To what extent (if any) will the recent revelations on MPs' expenses influence the way you vote on Thursday ?
Will you vote for one of the main parties or take a chance on one of the fringe parties ?
Or perhaps, like me, you don't feel inclined to vote for any of them !!

It's one of those things that I can't really be bothered with, BUT I will be voting on Thursday.  Otherwise I've got no right to complain about who got in if I didn't even vote :-)  And no I won't be risking any of the smaller fringe parties.  With regards expenses, it's all out in the open now so fingers crossed they will get it sorted.

I've already voted via my postal vote.

Like GCG said if you don't vote then you have no right to complain..
As for the fringe parties you are taking a huge gamble and the chances on any of them gaining a seat is very very small. Don't know enough about any of them to know what they would/could do for the country. They go on about this that or the other but not everything that matters, like being able to run a country.

The other risk with voting on smaller parties is that the bigger party you really don't want to get in may stand a better chance of getting seats - as everyone would have abandoned their main rival leaving the vote open for anyone to get a seat - far more dangerous I think.  Hope that makes sense :-)  So that's one reason I stay with the big players.

How do you vote? I've had no papers through or anything

You go to your local polling station on Thursday.

But dont you need a voting slip (ballot paper?) to come through before hand. I recall having to take something with me when i last voted.

Hi Fred's mum
You need to be on the Electoral Register to vote. You can check by contacting your local Council offices or asking at your local library if they keep copies of the Register.

>But dont you need a voting slip (ballot paper?) to come through before hand

No; if you're on the electoral roll you should have had a card put through your door which they suggest you take to the polling station with you, but it's not essential. Your ballot paper will be given to you by one of the officials when you confirm your name and address.

I got my form for a postal vote and decided to put my cross next to the socialist labour party led by Arthur Scargill-not because i expect it to make any difference to the end result,but because he was right when he said the mines were being run down with a view to closing them and he wasn't believed,so although i've always voted labour,i think that they are too right of centre now so i,m pulling over to the left for this one.

> The other risk with voting on smaller parties is that the bigger party you really don't want to get in may stand a better chance of getting seats - as everyone would have abandoned their main rival leaving the vote open for anyone to get a seat - far more dangerous I think.&nbsp; Hope that makes sense :-)&nbsp; So that's one reason I stay with the big players. <IMG class=qButton title="Quote selected text" height=10 alt="Quote selected text" src="/images/mi_quote.gif" width=20>

Agree with Granitecitygirl here.  I genuinely want to do an about turn, and vote for one of the minor parties, but worried that I may just be wasting a vote.

Yes,that's a problem.When we've got the situation now where so much trust has gone it would be good to feel that someone has taken control and that everyone guilty of fraud was arrested as any person in real life would be and have their day in court.There's a feeling about though that an awful lot of guily people are getting away with an awful lot and sticking two fingers up at the voters.What can you do if you beleive in a particular party ideal?You want to vote for them but have a nagging doubt and it feels like you're condoning bad practice,even criminal behaviour.Everyone should vote with their conscious.In times like this it's very hard to choose and sometimes it's easier to think-oh,well i always vote this way so i might as well again.Sometimes voting for a party that's either innocuous or as near as possible to your usual party is a lot more effective than any petition.I don't believe that spoiling a vote is neccesarily a bad thing.It's still a vote.It's a vote against all the bad performance of all the parties and is as traditional a way to protest as any other.