[IceCool]

Basically i'm a student and 18 years old. I don't know too much about politics and find it really hard to decide which party i support. How do i get into politics? And how do i decide which party i support? I read all the policies of each party however they all say the same thing!

[Harolinho]

Dude, here's the low down:

Tories: Tend to support higher earners and the middle - upper class.

Labour: Generally support working - middle classes. Rights to workers etc.

Lib Dem: Meant to lie in between the two, irl lie with cameron.

UKIP: Further right than Tories, kind of angry at everything, tight on imigration etc.

BNP: Further right still than UKIP, xenophobic, sometimes compared to the Nazi party.

Green: Eco dudes. All about the fumes (of all kinds!)


Ultimately, decide what's important to you and see who best represents those views Don't feel like you have to lie with the big boys, theirs lots of smaller parties who may represent your interests who need supporters too!

[FDR]

(Original post by IceCool)
Basically i'm a student and 18 years old. I don't know too much about politics and find it really hard to decide which party i support. How do i get into politics? And how do i decide which party i support? I read all the policies of each party however they all say the same thing!

I'd stay away from the official sites and their policy lists - it's far too confusing.

I'd say the best thing to do is read newspapers - (just go on their sites and read opinion columns, as this is where a lot of the politics related views are). The Guardian tends to hold Labour/Lib Dem views, the Independent is probably slightly left leaning (Labour/Lib dem on a lot of issues, although some Tory), and the Times (which because of a stupid paywall is pretty unaccessible, is Tory) and the Telegraph is very much Conservative too. Read a few opinion articles from each site (often, there will be a piece about the same issue, but the view will be different) and see which you find yourself agreeing with.

Watching prime ministers questions is also quite interesting, although Question Time and Newsnight on BBC in the evening often brings up opposing views.

[Sdiff]

(Original post by Harolinho)
Dude, here's the low down:

Tories: Tend to support higher earners and the middle - upper class.

Labour: Generally support working - middle classes. Rights to workers etc.

Lib Dem: Meant to lie in between the two, irl lie with cameron.

UKIP: Further right than Tories, kind of angry at everything, tight on imigration etc.

BNP: Further right still than UKIP, xenophobic, sometimes compared to the Nazi party.

Green: Eco dudes. All about the fumes (of all kinds!)


Ultimately, decide what's important to you and see who best represents those views Don't feel like you have to lie with the big boys, theirs lots of smaller parties who may represent your interests who need supporters too!

Sorry but this a poor and oversimplified version of British politics.

OP you will not learn about politics by asking on a forum because the answers will be biased and oversimpllified. What you could do is lurk on various political forums and read material both online and offline. Wikipedia is a great one for beginners. Try searching the various parties on wikipedia, as well as various ideologies for example Socialism, Classical Liberalism, Libertarianism etc.
One thing you need to be aware of is the difference between conservatives in America and in the UK. Online you will probably read a lot about American Conservatism. This ideology has strong religious and social conservative links (i.e anti evolution, anti abortion etc.) while UK conservatives are more concerned with the economy.

I can't recommend you any books but I'm sure some on here could.

[JollyGreenAtheist]

Ease yourself into it.

Acquaint yourself with ideologies; socialism, neo-liberalism, progressive liberalism, the third way, one-nation tories, etc.

Assess how the parties stand in relation to issues that you are currently familiar with; probably social issues like legalisation of drugs, attitudes towards sex and the family?

If you've found yourself in line with a particular ideology, decide how closely a party fits with that ideology currently. Be careful not to get snared by rhetoric and propaganda.

My advice would be to read a range of papers throughout the week. Guardian, Telegraph, Mirror, Times and Indie would be my advised selection.

[Leon Trotsky]

You don't have to support a party. You might find that no party, mainstream or otherwise, really reflects your views. The reason the policies of the three main parties sound similar is because they're pretty much the same. Labour, the Conservatives and the Lib Dems are all socially centre-left and economically centre-right. Consequently, comparatively small issues like, for example, whether to get rid of the 50p tax rate are blown up, and the parties' relatively small differences are magnified to look much bigger than they really are.

[IceCool]

Thanks a lot so far, i will definitely be purchasing more newspapers and viewing their websites! Are there any useful books i could read?

[siwelmail]

(Original post by Harolinho)
Dude, here's the low down:

Tories: Tend to support higher earners and the middle - upper class.

Labour: Generally support working - middle classes. Rights to workers etc.

Lib Dem: Meant to lie in between the two, irl lie with cameron.

UKIP: Further right than Tories, kind of angry at everything, tight on imigration etc.

BNP: Further right still than UKIP, xenophobic, sometimes compared to the Nazi party.

Green: Eco dudes. All about the fumes (of all kinds!)


Ultimately, decide what's important to you and see who best represents those views Don't feel like you have to lie with the big boys, theirs lots of smaller parties who may represent your interests who need supporters too!

This, but I would add that Labour is Centre-Left, and Lib Dems are more radical left.

I disagree about UKIP being 'angry at everything' though.

[muddywaters51]

read some books on economics, it will help a great deal

edit: The books I read on economics when I started were

Economics in one lesson - Henry Hazlitt
Basic Economics a citizens guide - Thomas sowell

have a look around though.

[internetguru]

The first thing you need to know about politics is the parties changes their positions all the time, so aligning yourself to a single party would be stupid. Next ask yourself some key questions

What is your position on taxation?
What is your position on public spending?
What is your position on foreign policy?
What is your position on immigration?
What is your position on the EU?
What is your position on education?
What is your position on welfare?
What is your position on healthcare?

Then after all that you can come to a conclusion at each election which party has the most similar beliefs to you.

[Pyramidologist]

You can take an online survey which matches the policies you support or don't support and then it matches you up with a party.

Go here and do this:

http://voteforpolicies.org.uk/survey/select

It's very fast.

[ScheduleII]

I'm an American-style conservative, small "c" (Christian and strongly disapprove of attempts to attack Christian heritage though I accept the necessity for a secular state, full pro-life, very pro-enterprise, and I find our gun laws disgraceful.)

I wouldn't vote in any UK election because no party represents me. As others have said, it's best to see what your values are issue by issue instead of being blindly loyal to a party.