Election 2015: final thoughts

Last week, on the eve of the general election I wrote:

Public health is the new socialism and a remarkable number of Conservatives have signed up. That's why I still can't decide whether to vote. Speaking as a lifelong Conservative voter, there is not a single party whose manifesto broadly represents my laissez faire views.

Living in a safe Conservative seat in Cambridgeshire my vote won't change anything and Cameron's support for plain packaging was the straw that broke this camel's back.

If I lived in South Thanet I'd vote for Ukip's Nigel Farage but I can't support the party as a whole because it's still too flakey for me, with far too much emphasis on immigration.

Don't get me wrong. I'll be as relieved as anyone if Ed Miliband is kept out of Downing Street and the SNP are denied any form of power sharing, but if Cameron is returned to Number Ten there will be little to celebrate.

A few days before that I wrote:

I believe that come Thursday an unexpected number of floating voters in England will vote Conservative not for love of the party or its policies or even Cameron himself.

They will vote Conservative because in the privacy of the polling booth they will reject the thought of Miliband in Downing Street with the SNP calling the shots.

That's why, in spite of the polls, I believe the Tories and Lib Dems will get enough seats to form another coalition government.

Either that or the Tories will form a minority government with a confidence and supply arrangement with the Lib Dems. I may of course be totally wrong.

Well, I was right ... and wrong. An unexpected number of people did vote Conservative but I underestimated the total.

For the record, and despite my genuine intention to abstain, I was one of them.

Late in the day I accompanied my wife and daughter to the polling station and in the privacy of the polling booth I voted for the incumbent Conservative candidate.

I did so for three reasons:

1. He voted against plain packaging.

2. On a personal level he has been helpful to my son, giving him work experience in his constituency and Westminster offices.

3. Most important, I felt I had to register my opposition to Labour, its leader, and the prospect of a Westminster government propped up by hard left Scottish nationalists.

In short, I didn't vote for David Cameron or the Conservative party. I voted for the candidate.

It was also a vote against socialism, the bully state and even bigger, more intrusive government.

In the light of subsequent events, including yesterday's absurd anti-austerity rally in London, I'm so glad I did.

Comments

[Norman Brand]

I agree. The 'art of the possible'.

[Ben]

I agree with your view 100%. I very much believe in laissez faire government, but the bullying left has made the expression of this view intolerable.

I live in Bristol West which was high on the Green Party target list, and in fact they did achieve over 17000 votes. This is astonishing to me as the Green Party manifesto was bordering on lunacy and certainly not credible or even possible by any stretch of the imagination.

I naturally lean to the anti-European stance that UKIP sets out, but worry that UKIP shelters all sorts of disaffected characters under its umbrella which more power would doubtless, and to great reprobation bring to the fore.

[Leftist]

And the Conservative state, which hounds benefit claimants and drives them to suicide, ISN'T bullying? Get real!

I hope your black lungs shrivel up.