What kind of city is Sheffield (politically)?

[Radomu 10]

Hi there,

 

I'm Japanese and I don't live in Britain at all, but I was following the general election last year on the BBC website because I was genuinely interested in who might turn out to win. I looked at the votes for the individual constituencies in Sheffield and was slightly worried when I found out that several thousand people from all five of the Sheffield constituencies voted for the British National Party (though hopefully it won't affect me), but the obvious analysis that I got was that Sheffield was, like most cities around the world, a progressive city. Sheffield Hallam, of course, elected Nick Clegg and the four others overwhelmingly voted for Labor. I also understood later (though I may be completely wrong) that Gordon Brown was unpopular mostly because of his image and his looks, especially compared to the younger elite Oxbridge guys that led the two other parties.

 

I was supporting the Liberal Democrats because I thought they'd bring something new, and would do policies that might benefit my future if I stayed in the UK as an international student. Of course, we all know what happened next in a few months (), but nevertheless I find UK politics to be very interesting.

 

What would you describe Sheffield as, politically?

Edited February 10, 2011 by Radomu

[VAN ZANDT 10]

Hi first of all Sheffield is a great place to live politically it has always been a labour stronghold although in recent years it has started to move towards a more liberal way of voting it is a multi-cultural city with a diverse population as for far right organisations these hold little sway and very few people are hoodwinked by their fascist views it is also a student friendly city with loads of amenities and recreational activities i promise you won't be disappointed!

[Stoatwobbler 10]

Sheffield is traditionally a left wing Labour stronghold. In fact there are still right-wingers out there who will refer to Sheffield contemptuously as "The People's Republic os South Yorkshire".

 

In recent times however the Liberal Democrats have taken control of the Council and these days it's fairly well divided between Labour and Liberals. I'm not however going to speculate on the chances of Labour sweeping back into office at the next local elections.

 

Conservatives generally perform really badly round here. The BNP are still a fringe party and to be honest although you'll get a few knuckledraggers supporting them on this forum in real life they tend to keep their heads down a bit more.

 

I also think that the whole credit crunch thing, plus the 10p tax fiasco probably did more to turn people away from Gordon Brown then any image issue.

[stressconsul 10]

Don't worry about the BNP. I have never met anyone in real life that would admit to voting for them.

[Stoatwobbler 10]

Don't worry about the BNP. I have never met anyone in real life that would admit to voting for them.

 

I have, although I have to say that in my experience the ones I've come across have come from the whitest areas possible. Places like Frinton-On-Sea.

[Hots on 10]

I'll vote Libdem just to keep Labour out.

[s35owl 10]

come over get a free house,car,money and mobile phone. only joking sheffield's ok but their are better cities to visit.

[Vague_Boy 10]

What would you describe Sheffield as, politically?

 

Fiscally clueless for start.

 

Great believers in the "magic money bin" concept (the big bin of money that never empties no matter how much you spend).

 

Intellectually most Sheffield voters are on a par with people who think American wrestling is real. They easily fall for all that vaudeville nonsense that the main party's put on, thinking that party X cares more for them than party Y, while all the politicians rake in large amounts of cash and their (the public's) lives never get much better.

 

You'd think they'd have twigged it after all this time.

[hitch_1980 10]

Fiscally clueless for start.

 

Great believers in the "magic money bin" concept (the big bin of money that never empties no matter how much you spend).

 

Intellectually most Sheffield voters are on a par with people who think American wrestling is real. They easily fall for all that vaudeville nonsense that the main party's put on, thinking that party X cares more for them than party Y, while all the politicians rake in large amounts of cash and their (the public's) lives never get much better.

 

You'd think they'd have twigged it after all this time.

 

That is not just sheffield.....

[Radomu 10]

Fiscally clueless for start.

 

Great believers in the "magic money bin" concept (the big bin of money that never empties no matter how much you spend).

 

Intellectually most Sheffield voters are on a par with people who think American wrestling is real. They easily fall for all that vaudeville nonsense that the main party's put on, thinking that party X cares more for them than party Y, while all the politicians rake in large amounts of cash and their (the public's) lives never get much better.

 

You'd think they'd have twigged it after all this time.

 

That's pretty much describing the entire world.

[VAN ZANDT 10]

Vague Boy.. you've been sussed straight away!

[tog3 10]

Sheffield is almost divided across is centre with some variation, large council estates occupy the North and East and residential areas in the South and West. Many people who traditionally would have been labour voters became tories with the right to purchase their council houses, provided by Thatcher. Generally, people are more aware, politically but there is an underlying and growing tendency for people to vote for personalities as in the x factor (Brown didn't have it). Sheffield has been regarded as 'red' and a labour stronghold Certainly in the days when Blunkett was a Sheffield Council leader. But as we can learn from his exploits and those of Prescott, they soon learn how to grab what they can when opportunity arises for a place at the top table (also Clegg, Cable). This trait is again a legacy of Thatcher, which has sadly had an inflence on how subsequent generations behave. The unfortunate thing is this government doesn't give a toss for the poor and its current policies and legislation are designed to assist the very rich to protect their load and the poor to live in ghettos.