NEWS: Poll Reveals That Many Voters Do Not Know What The Major Political Parties Stand For – Even Their Own

The latest poll from IPSOS Mori revealed that many UK voters do not know what the major political parties stand for – including the ones that they might traditionally vote for.

With much debate among political commentators and party supporters alike around what the main parties stand for in this new era of Coalition politics, the latest poll from Ipsos MORI shows that all having trouble convincing the public that they have a clear identity.

Two in three people (64%) agree that they “don’t know what the Liberal Democrats stand for these days” while 57% don’t know what Labour stands for and 44% don’t know what the Conservative Party stand for.

The problem the parties have isn’t just confined to the public at large. Their own supporters say they don’t know what the party they would vote for stands for these days:

-41% of Liberal Democrat voters say they don’t know what the Liberal Democrats stand for;

-37% of Conservative voters say they don’t know what the Conservative party stands for;

-42% of Labour voters say they don’t know what Labour stands for.

 The only thing that the public seem certain of is that each of the major political parties stand for their own continuance and success. This does little to help the average voter who wants to vote for an individual or parties based upon an identified set of ideas and beliefs – a set that the voter might hope to share. With all three major political parties behaving similarly, agreeing readily on a range of issues, equally lacking in original ideas and historically assuming each others’ policies and flagship strategies upon assuming government, there is little wonder that voters don’t know what the parties – even their own – stand for.

With Independent candidates standing on specific platforms and Minor Parties more consistent in keeping with and communicating their adopted issues, it is likely that they would have performed much better in the above poll. It is clear what an Independent politician coming to office on an anti-corruption platform or an NHS-changes protest platform stands for. It is clear what the Green Party or UKIP stand for. At least voters for these Independent and Minor party candidates, by and large, know what they’re getting. With the Conservatives, Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats standing only for themselves, people voting for these parties get only what the leaders of these parties want them to get – and that doesn’t sound like the best our democracy can deliver.