h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

People will insist on electing .

What a disheartening election, eh?

The last government was the worst, most malicious one we've had in my lifetime (and I remember the Thatcher years all too well), so what do people do? Return them to power with an even bigger mandate than they had before.

I really don't understand why people like me - people who work for a living rather than living on inherited wealth - vote for the Conservatives. I don't understand the psychology behind it. It seems a bit like somebody who is caught in an abusive relationship and is too frightened to leave.

honestly I don't think the labour party ran a very good campaign all the conservatives really had to do at the end of the day was tell people they weren't the labour party, it became clear quite a while ago that labour couldnt win it on their own and instead of trying to build bridges with the other parties it decided to build trenches between them instead, I'm rather glad to see how the result went in scotland I think the nationalists had a good run up there and it shows in the results but I am disappointed to see how well the tories have done down here in england... only two more years till i hopefully graduate and move...

I think the result has a lot to do with the continuing fragmentation of the electorate so, yes, a lot of people will be feeling like they're trapped in an abusive relationship. What's happened here in Scotland is very interesting; I get the impression that a big proportion of Labour supporters have not gone over to the SNP but have chosen to give the party a good slapping to try and bring it back to its roots (whether those roots actually exist anymore...) so that, come the Hollyrood election (as someone on the BBC coverage last night suggested), there may well be a Labour majority here. In which case Nicola Sturgeon could be in a difficult position with this result: now that Alex Salmond has returned to his true spiritual home with an army of MPs to order about I suspect he wouldn't hesitate to stick a knife in Nicola's back at the first opportunity.

What was that old Chinese curse? "May you live in interesting times"?

"I really don't understand why people like me - people who work for a living rather than living on inherited wealth - vote for the Conservatives. I don't understand the psychology behind it" [KB]

You mention the Thatcher regime. I have books analyzing those elections. The conclusion was that voters did not like Thatcher much, but they liked the alternatives even less. Making do with the least awful of what's available is necessary if you want to make your way in the world.

I suppose if you start a journal like this, you're asking for it. People will introduce you to ideas you've already heard, and recommend books they think you haven't read.

I'm delighted to know I'm preaching to the choir. I'll get out of the choir stall now