The Vote For Policies, Not Personalities website lets voters choose their favourite policies on a range of issues, ranging from immigration and welfare to education and the NHS.
The website asks prospective voters to choose the policies they like the most without knowing which party the policy they vote for belongs to. It then tells them which party they should vote for based on their policy choices. The website sees the Greens in the lead on almost 25 per cent, ahead of Labour on 19 per cent and the Liberal Democrats on 18 per cent.
“The presidential style leader debates have been misleading. Voters are not voting for Brown, Cameron or Clegg – unless they live in Kirkcaldy, Witney or Sheffield.”
Green Party leader Caroline Lucas commented:
“After over 230,000 people voting for the policies they prefer, the Green Party is by far ahead of the parties with almost 25 per cent of people preferring our policies. In Brighton Pavilion where Greens are tipped to gain our first Westminster seat, almost 34 per cent of voters taking the survey came out as preferring Green Party policies, ahead of Labour on 25 per cent and the Conservatives on 11 per cent (2).
“This backs up what we hear on the doorsteps – that when people look at our policies, they like what they see.
“The Vote For Policies website provides a strong argument for bringing in real proportional representation, so that people get the policies they want. After all, it is policies that are going to impact on the big issues that matter to people – living wages, good local schools, a publicly run NHS, more jobs – and not the personalities of the three main leaders.
“The presidential style leader debates have been misleading. Voters are not voting for Brown, Cameron or Clegg unless they live in Kirkcaldy, Witney or Sheffield – but they are voting for an MP to represent them.
“Although ‘Cleggmania’ seems to be sweeping the country, in Brighton Pavilion there is no Liberal Democrat presence to speak of. They have no councillors in the constituency and have come fourth in every election since 2005. And in both Norwich South and Lewisham Deptford the Greens are the only credible opposition to the tired Labour candidates. Voters in these three constituencies have the chance to elect an independent and fresh voice who would potentially hold a key position in a hung parliament – and from the party with the most popular policies.”
Caroline Lucas is currently tipped to become the MP for Brighton Pavilion in recent polls (3). She is also the bookies’ favourite, and the Green Party to win Brighton Pavilion is Betfair’s bet of the day (4).
Notes:
1. Please see: http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/
2. The results of those who took the survey in Brighton Pavilion constituency can be seen here: http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/constituency-results?place=bn1+3eg
3. Recent polls from YouGov (October 2009) and ICM (December 2009) suggested a Green Party win in Brighton Pavilion. Bookmakers Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and William Hill, as well as leading UK online betting site Betfair, all have Caroline Lucas as favourite to win the Brighton Pavilion election.
4. Please see: http://betting.betfair.com/specials/politics-betting/uk-politics/general-election-betting/election-bet-of-the-day/general-election-bet-of-the-day—greens-to-win-a-seat-182-030510.html
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gina Dowding. Gina Dowding said: Green Party wins the election on policies not personalities http://goo.gl/fb/1KLpL #category1 [...]