United Kingdom votes in most unpredictable election in decades

[onehandle]

Source: Reuters

(Reuters) - British voters get to decide on Thursday who they want to rule the world's fifth-largest economy in a tight election that could yield weak government, propel the United Kingdom towards a vote on EU membership and stoke Scottish desire for secession.

Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives and Ed Miliband's opposition Labour Party have been neck and neck in opinion polls for months, indicating neither will win enough seats for an outright majority in the 650-seat parliament.

"This race is going to be the closest we have ever seen," Miliband told supporters in Pendle, in northern England, on the eve of the vote. "It is going to go down to the wire."

Cameron said only his Conservatives could deliver strong, stable government: "All other options will end in chaos."



Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/06/us-britain-election-voting-idUSKBN0NR2LU20150506

[iandhr]

1. So...

If Cameron wins reelection he would owe a big thank you to the SNP.

[Ironing Man]

2. depends....

the SNP have said, catagorically, that they will oppose a Tory-lead coalition on every measure, but would support a Labour government - and Labour won't get enough seats to create a government without other paties, and the SNP with its predicted 50 seat haul specifically, supporting them.

however, the other side of the coin is that, imo, the SNP have overcooked their goose with regards to the direction and extent they claim they'll be able to push a Labour government that needs their votes to pass a budget, queens speech, votes of confidence etc.. and that they have probably boosted the Tory vote in a good number of constituancies in England that might otherwise have gone to Labour because the Tory base/voters aren't exactly overwhelmed with support for Camerons government, but fear the consequences of a Labour government being beholden to the SNP.

its going to be very complicated, both the overall result and working out what happened in each individual constituancy.

[T_i_B]

3. Scaremongering about the SNP has been a big part of the Tory campaign

Although the behaviour of the "CyberNats" whenever anyone voices any sort of criticism of the SNP is far more convincing on that front then any amount of scaremongering in the press or in Tory leaflets.

[iandhr]

4. To be fair

If I was a resident of the UK I would vote for Labour. If I was a Tory campaign strategist I would have used those scaremongering tactics as you put it.


Scotland gets more per capita funding on the NHS then other places in the UK from what I remember from the no campaign and they want to leave the UK.


And I am part Scottish by the way.

[BooScout]

5. Exit polls are showing a big Tory turnout...

Looks like the Tories will get just short of a majority. They should be able to get in with support from the small parties. The Lib Dems are going to get hit hard.

The good thing about this election to me, as an American living in the UK, is that the Tories are actually left of America's Democratic Party.