Audience of One

Mr E

Your expected outcome: Conservative

Your actual outcome:

• Labour: -12
• Conservative: -10
• Liberal Democrat: 19
• UK Independence Party: 7
• Green: 14

Probably not very reliable as I put down lots of Neutrals, but not quite what I was expecting.

“Tidied up” by Matthew (HTML isn’t allowed, especially not invalid tables/font tags/img tags etc.)

Comment added at 16:45, April 15, 2005

Mr E

Sorry, Matt, can you tidy that up?

Comment added at 16:46, April 15, 2005

Verity

I can’t be bothered to take it again but I remember I got almost exactly the same as you :O Except I am slightly more UKIPish, at -1.

Comment added at 10:24, April 16, 2005

Matthew

Fixed, Jonathan. Anyone else who wants to post theirs, please follow this format if you can:

Your predicted outcome: Monster Raving Loony

Your actual outcome:

* Liberal Democrats: -40
* Immigrant Party: -666
* Tories: +100
* UKIP: +40

Egad, you must be Michael Howard!

or similar.

Comment added at 12:11, April 16, 2005

Sheepie

• Lib Dem: +74
• Green: +24
• UKIP: -21
• Labour: -38
• Tory: -49

So like Matthew, only more extreme. Hmm…

Comment added at 12:51, April 16, 2005

Mr E

Revised version (fewer neutrals, more strongly (dis)agrees):

Labour: –22 Tory: –12 LibDem: 42 UKIP: 6 Green: 23

I don’t trust this test, though. Choosing all Srongly Disagree gives you Labour, saying that they take a tough line on terrorist stuff, which you completely disagreed with!!

Comment added at 13:11, April 16, 2005

Matthew

Oh, come on, of course it’s not particularly accurate: each question has a particular plus or minus value for each party depending on your response. For only twenty or so questions it’s not bad.

I just redid the test, thinking more carefully about each question. I ended up with +81 for the Lib Dems…

Comment added at 13:55, April 16, 2005

Verity

Word on the street is that it is made by a secret Lib Dem person…

Comment added at 17:41, April 16, 2005

Julie B.

I should vote Conservative, and my scores are almost the exact opposite of yours, Matthew.

Labour -10
Conservative 55 Liberal Democrat -62
UK Independence Party 25 Green -22

Not much of a surprise here, considering how I did vote in my own election. Of course Blair is wildly popular over here amongst Republicans, as the GWOT is seen as more pressing than whether or not the UK joins the EU.

I had to answer neutral on a couple—not sure about the council tax vs. a local income tax, since I don’t actually know what a council tax is. I’ve heard of it, just never bothered to look it up.

Just skimmed the Liberal Democrats’ “manifesto” (manifesto must not have the same implication in the UK as it does in the States.) Then I skimmed the Conservatives’. By golly, both of them want more police, lower taxes, better health care, and more support for the armed services. So they’re practically interchangeable, huh? ;-)

Comment added at 04:45, April 17, 2005

Sheepie

This is what council tax is.

Comment added at 10:54, April 17, 2005

Sheepie

An my link didn’t work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_tax

Comment added at 10:55, April 17, 2005

Matthew

So what’s an American manifesto like? Our Lib Dem one (for example) is 39 pages long.

Council tax, simply, is a local tax based on the value of your home that pays for local services. I’d say it is widely criticised as being unfair by not basing the amount you’re taxed on income, but it’s only the Lib Dems who are criticising it, and want it replaced with a local income tax. I think that this would be much fairer, but it does mean that people earning over thirty-eight thousand pounds a year would pay more.

The Lib Dems certainly don’t want lower taxes as a whole; the Tories are pledging to cut back on red tape to pay for tax cuts, whereas the Lib Dems are saying raise taxes for higher earners to pay for more public services. Only a foolish party wouldn’t want to improve the health service, education or whatever – it’s how they go about doing it that counts. I think the Conservatives have got completely the wrong idea about how to go about it on most of the issues. Plus I think Michael Howard is ever so slightly xenophobic. And being part of Europe matters a lot to me, as does the environment. And you know we disagree on the GWOT :)

Verity: I wouldn’t be surprised if it was made by a secret Lib Dem person, but just the same I can’t see that it’s going to change anyone’s votes…

Comment added at 12:03, April 17, 2005

Mr E

The fact that all the parties are rather similar (far more so than they used to be, apparently) may significantly reduce turnout. Even though Labour are ahead in the polls at the moment, I heard on the radio this morning that out of those who “will definitely vote” Conservatives are just winning.

Comment added at 13:26, April 17, 2005

Julie B.

If elections are like they are in the States, it really is all about voter turnout. What you heard on the radio is interestingly similar to elections here. Republicans (roughly the Conservative equivalent) are much more likely to vote. Traditionally, a large voter turnout benefits Democrats, as it did in the 2000 election.

That was turned on its head though, in the last election.

We call our manifestos platforms. Let’s see, the Republican platform is 92 pages long, the Democratic platform is 43 pages. I’ve never actually read either of them.

The stakes for the parties are very different over here, as our system virtually guarantees for all intents and purposes there will be only two parties.

We have council taxes here. We’ve had similar issues (rapidly increasing rates pressuring senior citizens.) In Washington State (where I live) we passed an intiative (ballot issue originating via voter petitions) that limits the increase allowed per year. There are also income-based deferrals available for people aged 65 and over. If you put in protections for retired people, a council tax roughly functions like an income tax, and the cost to administer should be less.

Comment added at 14:14, April 17, 2005

Matthew

I think the main reason the Lib Dems are doing this is to benefit the senior citizens. It does also get rid of the unfairness that my family experience: we live in a very affluent neighbourhood, pay roughly equivalent tax to everyone else, yet have less income because my parents work for a charity. As for administration costs, it would save on them (I’d imagine) as it’d just be another tax at the national level, done in the same way (and the funds raised forwarded to the right local council).

Jonathan: yeah, MORI’s polls (which only count those who are definite to vote) have the Conservatives winning, and have done since the election was announced. As someone I know has said though, “I’ve always thought that MORI lot were on crack” – it’s inaccurate because a lot of people who aren’t definite will end up voting, skewing MORI’s predicted results.

Comment added at 17:21, April 17, 2005

Mr E

…but a lot won’t.

I think you’d probably have to pay more council tax if you hadn’t had your kitchen extension done since the last check thingy.

Comment added at 18:01, April 17, 2005

Julie B.

I assume your family bought in the neighborhood you’re in now when prices were lower, and then prices rapidly appreciated, forcing up property taxes (council taxes.) That has been a problem here too.

Do all localities pay the same council tax rate? Where I live your property tax bill is made up of a bunch of different entities each taking their own bite; school districts, libraries, fire districts, etc. A lot of them are individually approved by the voters. For instance, a decade or so ago our city voted to join our county library system, and then we vote on each capital improvement request they put forward. I assume it’s more of a general tax there that could be more easily collected at a national level.

(Your national government is also much more involved with local issues than ours is. My husband and I were watching the prime minister’s questions one night—we love all the stand up, sit down, “hear, hear” stuff—and someone asked Blair about some sort of bus passes or vouchers for older people—something like that. My husband and I looked at each other and started laughing. So strange to us to have the head of government answer a question about bus passes. :-) )

Comment added at 06:21, April 18, 2005

Matthew

Well, you have a federal government. If Blair had made a policy on bus passes it would be up to local councils to introduce it. I can see how it seems funny to you :)

As to council tax, beyond my simple explanation above I don’t know how it works. I do know however that property prices are going up across the city so it wouldn’t just be our region that’d be effected by it, which I’d imagine would negate the council tax differences caused by property price increases. I think. I also know that we couldn’t have bought our house without a lot of help from friends, and that those friends don’t help pay our council tax.

Two points, unrelated. Firstly, I’ve suddenly realised that even if the Conservatives get a higher percentage of votes, Labour could still have a majority. First-past-the-post voting is slightly biased towards Labour in this country, it seems. Bring on proportional representation – we may get more Tories than I’d like but we’d also get more Lib Dems and Greens to balance out. Secondly, I read in the paper this morning that removing taxes based on property would further drive house prices up and make buying homes even more difficult for first time buyers. This should be addressed, maybe by having property tax on homes that aren’t lived in. I don’t know. Interesting issue though.

Comment added at 10:47, April 18, 2005

–

Would you vote Tory over Labour?

Comment added at 11:50, April 18, 2005

Mr E

Strongly disagreeing with joing the Euro and signing the European constitution, while remaining neutral on everything else gives you a negative score for UKIP!!

Comment added at 12:00, April 18, 2005

This test is rubbish!

…even adding Strongly Agrees for abolishing tuition fees and reducing fuel tax, as well as Strongly Disagrees for raising tax to fund public services, i.e. everything it says UKIP like if you leave everything neutral, gives you LibDem!!

Comment added at 12:05, April 18, 2005

Sheepie

Lib Dems want to abolish tuition fees.

Comment added at 12:13, April 18, 2005

Matthew

As I said, I can’t see that it’s going to change anyone’s votes – it’s just a bit of fun. It appears to be playing to my political biases and just enhancing the high Lib Dem score. And of course it’s rubbish – it’s not like an online test can tell you who to vote for :)

I’d vote Labour over Tory, but luckily in Oxford West and Abingdon (where I’ll be voting) we’ve got a Lib Dem MP who’ll probably win again, so I don’t need to vote tactically.

Comment added at 12:16, April 18, 2005

Matthew

Oh, and why are you using such odd names, Jonathan? Why don’t you stick with Mr E so we know who it is, instead of becoming “…” or “This test is rubbish!” occasionally :)

Comment added at 12:20, April 18, 2005

quentin

It does seem to be slightly biased towards LibDems and impossible to get UKIP, even though I wouldn’t vote for them.

Yes I know, Sheepie, but so do UKIP, so it says.

In our constituency only LibDem and Conservative have a chance, and LibDem will probably win again, which I’m happy with.

For variety Matthew.

Comment added at 18:46, April 18, 2005

Julie B.

In 1978 California voters passed Proposition 13, which limited property tax increases to 2% per year. Prior to that, many people on fixed incomes were being taxed out of their homes.

Property taxes (or council taxes) that ride up rapidly appreciating property can have a devastating affect on people on fixed incomes, etc. If I were running the Conservative party in the UK, I wouldn’t just cut the Council taxes for people 65 and over. I’d promise to limit the increase of everyone’s council tax to no greater than general wage growth, or something like that.

Comment added at 23:52, April 18, 2005

Mr E

Matthew, someone on Zompist beat you: apparently he got +98 for Lib Dems!

Comment added at 09:34, May 2, 2005

Matthew

Impressive. He must really have known how to fix the test!

Comment added at 14:46, May 2, 2005