Who am I?

I am Guy Newbury, a student at Oxford Brookes University studying Computer Science.

My political history

 

2010 GE - 2015 GE  

I have been into politics since around about the 2010 election. I followed it slightly before then, but nothing major.

I identified myself as centre-left. As such, I warmed to Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats. I found that New Labour wasn't terribly good, and while acknowledging that the economic crisis was not the fault of Gordon Brown himself, he did not take enough action to "cushion" it as much as he could for the UK. The Conservatives seem very much against my interests at the time (and still do), wanting to privatise everything and what have you (what's changed in 5-years?).

 I didn't mind the coalition government. Though it meant that the Liberal Democrats had to become more right-wing for my liking, I didn't really see any other choice for the parties to take. I would, of course, have liked to have a Lab-Lib government, but at least a Con-Lib government was a stable one. Queue badness.

When I started sixth-form in 2012, the Green Party was starting to grow. Though I never did join them, I did like many of their policies. When I became old enough to vote, the next election was the 2014 EU elections, as well as our local council elections. I was annoyed at the Liberal Democrats by this time, as Michael Gove was ripping up education, and "reforming" it for, what he saw, the better. What a tit he was. Anyhow, I voted Green for the European election (I realise my mistake now - please don't lynch me!), and Lib Dem for the local elections.

I started university in 2014, and things were starting to focus on the upcoming general election. I had gone back to supporting the Liberal Democrats, and in 2015, I joined them. I thought what a better place to campaign than Oxford West and Abingdon, a marginal seat which the Conservatives won over the Liberal Democrats in 2010 by little more than 170 votes. From February to May I was campaigning. Though I was quite shy, I did manage a bit of canvassing and door knocking.

See - I did some canvassing! (I am right at the back)

2015 GE onwards

I supported and defended the Liberal Democrats after the election result of just 8 MPs. I felt bad for Nick Clegg, who had tried his best to deliver a fair government which could solve problems. However, after his resignation, the leadership fell to two potential candidates - Tim Farron and Norman Lamb. I voted for, and hoped above anything that Norman Lamb would get in. I was very much in favour of his mental health policy beforehand, and felt that he could be a good leader to lead the Liberal Democrats back to the centre-left and start again. On the election of Tim Farron, I had to question my party alliegence.

Tim Farron is a strong christian. Don't get me wrong - everyone is perfectly entitled to have whatever views they want, that is a core liberal value. However, he appeared to allow this to interfere with his politics. He could not answer the question: "Do you think being a homosexual is a sin?", and had previously voted against bills to support gay marriage and gay rights, citing that "they didn't go far enough". Now, I would have thought it would be better to get these bills through, then add amendments later. But hey.

Since then, this has left me split. Jeremy Corbyn has just taken the leadership of the Labour party, and as each day goes by, and I finding myself to be more a socialist liberal. The Liberal Democrats have strayed far too right for me to identify with them now. I want to be a Liberal Democrat, but Labour may be where I really belong.