Why to join or not join the Conservatives

In order to be objective about the Conservative Party I have to meet head-on the irrational baggage I'm carrying from over 20 years ago. I mean, things that Thatcher did in the 1980s shouldn't really have anything to do with this election should they, really?

But somehow they do matter, and much as I don't want to, I do keep thinking of David Cameron as, in some way, the (perhaps slightly wayward) child of Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit. Not my idea of family values, really.

On paper there are things about the Conservatives I should like, but when I do concentrate on what he's saying and try to understand where he's coming from, then his plan is obvious: he's trying to reinvent the Conservative party and make it electable. At this present time he will say anything to try to get more votes, this is understandable, but it has come at the expense of his message.

To my mind the Conservative Party have been even harder to turn around than the Labour Party of 1979, and 13 years since they were last in power I still couldn't support them. This isn't entirely Cameron's fault, of course, as he's only been in charge the lasts few years, but that's why I won't be joining the Conservatives, or even voting for them this time.

Why to join or not join the (NEW) Labour Party

As a university student in 1992 I was desperate for Labour to win. Correction: I wanted the Tories out. We had an election night party and stayed up to the wee small hours filling in coloured squares on our makeshift results chart. It had seemed too good to be true to think that Kinnock could oust Major, and it was. Despite 13 years of Conservative government the British public could still remember mistakes made the last time Labour were in power and so a few glitches in the campaign were all it took to send them into the wilderness waiting for their moment to come again.

But 1997 saw that moment when a certain Tony Blair stepped over the threshold of number 10 and D:Ream promised that things could only get better. To be fair, things did get better for a while. Looking back to that time, I remember many improvements in public sector services, including health, in which I worked. I also recall one of the lowest pay rises I ever had. On balance those first few years were Labour's best chance and although they delivered to some extent they couldn't keep up to their promises.

But who would have known that Tony Blair would turn out to be George W Bush's messenger to the UK? 9 years on from the terrorist action of 9/11 we're still paying the price of rushing into two wars without any idea of what we were really achieving and how we were going to finish them.

But this is the main reason I can't support the Labour party: I don't think the party really knows what it is any more. There are some very sensible Labour back-benchers, and some of them make it to the front bench for a while before being squashed by the party machine. But on the whole the current government carries far too much baggage to be trusted.

Recent issues, like the Digital Economy Bill have shown that the party is more about big business than the average family.

To join a party you have to believe in something it believes in, if you can't tell what that is, you can't join.

Which Party to Crash?

So, which party should I join? Here seem to be the options, viable and otherwise:

1) (New) Labour

2) Conservatives

3) Liberal Democrat

4) Green

5) UK Independance Party

6) British National Party

7) Any others I've missed?

More on this story later.

Election 2010

In case anyone out there in the UK hasn't noticed, there is an election forthcoming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/default.stm

It looks like it might be the most interesting election in my adult life.

Here's where I'm not

For the first time in my life, and after 22 years as a floating voter, I'm seriously considering joining a political party.

Just to be clear from the start, I'm not doing it for any of these reasons:

1) So that I can "make a difference". I think I can do this perfectly well without joining a party, and may be be less constrained by having to fit in.

2) To find a wife - one is enough already.

3) To become an MP. I can think of better things to do at this stage in my life.

4) So that I can spend all my time convincing other people that the party of my choice is right. For one thing I doubt they will be right all the time, and for another I'm already willing to have political discussions anyway.

5) To get some political opinions - I already have plenty of those.

So why would I do this? Mainly:

1) So I can see if it changes the way I think about politics.