They're off! Election 2010

[Paul S]

Well, Brown has now disolved parliament and the great bore-athon of party slogans, cheesy campaigns and tit-for-tat prattle gets under way/

The question is - which constituency are you in and who will you vote for and why?

Constituency: Rochford and Southend East
Current MP: James Duddridge (Conservative)
I will vote: Lib Dem

Reason: Expenses. He used to be a banker and already had a flat in central London. When he became an MP he got another flat on expenses and then rented his own one out and made thousands in the process. I commute further than he does everyday and I don't have a flat in central London. The previous incumbent was Teddy Taylor who didn't have a flat and paid for a hotel out of his own pocket when he decided to stay in London.

[E10 Rifle]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Walthamstow
Current MP: Neil Gerrard (Lab) - retiring, alas
I will vote: Labour
Reason: Alternatives more hideous, am party member.

[Duncan Gardner]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Stourbridge
Current MP: Lynda Waltho (Labour). With boundary changes she has a notional 1,400 majority
I will vote: Green
Reason: Joined for the first time this year. Maximising the party vote here and nationwide is more important than reducing the Tory's majority.

[Tubby Isaacs]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Bethnal Green and Bow
Current MP: George Galloway (only served one term)
Will vote: Labour/Respect

It's amazing how Cameron has given the impression of coming out of expenses well. In marginal Cheltenham, I saw a poster claiming such, paid for no doubt from Ashcroft money.

Cheltenham's been sliced up, and I think my old bit is now in Tewkesbury. Tories notionally hold it now. For some unknown reason my old area had lots of liberals in it.

[delicatemoth]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Holborn & St. Pancras
Current MP: Frank Dobson (Lab) - majority 4787 over Lib Dems
I will vote: Almost certainly Labour, small possibility Green
Reason: They're the least bad option

I note with concern that someone called Robert Carlyle is standing for the BNP. I desperately hope this isn't the actor.

[KimCasey]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Worcester (of Worcester Woman fame)
Current MP: Mike Foster
Will vote: Labour: As E10 - party member, and just look at the Tories. I just hope we stick to our new-found PR guns too.

Worcester's a classic marginal - hold this, and Labour's in with a chance.

On a different note - Duncan, I'll give you a shout this week. Cheers.

[blameless]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Sutton & Cheam
Current MP: Paul Burstow (LD) - 2,846 majority over Tories
I will vote: Lib Dem. Burstow isn't too offensive as Lib Dems go (one of the very few MPs to come out of the expenses scandal with his reputation enhanced), and as always keeping the Tories out is a must.

[Levin]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Vauxhall
Current MP: Kate Hoey
Will Vote: Given that Ms Hoey has a majority of 9,977 I'm not sure it will really matter how I vote. I've got a choice between Green, Lib Dem, a Trotskyist party (Workers' power (UK))and a Marxist party (Socialist Party of Great Britain). Oh and the Conservatives.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Chorley
Current MP : Lindsay Hoyle (Labour)
Will vote: genuinely want to see all the candidates. Hoyle was one of the first to get his fucking nose out of the expenses trough, at least, perhaps because he was clever enough to see the shitstorm coming - he went from being the 17th most expensive MP in the country in 2004 to something like the 300th last year. He has been caught up on the fringe of the recent "free, undeclared holidays" scandal, and was also unwavering in his support for the War in Iraq. However he does represent a constituency where a significant part of his electorate work, directly or indirectly, for the company that makes our bombs and warplanes, and his "holidays" will probably turn out to have been in Cyprus, visiting the BAe intersts out there. So in that respect probably any MP for round here would have done the same.

A huge factor in Chorley is going to be that the local (Tory) Council has just managed to announce frozen council tax rates for 2010-11, so it's unlikely to say the least that people will vote anything other than Tory again in the local elections. Last time, though, we clearly voted Tory locally and Labour for Westminster, which makes us a very odd bunch indeed.

[E10 Rifle]

They're off! Election 2010

RL takes an early lead in the "most obscure far-left sects"-off so far, but I think we need Hackney North and Hackney South to declare before we can divine a winner.

[Jimmy Bignutz]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Hampstead and Kilburn (replacing Hampstead and Highgate)
Current MP: Glenda Jackson (Lab)
Will vote: Labour, for the same reasons as E10

[Tubby Isaacs]

They're off! Election 2010

The contest won't be won by Matt P's constituency, that's for sure. The poor chap was faced with the big 3 plus UKIP, BNP and Veritas last time.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

They're off! Election 2010

We do drink coffee and read the Guardian up here as well, you know. Well, drink cider and read the Guardian in my case.

[Nishlord]

They're off! Election 2010

We're being asked to choose between a) Useless Middle-Class Panderers, b) Smug Twats Who Would Would Have Done Exactly The Same Things As Useless Middle-Class Panderers But Worse, c) Well-Meaning But Have No Chance Whatsover Middle-Class Panderers, and d) Racists.

The next month will be like being trapped in a Greggs stocked with nothing but shit sandwiches, shit pasties, shit filled-on-the-premises baguettes, and shit-flavoured crisps. Anyone who comes round this house asking who I'm voting for will be shouted at. Fuck 'em all.

[NHH]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Brighton Pavilion
Current MP: David Lepper (Lab, standing down)
Will vote: Green, because unlike nearly everywhere else, it's a vote for a better world which could also lead to an MP too.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

They're off! Election 2010

Anyone who can make a career in politics with a name like "Lepper" must have been brilliant.

[sw2borshch]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Middlesbrough
Current MP: Stuart Bell (Lab) - majority is weighed, not counted (one from the old jokes' home)
I will vote: Almost certainly Lib Dem
Reason: I'd sooner vote for Maggie dressed as Sting than Bell, he hasn't helped himself by being the public face of MP expenses apologism - and I sometimes get the feeling that the stiffing of Corus workers set against the bail out of those who nearly destroyed Western Civilisation might yet break the Labour grip on Teesside. I'm not sure that would be a good thing, but they fucking deserve it.

[meregreen]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Camberwell and Peckham
Current MP: Harriet Harman (Labour)
I will vote: Labour

Reason: So that when the Tories get elected I can say that it was nothing to do with me. That's about as positive as I can get when it comes to voting for HH.

[Spearmint Rhino]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Hove and Portslade
Current MP: Celia Barlow (Labour)
I will vote: Labour

Reason: What E10 said

[Cavalry Trouser Tips]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Warwick & Leamington
Current MP: James Plaskitt (Labour)
I will vote: Green
Reason: Well, I work for a sustainable building consultancy, the missus and I have decided to make more ethical purchase choices of food etc. and I did the survey on this site and it said the Greens were the most aligned with my thoughts on various policies.

I know it's a marginal, but I want my vote to be about who I believe are putting the things that matter first, not to stop the Tories getting in. If Labour win the election, it will be an almighty fluke due to tactical voting, and that's just not good enough for me.

We will get the government we deserve - but I will know I didn't vote for any of the generally self-serving fuckers that usually slime their way up the political ladder.

[hobbes]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: North Southwark and Bermondsey
Current MP: Simon Hughes (Lib Dem)
I will vote: Either Lib Dem or Green.
Reason: I refuse to vote for the incumbent bunch of freedom demolishing, warmongering, ID Card advocating, Bank-fellating, PPP pushing cunts under any circumstances whatsoever. They're tories in (not much) disguise.
And of course, the Tories are just well, Tories.

I'm leaning towards voting Lib Dem because of Simon Hughes rather than because of the party itself. His voting record is excellent.

Voted moderately for laws to stop climate change.
Voted strongly for equal gay rights.
Voted strongly against greater autonomy for schools.
Voted very strongly against introducing ID cards.
Voted strongly against introducing student top-up fees.
Voted very strongly against replacing Trident.
Voted very strongly for a transparent Parliament.
Voted very strongly against Labour's anti-terrorism laws.
Voted very strongly against introducing foundation hospitals.
Voted very strongly against the Iraq war.
Voted very strongly for an investigation into the Iraq war.
Voted strongly for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords.
Voted strongly for a wholly elected House of Lords.
Voted moderately for the hunting ban.
Voted very strongly against allowing ministers to intervene in inquests.

[Crystal Staples]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Stretford and Urmston
Current MP: Beverley Hughes (Lab), Standing down
I will vote: Green
Reason: I think TonTon called it correctly on a recent thread - vote left where you can, Labour where you have to. Hughes' three majorities were 14k, 13k and 8k, which I'm taking as high enough to not have to.

[Spearmint Rhino]

They're off! Election 2010

hobbes wrote:

Simon Hughes... Voted strongly for equal gay rights.

Peter Tatchell to thread.

[Disco Child Ballads]

They're off! Election 2010

Constituency: Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Current MP: Diane Abbott (Lab)
I will vote: Not for the Labour Party. I'll see what mad far-left parties are staning before I decide. Or I could be more sensible and vote Green.
Reason: For the same reason as Hobbes, basically. "Just look at the Tories!" is is a pathetically weak case for voting Labour.

[Mumpo]

They're off! Election 2010

Nishlord wrote:

The next month will be like being trapped in a Greggs stocked with nothing but shit sandwiches, shit pasties, shit filled-on-the-premises baguettes, and shit-flavoured crisps

So, 'Greggs', then.