Question for Tories who voted Brexit Party in EU 2019

[polupolu]

A question for our Tory members who voted Brexit party in the 2019 EU elections:

Will you stick with the Brexit party in Westminster and Local elections, or switch back to Conservative?

And a secondary question: what is your reason for your choice?

[AdminSTB]

I'm not sure I qualify as I went non-aligned on 12th April after 22 years supporting the Conservatives, and was hardly ever a member, but...

As things currently stand, I intend to vote Conservative at the next general election because I rate my Conservative MP, it's a marginal seat and I don't think much of the main challengers.
However, since going non-aligned I consider myself a floating voter. I may well still vote Conservative most of the time but am open to voting for other parties depending on the candidates and circumstances.

[Jack]

Depends on who the Conservatives elect as leader, and on what policies The Brexit Party go for.

[johnloony]

Because I'm a loyal Conservative, I want a Conservative government, and I want a Conservative MP. Voting for the Brexit Party on Thursday was an act of loyalty to the Conservative Party because it helped to get rid of Mrs May, it will help to get Brexit, and will help the long-term recovery of the Conservative government in future.

[middyman]

I have voted Conservative for 50 years, with only the odd aberration. I voted TBP this time, having voted Conservative in the locals. If the party does not learn from the mistake of selecting a Remain allegedly now Leave PM, then the party is finished and there would be no point voting for it. I therefore rule out Hunt, Stewart, Javid, and Hancock. I am dubious about those who remained in the cabinet until the end as I regard them as being utterly complicit in the disaster of May’s premiership.

[goose]

I have three red lines for any new leader:

1. They must be prepared to leave the EU by Halloween regardless of whether we have a deal
2. They must slash Foreign Aid, preferably to 0.2% GDP
3. They should cancel HS2 and spend the money on infrastructure in the provinces and cities in the north

If the new leader passes these litmus tests then I shall return to the fold.

[carlton43]

I went non-aligned but retained Conservative party membership to express my distance from May and her WA.

I voted for the BP to put pressure on the Conservative party to dump May and to leave on No Deal without further prevarication.

I have returned to the fold as May has gone and severe damage has been done in the Euros which must prompt remedial action in the party and election of a hard Brexit leader.

If a Remainer or soft Brexit leader is elected I reserve my positon and will stay to witness what happens over Brexit (or doesn't?) and the tone of other policies.

If after a good period of trial I am very lacking in comfort I shall reconsider the BP if in fact it does morph into a proper party worthy of support.

[Vibe]

Never been a member or anything, did vote Conservative in locals and in 2017, then BP in the Euros, so voted.

It all depends on the leader and policies. Lower council taxes or at least a 3 year freeze, eliminating the deficit quickly and less foreign aid are good starters. Schools, NHS and police probably need more money too.

And depends on how Brexit is going of course.

[Vibe]

Interesting from Ashcroft poll.

"And at the next general election…

Only one in three (32%) of 2017 Tories who switched to the Brexit Party said they would come home at the next general election; 52% currently say they will stay with the Brexit Party. Conservatives who switched to the Lib Dems say they are even more likely to stay put: 61% now say they will vote Lib Dem again at the general election, with only 22% saying they expect to return to the Tories. Overall, only 43% of 2017 Conservative voters who turned out in the European elections say they will vote Tory at the next general election."

[Merseymike]

May 28, 2019 14:02:56 GMT Vibe said:

Never been a member or anything, did vote Conservative in locals and in 2017, then BP in the Euros, so voted.

It all depends on the leader and policies. Lower council taxes or at least a 3 year freeze, eliminating the deficit quickly and less foreign aid are good starters. Schools, NHS and police probably need more money too.

And depends on how Brexit is going of course.

You intend to do all that extra local and national spending by reducing "foreign" aid? And while reducing the deficit?

Suppose you could divert some of the money 'saved' to deal with the additional refugee applications.

[Vibe]

May 28, 2019 15:50:13 GMT Merseymike said:

May 28, 2019 14:02:56 GMT Vibe said:

Never been a member or anything, did vote Conservative in locals and in 2017, then BP in the Euros, so voted.

It all depends on the leader and policies. Lower council taxes or at least a 3 year freeze, eliminating the deficit quickly and less foreign aid are good starters. Schools, NHS and police probably need more money too.

And depends on how Brexit is going of course.

You intend to do all that extra local and national spending by reducing "foreign" aid? And while reducing the deficit?

Suppose you could divert some of the money 'saved' to deal with the additional refugee applications.

From all that extra tax revenue from higher growth post Brexit 😉
That's for the chancellor to work out. Maybe some fiscal drag tricks and the odd higher tax on wealthy, maybe less tax reliefs for 40% tax payers.

[hedgehog]

May 28, 2019 15:50:13 GMT Merseymike said:

May 28, 2019 14:02:56 GMT Vibe said:

Never been a member or anything, did vote Conservative in locals and in 2017, then BP in the Euros, so voted.

It all depends on the leader and policies. Lower council taxes or at least a 3 year freeze, eliminating the deficit quickly and less foreign aid are good starters. Schools, NHS and police probably need more money too.

And depends on how Brexit is going of course.

You intend to do all that extra local and national spending by reducing "foreign" aid? And while reducing the deficit?

Suppose you could divert some of the money 'saved' to deal with the additional refugee applications.

Good to see there is something we agree on.

A policy of stopping immigration and slashing foreign aid won't work, the pressure of immigration will build and build as climate change hits Africa.

We either help to build sustainable liveable communities in Africa or those boats crossing the Mediterranean will became an armada.

[Merseymike]

May 28, 2019 17:08:10 GMT hedgehog said:

May 28, 2019 15:50:13 GMT Merseymike said:

You intend to do all that extra local and national spending by reducing "foreign" aid? And while reducing the deficit?

Suppose you could divert some of the money 'saved' to deal with the additional refugee applications.

Good to see there is something we agree on.

A policy of stopping immigration and slashing foreign aid won't work, the pressure of immigration will build and build as climate change hits Africa.

We either help to build sustainable liveable communities in Africa or those boats crossing the Mediterranean will became an armada.

I agree. And that won't happen by encouraging cash crops either.

I think we are both critics of globalisation and sceptical of the creed that everything modern is always necessarily better.

[Vibe]

May 28, 2019 17:27:09 GMT Merseymike said:

May 28, 2019 17:08:10 GMT hedgehog said:

Good to see there is something we agree on.

A policy of stopping immigration and slashing foreign aid won't work, the pressure of immigration will build and build as climate change hits Africa.

We either help to build sustainable liveable communities in Africa or those boats crossing the Mediterranean will became an armada.

I agree. And that won't happen by encouraging cash crops either.

I think we are both critics of globalisation and sceptical of the creed that everything modern is always necessarily better.

Free trade will help these countries more than cash.

[polupolu]

May 28, 2019 14:14:23 GMT Vibe said:

Interesting from Ashcroft poll.

"And at the next general election…

Only one in three (32%) of 2017 Tories who switched to the Brexit Party said they would come home at the next general election; 52% currently say they will stay with the Brexit Party. Conservatives who switched to the Lib Dems say they are even more likely to stay put: 61% now say they will vote Lib Dem again at the general election, with only 22% saying they expect to return to the Tories. Overall, only 43% of 2017 Conservative voters who turned out in the European elections say they will vote Tory at the next general election."

Interesting.  Thanks for this.

[hedgehog]

May 28, 2019 17:35:55 GMT Vibe said:

May 28, 2019 17:27:09 GMT Merseymike said:

I agree. And that won't happen by encouraging cash crops either.

I think we are both critics of globalisation and sceptical of the creed that everything modern is always necessarily better.

Free trade will help these countries more than cash.

It depends what they are trading and also where the profits go.

[Merseymike]

May 28, 2019 17:35:55 GMT Vibe said:

May 28, 2019 17:27:09 GMT Merseymike said:

I agree. And that won't happen by encouraging cash crops either.

I think we are both critics of globalisation and sceptical of the creed that everything modern is always necessarily better.

Free trade will help these countries more than cash.

Fundamentally disagree. The money doesn't make it to the people. Mixture of profits going to Western investors and poor governance.

[Vibe]

China seems to have done OK over the last 30 years trading with the west.

Those countries need to develop soon, otherwise they are going to have a population explosion and need twice the aid and more strain on the Earth.

[Merseymike]

May 28, 2019 18:06:00 GMT Vibe said:

China seems to have done OK over the last 30 years trading with the west.

Those countries need to develop soon, otherwise they are going to have a population explosion and need twice the aid and more strain on the Earth.

Development on current lines is exactly what they don't need. And China - not somewhere I'd want to use as a model for anything.

[Adam in Stroud]

May 28, 2019 14:14:23 GMT Vibe said:

Interesting from Ashcroft poll.

"And at the next general election…

Only one in three (32%) of 2017 Tories who switched to the Brexit Party said they would come home at the next general election; 52% currently say they will stay with the Brexit Party. Conservatives who switched to the Lib Dems say they are even more likely to stay put: 61% now say they will vote Lib Dem again at the general election, with only 22% saying they expect to return to the Tories. Overall, only 43% of 2017 Conservative voters who turned out in the European elections say they will vote Tory at the next general election."

Of course people say these things but don't always mean it.

But if true, it weirdly means that the Conservative Party at the next election has to look for loyalty from people who couldn't be bothered to vote for them in the Euros.

Not as daft as it sounds, since that would include those who decided they couldn't support the party in an election they regarded as meaningless, but weren't prepared to go so far as to vote for someone else.