So, I gather that we're all a fairly liberal bunch here; but what political parties do you align yourself and reflect your views?

My name is Abernathy and I'm a member of the Labour Party.


But I can handle it ........

Member of the Labour Party since 1991 - which in the village I live in is akin to being a member of the Public Urination and Defecation Society.

They've got a branch near you as well, have they?

Whoever keeps the Tories out for me. In Mid Wales that's historically the LibDems and I'm comfortable with that. Further west it would be Plaid Cymru and I don't think I would have too many problems with that either, despite them being as schizoid in a N-S/E-W way as is Wales itself.

Green Party, formerly Lib Dem. Don't really care about the environmental side of things tbh, more concerned with their economic policies.

An old Labour joke:

A Tory and a Lib Dem are sitting on the edge of a cliff - which one do you shove off first?


- The Tory : business before pleasure.

i usually describe myself as "vaguely lib dem."

It used to be whoever would keep the Tories out, but I'm moving more towards being more positively Labour. I'd still vote Lib Dem if that was the best way to keep the Tories out, but since the Lib Dems have called to cut income tax and scrapped their 50p over £100,000 policy I've gone off them a bit.

In a general election it doesn't make much difference around here . I could not bring myself to vote Labour last time and that hurt . I put Socialist labour as a part protest vote and part because I actually believed the principles behind what they stood for . Local elections tend to be Labour as I know the councillor and she is a good 'un , and in other elections Plaid Cymru and Liberal as in the regional assembly I judged labour would win the largest share but I wanted to see them tempered a bit . I could never vote Tory . I have it on good authority that that is a cardinal sin . If it was proportional representation at a general election (with a proportional elected second chamber), as things stand I could probably vote Labour now in good conscience whilst also knowing a vote might actually count.

I really don't know, to be quite frank. I'm inclined towards the Greens with some of their policies, but in general elections, I'll be voting Lib Dem to attempt to get rid of the Tories. However, I will vote (and I did) Conservative for the council elections, as I'm not letting the Lib Dems loose on Bournemouth again.

In my heart I am a Labour supporter, however round these parts they always finish a distant third during elections. The Lib Dems are the only serious opposition to the Tories in Solihull, which is why I always vote for them. The fact that they actually managed to oust the Tories in 2005 by a mere 279 votes (I was one of them!) was indeed a happy, happy moment.

Chris, I'm curious - what on earth went so wrong in Bournemouth to make you vote Tory?

Bournemouth after a couple of years of Libdem administration.

The SNP in principle. I don't really like their idea of "independence very soon", I'd rather have more powers (e.g., taxation) given to the Executive first, to see how that goes, but they don't seem to be proposing that. My worry is if there was a "yes" vote in an independence referendum the SNP would leave the UK, then, as they did when the won the Scottish elections, go "Oh my God, we actually got in!" and go a bit silly with the sudden power.

And Nicola Sturgeon annoys the fuck out of me. But there's no one else I really want to vote for, and Alec Salmond negates the crapness of Sturgeon.

If we could keep the one on the right I'd rejoin the Lib Dems. Just for that.

I'm a Labour Member but i've only voted Labour in local and europeon elections.

I usually vote Lib Dems when i lived in Southport, i may vote Labour in Bournemouth next year as Sharon is quite a good laugh.

Chris what side of Bournemouth are you in.