# BritDopers (and nosy foreigners) - The general election 2010 **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 6, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133 "2010-04-06T11:13:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/101 "2010-04-08T13:20:50Z")
I would take the results with a bucketful of salt, because I somehow managed to score 32% BNP despite answering emphatically No to the anti-immigrant questions. AFAIK their policies are basically “kick out non-white people”, mixed with some half-baked 70s-style statism. How I scored above 0% on that is a mystery to me. I also scored 45% UKIP, I guess because I took a EU-sceptical line on a couple of questions. I mean, I am a little sceptical about the EU, but you’d have to hold a gun to my head to make me vote UKIP. Anyway, for what little it’s worth: Liberal Democrats 50%, Conservative Party 46%, UKIP 45%, Labour 42%, Green 38%, BNP 32% ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de0a6/32.png) [@Electric\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Sky)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/102 "2010-04-08T13:29:20Z")
66% Greens? I suppose…I’d feel better about them if they weren’t such technophobes, though. In my constituency, I doubt it will make much of a difference who I vote for, though. It’s been solidly Labour for over 30 years. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/103 "2010-04-08T13:34:56Z")
72% LibDem, 49% Green, 40% Tory, 33% Labour. I didn’t bother with the UKIP and the racists. If I still lived in Oxford East, the LibDems would need a 0% swing (_sic_, rounded down) to beat Labour. Somehow I think they’ll get it without my nonexistent vote. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/104 "2010-04-08T13:38:28Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Has he justified his voting? Because if done for good reason, he sounds like a good MP regardless of party; if done because of financial interest, he sounds like someone who should be given the boot. It’s [Jeremy Wright](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Wright_%28politician%29). I don’t think he has a lot of vested interests. He’s a barrister by trade, although not practicing, and his wife has a senior position at the local university so they are reasonably close to “normal middle-class” people. He doesn’t appear to be a career politician - unlikely to get a cabinet job I’d have thought - and isn’t (yet) an indistry whore. Just a normal provincial MP I guess. He’s part of the whips office, which I guess limits opportunity for rebellion. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/105 "2010-04-08T13:42:50Z")
I was slightly annoyed by the phrasing of some of the questions. For example, I’m broadly in favor of deporting \*\*non-citizens \*\*who commit felonies. When it’s phrased as “people not born in the UK” it starts to sound like a BNP policy and I’m less willing to sign up to it. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/106 "2010-04-08T15:31:12Z")
Quite a few people have mentioned that the weighting of the answers is a bit “off”… a lot of moderate Tories have been bounced into the UKIP camp based on exactly that sort of issue: the whole “people not born in the UK” thing. I have plenty of British friends who happened to be born overseas - army brats, diplomatic corps etc - who wouldn’t fall into this category. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/107 "2010-04-08T15:42:07Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > 72% LibDem, 49% Green, 40% Tory, 33% Labour. I didn’t bother with the UKIP and the racists. > > If I still lived in Oxford East, the LibDems would need a 0% swing (_sic_, rounded down) to beat Labour. Somehow I think they’ll get it without my nonexistent vote. Is Oxford East that close? And where/when did you live in Oxford East? For the record, I was 65% or so Labour on it. I presume the other 35% is because of the betrayal of Labour values from Blair and Brown. (Clause IV and proud). ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/108 "2010-04-08T15:43:51Z")
> [@villa](#): > > Is Oxford East that close? And where/when did you live in Oxford East? I put in OX1 3DW (the postal code for Jesus College), but I also lived down Cowley Road, both from 1994 to 2000. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/109 "2010-04-08T15:49:31Z")
You were at Jesus? Poor sod. Good to see you have learned to read and write since. 😛 (Exeter 1987-1990, Nuffield 1991-92, Aston Street 1993-1995). ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/110 "2010-04-08T16:07:19Z")
Liberal Democrats 50%, Labour Party 49%, Green Party 48%, Conservative Party 47%. What do you do with that? So, is it that I like them all or that detest them all equally? ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/111 "2010-04-08T16:38:21Z")
Of the main three, I got 88% Lib Dem, 49% Labour and 22% Tory. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/112 "2010-04-08T17:16:37Z")
Labour Party: 58% Liberal Democrats: 54% Conservative Party: 46% Green Party: 38% UK Independence Party: 37% British National Party: 25% I’m a 13-year expatriate of Asian origin, so it’s a bit of a shock to see that I agree with the BNP on 25% of the issues. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/113 "2010-04-08T17:25:13Z")
> [@villa](#): > > You were at Jesus? Poor sod. Good to see you have learned to read and write since. 😛 I see you managed not to work in a sheepshagging joke while you were at that 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Kal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kal)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/114 "2010-04-08T17:38:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I’m a 13-year expatriate of Asian origin, so it’s a bit of a shock to see that I agree with the BNP on 25% of the issues. Let’s see. Asian - check. Left the UK - check. You’re exactly the kind of Asian the BNP like. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/115 "2010-04-08T17:48:23Z")
Well played, sir. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/116 "2010-04-08T18:56:22Z")
Labour Party: 52% Liberal Democrats: 52% Green Party: 38% Conservative Party: 26% British National Party: 24% Hmm, a big help there. I tend to agree with the posters so far who say that they are vexed simply because all the choices seem as bad as each other. In my younger days when I was a bit more wet behind the ears I supported the Lib Dems, but they’re almost an irrelevance, in my constituency they really don’t stand a chance. Conservative I’d never vote for, I simply don’t trust them. Although, as pointed out above, the whole point of a democracy is to vote for the candidate which most represents the view of the voter in question. On this the Lib Dems seem the most congruent overall with my views (although I think they are naive on defence issues). The BBC has a handy policy comparison [guide](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/8515961.stm#subject=defence&col1=conservative&col2=labour&col3=libdem) on a number of issues and parties. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/117 "2010-04-08T19:37:22Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > I would take the results with a bucketful of salt, because I somehow managed to score 32% BNP despite answering emphatically No to the anti-immigrant questions. … How I scored above 0% on that is a mystery to me. It explicitly tells you to exclude parties you would never vote for at the results stage, to allow it to match your preferences against the policies of parties you _would_ vote for. So you got some policy matches with the BNP due to non-immigration issues, but you messed up your results in the context of the site, by allowing them as a party you might ever give your X to. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/118 "2010-04-08T20:18:06Z")
Yeah, I suppose. I actually did it the suggested way first time (still with questionable results), but then got intrigued by people reporting numbers for the BNP and did it again except choosing all parties. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/119 "2010-04-09T00:02:15Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > I put in OX1 3DW (the postal code for Jesus College), but I also lived down Cowley Road, both from 1994 to 2000. Not being a Brit, I used the same postal code. Hope you don’t mind. 😉 Before I took the test, I’d have guessed I was closest to the LibDems, but my results (limited to the three major parties) were: Tory 57% Labour 44% LibDems 11% ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133/120 "2010-04-09T01:09:15Z")
It would be awesome if we could take those quizzes in the US and not be asked if we want to ban abortion or bring back prayer in schools. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/britdopers-and-nosy-foreigners-the-general-election-2010/535133.md?page=7)