I’m an NDP party supporter in Ontario in Canada. The New Democratic Party here is the left leaning party in Canada. It’s the third major party here with the Liberals to the right of us and the Conservatives to the right of the Liberals.
Just because we have a left leaning party doesn’t mean that everyone supports it. It’s a freaking weird discovery when you dig into party loyalties and where individual members lay their priorities.
The average manual labourer and blue collar worker will fight tooth and nail for workers rights, their jobs, their rights and their safety and well being. They’ll throw their organizational support to the NDP to defend those rights.
But when it comes to voting as individual people … the majority of them are conservatives at heart.
It’s a sobering thought … as a group they’re social liberals … but as individuals they are conservatives.
I’ve been to NDP party conventions where I was warned about this. Just because a group of people support your party for one reason, it doesn’t mean it’s members support everything you stand for.
It’s the main reason why socially minded parties don’t get ahead … they are supported by single issue groups that don’t vote and only advocate for a cause … and the individual members are easily swayed to vote for the parties they are fighting against.