copy foreigners.
  Mosley. Black shirts, not brown. Our way.

Don't believe their hype. Get voting and make sure they're gone.
- Let's hope it'll be enough

I took my eldest in with me to show how it all works, what the people to, what voting is, why it's important, why it's secret etc.
He looked entirely disinterested. Fair enough, but I was hoping it would take another thirty years before he got to that stage!
- Disinterested means impartial. Uninterested means boring.
  
  Thank you :)
- FWIW, here in the U.S., we've been taking our kids in to vote with us since they were toddlers. This was deliberate so they would be comfortable with how the process works.
  Our oldest, when he turned 18, registered to vote. For his first primary election we had a remote zoom call and walked him through where to get as much objective info about what was on the ballot and make decisions. We've never pressed them towards a particular ideology. He started off looking disinterested too, but now that he's an adult, he's actually looking forward to his first major election.
  These things take time. As parents, I feel it's our responsibility to teach them the nuts and bolts of civic literacy.

Interesting list https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lvm-xaq0fmVWBBKZPcokySP7oqezssXtJYYDYW4uiqA/htmlview#gid=847143152
- Got to love a spreadsheet.

Just voted for Labour. Need to get out the Tory MP who was sycophantic in her defence of Boris partying.
- We did it :)

Voted

I'm canvassing for Labour all morning, voting in the afternoon, seeing Arcade Fire in the evening. So, it's going to be a good day!
- And a busy one. Have fun.

Turnout.
Id be interested to hear how busy folks found their polling sration. Compared to past elections.
Mine is a hostorical tory safe seat. Predicted to go lib dem.
Turnout at 11am seemed about normal. No real queues 20 or so folks 2 puppies. Past genral elections were about the same. EU ref was notably more people.
- In terms of postal votes, it's estimated there will be around 10m in total, a 20% increase on 2019.
  
  Also a sizable % of voters. Given a 66m population.
  Interesting that privatised Royal Mail is having issues delivering them on time. I'm sure I am just inventing conspiracies here. As I can't see Tories benefitting from it.

They open at 7:00, not 7:30.
- Oh yeah, and also comment if I cocked anything up.
  Cheers - fixed.
  
  Oh yeah, and also comment if I cocked anything up.
  Twelve years ago at the lights near the roundabout you failed to slow down to give that cyclist enough room on the left after exiting. As a result they had to hop the curb and when doing so they became upset and made a swear.
  Oh oh oh, you mean about the post? Right, nah looks great thanks for this. Good job 😁.
- Tut tut, Emperor!
  
  And shame on my proofreader!

We've got a few more hours left. I reckon that at least time for one more classic screw up.
- Starmer will say he hates dogs, I reckon.
- Would mainstream media even be able to report on it? Maybe there has been a few already!
- All potential MPs are probably locked in rooms right now just in case.
- Nothing yet?

My driving licence had my old address on it but was still accepted as photo ID, In case people were worried about that.
- I wondered about that, but then I think expired ID is valid, and your passport doesn't have your address, so I figured it would be fine
- Good to hear. As long as it's official photo ID with your name on it and it still looks like you, then it should work.
- Basically, as long as it's an accepted form of ID and it still looks like you on the photo, it will be accepted.

13 seats for Reform feels like it would be more than a foot in the door for Faragism if the exit poll is accurate for them. I hope Labour will be able to provide effective counters to this.
Of course it's also possible that with suddenly gaining MPs in double digits, the inexperienced party might keep tripping over itself before it can trip anyone else.
- Chances of at least 2 of them being disqualified/resigning for saying something awful is like 100%. There will be by-elections in no time.
- Luckily Reform only got 5. That's 5 too many, but better than 13. They're the 7th largest party in the new Parliament (if you count Independents as a party, which is a stretch-- I regard them as the null party).

Cons looking at 130ish seats let the blood games begin!
- 130 too many, but I'll take it!
  
  Yeah I was hoping they would fall under 100. The exit poll is just another poll though - it still could change yet. Maybe the projections won't properly account for the effect of Reform and independents.

i still think the shy tory/reform voter factor will be bigger than they think. predicting at best a minority government at worst a hung parliament.
- That's bold but it definitely ups the tension.
- A terrifying thought.

I want wall-to-wall Schadenfreude streams of each Tory's last day, walking out of Westminster bonus points if Steve Bray is the dj

As a non-european I have some questions!
Firstly, is voting in the UK compulsory?
Secondly, how likely is it that the polls are wrong and the Tories will form government?
And thirdly, how have the Tories suddenly fallen from grace? They've presided over a real shit show for the last decade but kept getting elected. What changed?
- 1 - Nope.
  2 - That remains to be seen, but the polls have never been too far wrong in the past.
  3 - 14 years of mismanagement, no Brexit to use a as single policy election and the rise of Reform.
  
  2: As Starmer and many others predicted, the end result was much tighter than the polls predicted. Lots of shy Tories out there, and a smaller number of people switching from Labour to Green as a protest (as we'd seen in our local council elections).

Here we go!

Is anyone watching the C4 programme? Nadine Dorries is made out of pure salt right now. Her and Alistair Campbell are scrapping at every opportunity. Chaotic but entertaining.
- Yeah that was funny, she picked a fight with the wrong person!
- I'm flipping between C4 and BBC. I don't understand why they have so many Tories on the panel? Dories, Karting, Stewart and Zahawi? They've only got two labour people and Vince cable has been relegated to the children's table?
  
  More potential for drama I guess. Labour's attitude is too subdued.

First result is in at Houghton and Sunderland South.
Labour hold with 18,847 (47.1%) but Reform second with 11,668 (29.1%). Turnout also down compared to last 2 elections.

Lesson to future generations. Run on 'Hope' and 'Change' whenever you can. Keep it simple. The rest is just noise.

SNP hooo boy

How many seats will Reform get, do we reckon?
- fingers crossed hard for none.
  
  Let's hope!

Labour will win for the reason that the right wing vote is split. Hope they do more than continue the status quo
- I think they'd still win by a large margin even if they weren't split.
  
  Based on current polling. 16% Reform + 19% Tory
  So 36-39% add that some Tories make up the 11% Lib Dem polling.
  Yeah, if Tory voters were united, it would be bloody close polling wise.
- Starmer has given his most sincere assurances that they have no plans to.

hahaha get fucked SNP. We are so close to putting all this independence pish to bed. It was still affecting my vote a decade after the referendum. So tired of having to prioritise the constitutional question over everything else.
- It'll be nice not to have to listen to them shoehorn independence into every debate

Does anyone have a list of when the results are typically announced for each seat?
- Yes https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lvm-xaq0fmVWBBKZPcokySP7oqezssXtJYYDYW4uiqA/htmlview#gid=847143152

Exit poll soon!

TBH IDGAF who wins but I'm just happy the Tories are on their way out.
Don't screw this up.
- Well, so long as Reform don't get in?

I hope you'll enjoy this politicology podcast as much as I do. I've been a Rob Ford fan for years. Here you go:
Countdown to Extinction
https://stukroodvlees.nl/aflevering-130-countdown-to-extinction-uk-edition-with-rob-ford/

tackle voting screams true democracy. /s
I spoiled my vote as no party aligns with my political views in Exeter
- Thank you for your non participation. The fascist parties of the world thank you. Enjoy your holiday between elections, where you are invited to keep your mouth shut since your opinions don't matter and no politician will count your views as having any value.
  
  no, my vote being a no vote effects all equally. fascism will come and i will stand with the trade unions and workers and this will count more than a vote in a geriatric system.
- Aren't Labour expected to win there?
  
  yes expected, the labour mp was a dry fart at the hustings, greens had a far better reaction. but neither are parties i support.

122 comments