Feeling depressed

My Mum always voted the opposite to whatever my Dad voted. This went on for decades, she knew he was a life long Tory voter and she always voted Labour. One election year she asked him what he had voted and he simply mentioned the Labour candidate by name, saying he had always liked him. Mum took this to mean he had voted Labour so dashed out to vote Conservative. When she came back he asked her which party she had voted for. Mum proudly told him Conservative. He folded up the newspaper and said 'Well,that's two votes for him then from this house' She was furious

Words fail me! No wonder two hundred years of fighting for the liberation and equality of women are going down the Swannee! Burkhas and the burkha mentality (FGM, separatism, forced marriage, Sharia etc.) have driven me to the edge of despair and now there is an example of a woman totally free to vote for what she wants and she's asking her husband! Sheesh!

She may say that and vote her own way...........perhaps there was a new pair of shoes riding on her response...........?

Plenty of women tell men what they want to hear, or flatter them in front of others.

I despair of people who don't bother with politics because it is all so important HOWEVER with the mess it is all in, I find it hard to keep up with it all myself now.

When I hear people say "I'm not interested in politics" I always say "well, maybe not, but politics is interested in you." The n go on to tell them that the tax they pay, the services they do or don't receive, their housing etc. etc. are all "politics."

I saw the clip of the woman too, and my initial reaction was the same despair that many others have expressed.

However later on I thought well, but where did the husband get his opinion from? It was hardly original thought, but more likely a reflection of what he reads in his paper or media of choice - basically the particular views of a wealthy corporation or individual with vested interests. Was he necessarily any 'better' than his wife?

I was also reminded of the women who strongly reject taking a man's surname on marriage - by continuing to use the man's surname they were given at birth!

I often use that phrase when going in/coming out of the polling station. It's not true, but they're so busy tut-tutting it saves me having to tell them it's none of their business how I vote.

I've never been asked! But wouldn't it be just as easy to reply 'I'd rather not say'?

Although it is true that many people don't read newspapers, surveys found that newspaper readership was the most significant predictor of voting in the EU referendum.

The foreign billionaires and tax exiles who control the press not only dictate the opinions they wish to promote but also chose what is or is not reported.

Someone I know who was sending out press releases for the LibDems in the run up to an election was told by his contact at The Sun not to bother as "as far as we are concerned your party does not exist" The only time the LibDems might get a mention would be if they could report some sort of scandal.

The Daily Mail commissioned research into vegan diets. A large sample of vegan teenagers were medically examined and all were found to be really healthy (healthier than an average group of teenagers) and so the findings were suppressed. The Daily Mail wanted to report that "teenagers were making themselves ill because of ridiculous faddy vegan diets" and as the study found the opposite it was not reported.

There used to be a saying in the USSR relating to the popular papers Pravda and Izvestia (one means truth and the other news) that "there is no truth in news and there is no news in truth" and you could say the same about our so-called free press.

The only thing that political observers are allowed to ask for at polling stations is your electoral number. They are not allowed to ask how you voted. oThe reason they ask for this is to check that their promised voters have come out to vote and to chase them up if necessary. You do not have to give this information if you don't want to.

.perhaps there was a new pair of shoes riding on her response good grief!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some pollsters are authorised to do exit polls, but not the political parties themselves.

Exactly, varian. The press wields a huge amount of power. What's not reported is often as important as what is.

H I L A R I O U S ??????

You're absolutely right daphne but as I've always lived in the back of beyond, these pollsters are exotic creatures to me and I only meant those associated with political parties.

What century are we in?! I despair when I hear women talk like this. The same way I feel when someone (unfortunately it usually seems to be women) who airily say 'oh I never watch the news/read a newspaper',like it is something to be proud of!

I was also shocked by that woman's remark.

UM it's not Hugh Grant, in House, Thatbags it's Hugh Laurie.
While out campaigning for you-know-what you could often see the dynamic in couples - even if I made eye contact with the woman and asked her directly whether she had decided how to vote, often either a/ the man would answer or b/ she would look at him as if she didn't have her own opinion.
On our county council there are 30 seats and only 3 women.
That is why every constituency in the labour party has a women's officer as one of the 4 main executive officers - there is a long, long way to go.

However, when in the polling booth, downtrodden women can easily vote differently, just to show a bit of independence.
I wonder if any of them realise that.

If my DH and I had been one of the couples you spoke to, JessM, it's quite likely that he would have answered and/or that I might have glanced at him.

That would be because I was feeling more reticent than he did about stating a view and voting intention, or because I hadn't made up my mind. It wouldn't be because I was waiting for him to tell me how to think or vote.

On the subject of "only reading" a particular newspaper, if you hover by the racks of newspapers in a shop you will see many people dart up and grab their preferred paper with never a glance at anything else. I'd guess they do that every time they buy a paper.

This reminds me of a time many years ago before my ex-husband left, he was always involved in local affairs ?, running committees, coach of football team, PTA, etc. Always out 7 nights a week whilst little socialist wifey, looked after children, home, worked full time, (you know, the stuff that goes unnoticed!) Then a number of locals asked him to become a local councillor, I did all the leafleting, phone calls, arranged meetings.....blah blah! He then came home one night and said.... " oh by the way, I was asked what my politics were, who was I aligneed to? What shall I tell them? What am I? Not wishing to pigeonhole him or label him etc. I asked him what he believed in, what philosophy, aspirations, or hopes he had for his community and the greater populace? What difference would he make by helping his community? Ha! He said " I haven't got a clue what you're talking about" !! I rest my case....how did I manage to marry such an idiot? He was only doing all these 'good deeds' to become well known and attract women! Say no more!

Well I took it as an general indication that many women thought politics was "men's stuff" - as to the subsequent behaviour one can only speculate FarNorth
Elysium - the people we marry when we are young!!! Did you get rid in the end?
My first H was very strong in his opinions, nobody could have been more anti-private-education. Now, having had a daughter in his 60s, he sends her to private school !

At least these people vote. Theirs a lot that can't be bothered. I'm whats known as a voting voter, and that's for everything. Just can't make up my mind. My mum used to tell my dad that she voted the same as him, but she just kept the peace.

I think there's also a tendency to vote in a way that's loyal to your heritage. People from a long line of Labour voters, for example, may stick to voting Labour because they imagine being disowned by their family and their ancestors turning in their graves if they put their X in the enemy's box on the ballot paper! I'm not sure that works quite the same in the opposite situation. High profile people from a privileged background make up their own mind and don't care who knows it if they vote Labour e.g. Tony Benn (2nd Viscount Stansgate). Perhaps they've just been brought up not to be slaves! ?
There's so much hypocrisy in politics, especially in Labour. Michael Meacher and Keith Vaz are hardly representative of the ordinary working person with their multiple London houses bringing in income. This site:
londonist.com/2015/07/is-your-mp-a-landlord-in-london
lists 17 Labour MPs who rake in money from London property. Yes, there are way more Tories on the list but they're not hypocritical about it. Here's another link about left wing Labour MPs and private education:
www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2178770/Do-I-say-dont-I--The-hypocrisy-Left-education.html
(Yes, it's the Daily Mail but it's still true!)
No wonder some people find it hard to decide how to vote.

You don't think the tories are hypocritical when they claim to care about poorer people and say things like "We're all in it together" ?

Yes, I do JessM. They're all tarred with the same brush but the far left are the most hypocritical! I'm certain some start off thinking altruistically but they get sucked in or they give up and get out!