MSE News: Hung parliament - how will it affect your finances?

fc123

carolt wrote: »

No, I wavered between Lib Dem and Greens.

Rather conveniently, so did my OH - we were both torn as to which to vote for.

He voted first and told me who he'd voted for; made my decision (which I'd already largely made) easier, as he'd gone for the other one. So between both of us, we voted for both the parties we liked; bit like giving half a vote to one and half a vote to the other.

Out of interest, does everyone else go for spouses/partners who share their political views too?

Gieven how much it reflects one's values, I would have thought it was pretty common. But are there any mse'ers out there who bicker over politics with their OH?

I know I could never, ever go for a Tory. :eek:

OH comes from a trad working class family who all vote Tory....he has never voted differently whereas I drift from party to party according to my mood, what is going on and how things directly affect us. Consequently, I haved voted all over the shop through the years. OH thinks it's odd as I am all full of angst before any election wondering what to vote the night before.

His mother benefits way more under Labour but I am 99% she voted Cameron yesterday.

fc123

PhylPho wrote: »

Good question. I guess the situation is going to be conditioned by the nature of the relationship. In our case, we invested our savings in a business which employed lots of people and did well thanks to our and their efforts until the disaster of Lawson's economic policy and everything that followed. Our business went down in the recession of 1990 and we lost almost everything. As did our employees. Every employer has a social responsibility; when you fail to meet that responsibility, be it your own fault or not, you really don't sleep at nights.

So we took two jobs each to work night and day to meet a bank-loan !!! mortgage that grew higher ever month as interest rates climbed remorselessly and as the equity value of our property diminished with the house price collapse.

Conditioned by that -- as entrepreneurs, as employers, as job creators -- we knew we'd never, ever, trust the Tories to run the economy again.

We were ecstatic in 1997 when the Labour Government we desperately wished to see took office. (Apart from anything else, both our families have deep and extensive Labour Party connections.) Things really could only get better.

We continued to slog to pay off our debts -- no, we never took the easy route of filing for bankruptcy -- and a marriage that was already strong became even stronger. As, inevitably, did our shared view of politics. (The experience isn't unique: we know many couples who survived a recession the like of which today's Britain has but little inkling, and who seem to think we've just had one now. Yeah. Right.)

And now, for this GE, we took the view that Brown's £multi-billion creation of a Socialist Client State, Blair's £multi-billion resort to illegal and unnecessary war, and the final confirmation of how politics has been so assiduously corrupted (MPs expenses: all parties, not merely Labour) meant that it really was time for us as electors to vote in such a way that absolute power was denied absolutely to the elected.

Today, we're happy bunnies -- though still old enough, experienced enough, and bright enough to know that happiness isn't guaranteed. It ain't. For the moment though, voting LibDem in pursuit of a hung Parliament was as good as it gets. We're celebrating tonight.

Dear Phylpho, I am enjoying reading your posts...some are nice and chewy but the font is driving me nuts. It's really scratchy. Any chance you could use something a bit more rounded?

lostinrates

fc123 wrote: »

Dear Phylpho, I am enjoying reading your posts...some are nice and chewy but the font is driving me nuts. It's really scratchy. Any chance you could use something a bit more rounded?

lol, was thinking the same thing.:o

re partners: one of my grandparents was very actively involved in politics in another country. Very different politics to the rest of the family. Coloured their offsprings opinions considerably. My dad is ''working class tory'' my mother was what I suppose could be described as ''posh socialist'' in her young days. She is now undecided and voted on issues the party most echoing moods of the day. My husband's family are prominant left, DH is is central ground ish....he has swings either way depending on subject.

I don't see views as threatening, I see them as invigorating and stimulating, potentially educational, and best for dinner party conversation. Its important to have core common values in common in a relationship, to pull together not apart, but to be totally in agreement? well.....I suppose its another aspect I fail to qualify as Stepford wife on!

fc123

lostinrates wrote: »

lol, was thinking the same thing.:o

re partners: one of my grandparents was very actively involved in politics in another country. Very different politics to the rest of the family. Coloured their offsprings opinions considerably. My dad is ''working class tory'' my mother was what I suppose could be described as ''posh socialist'' in her young days. She is now undecided and voted on issues the party most echoing moods of the day. My husband's family are prominant left, DH is is central ground ish....he has swings either way depending on subject.

I don't see views as threatening, I see them as invigorating and stimulating, potentially educational, and best for dinner party conversation. Its important to have core common values in common in a relationship, to pull together not apart, but to be totally in agreement? well.....I suppose its another aspect I fail to qualify as Stepford wife on!

I may have a Stepford Husband...it's really cool too.:D

Snooze

fc123 wrote: »

Dear Phylpho, I am enjoying reading your posts...some are nice and chewy but the font is driving me nuts. It's really scratchy. Any chance you could use something a bit more rounded?

A big fat +1 !! :T

Thought it was just my eyes :cool:.

Cleaver

carolt wrote: »

Out of interest, does everyone else go for spouses/partners who share their political views too?

We tend to float between parties and make our mind up close to the time, and Mrs Cleaver won't vote if she doesn't like any of them (which happened this year). Last time in elections (was it Europe?) I voted Lib Dem and she voted Green.

I wouldn't mind what politcal party a partner went for, unless it was a party that really represented views I completely disagreed with, like the BNP. Or Hezbollah. I should point out that the issue of a partner being a member of Hezbollah has not raised it's head yet. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

carolt

I agree, Cleaver - I suppose what I should have said is I couldn't go for anyone whose views I found really objectionable, but there's quite a large ground of Okness in the middle. It just struck me as curious that me and my OH agreed so 100% overall on parties - we don't always agree on individual policies.

NB Whilst I could never go for a Tory, I should add that outside the context of a relationship I'm actually a bit more open-minded - both my parents are Tory, and though I don't agree, I have a lot of respect for their views in general.

lostinrates

carolt wrote: »

I should add that outside the context of a relationship I'm actually a bit more open-minded - .

so very many jokes. I think I'll just let it rest with poor Mr CarolT.

fc123

Cleaver wrote: »

We tend to float between parties and make our mind up close to the time, and Mrs Cleaver won't vote if she doesn't like any of them (which happened this year). Last time in elections (was it Europe?) I voted Lib Dem and she voted Green.

I wouldn't mind what politcal party a partner went for, unless it was a party that really represented views I completely disagreed with, like the BNP. Or Hezbollah. I should point out that the issue of a partner being a member of Hezbollah has not raised it's head yet. I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

:rotfl:I know you're joking here but it could happen...sometimes people get a bit of a crisis and find comfort in groups, maybe religious or extremist as a sort of denial/coping strategy.

If my OH had a bit of a crisis/breakdown and got sucked into some dark underground group, would I still love him the same if I strongly disagreed with it? Hard call.
A long time ago I did have a friend whose partner went all evangelical and found 'Jesus' and the relationship buckled after a couple of years.

sjaypink

Well, as for Nick Cleggs bubble bursting, I confess I am one of the spineless who was Lib all the way... well, until about yesterday morning...

You know you've done wrong when you are ashamed to tell anyone of your actions :cool: Kids asked this morning (who had won and) who I had voted for... I told them Lib Dems - 'the yellows' to the younger one....

...this election has caused me to lie to my kids! :eek:

I feel dirty :D