UK people: what party will you be voting for in the next general election and why?

[Asriel]

People want change so they'll vote UKIP? A party ran by a career politician of 15 years, who is a privately educated former city stockbroker? A party increasingly staffed by former Conservatives of every level? A party bankrolled by former Conservative grandees? Farage is an exellent politician in that he's crafted the "honest bloke at the pub" image superbly, but he's no different to Cameron, Clegg or Miliband: he's just been able to outsmart them and take advantage of the powerful public apathy towards politics. Salmond did exactly the same in Scotland: appealed to emotion and nationalism. Salmond and Farage are as much a part of the political establishment as any other career politician in the UK, they're just using people's rightful apathy and anger to hide that fact.

I expect UKIP will poll fairly well, but they'll struggle to win more than half a dozen seats because their vote will be spread out across the country and not concentrated in certain constituencies. Like the Lib Dem's rise last time, which played off of anti-politics sentiment, 25% of the popular vote wasn't enough to get even 10% of the seats in Parliament. UKIP, with a less established electioneering engine, won't be able to target enough seats properly to maximise their vote.

Given public apathy, and the rise of nationalist parties in this country, whether at UK wide or in Scotland, there needs to be real change. There should have been a move towards change when the Scottish independence referendum finished. Instead we're getting the same old narrow party interest put ahead of the long-term interests of this country and the people in it. We need electoral and systematic political change, and I don't see anyone really offering that.

I'm voting for Plaid Cymru because I live in a Welsh constituency, and I think that they're the only party that genuinely make the case for Wales and what's best for Wales within the UK and EU.