You are about to elect a government, not betting on who it’s going to be
Mrs Mike had a call from a Liberal Democrat canvasser today.
She was very polite, I thought. He asked which way she was planning to vote and she said Labour.
Then he tried to tell her the only way to keep the Tories out was to vote Liberal Democrat and she told him to clear off.
Because that’s how you get a bad result.
In my constituency, we don’t know that the Conservatives are going to get a large number of people voting for them. They have in the past, sure – but public opinion is turning against them, across the whole of the UK.
But if (in this case) the Liberal Democrats start going around telling you to vote for them, in case there’s a large Tory vote, then you’re no longer electing a government.
You’re betting on how to stop somebody else doing it. And that’s not the point of the exercise.
You don’t get any extra points for supporting the party you thought had a better chance of winning than the party you really wanted in office. In fact, that way, you stand to lose a lot more than you expect.
Ask yourself: Which of the national political parties has the policies that are best for you?
And act on the answer when you come to vote on June 8.
That’s all there is to it.
If you don’t know what the parties’ policies are, after all this time (and after reading This Site), then visit their websites and read the manifestos that are published there.
Think for yourself.
Don’t let other people tell you what to do – especially not the newspapers or TV pundits.
It’s your vote. It’s your choice.
Don’t let other people make it for you.
And base your vote on what you think is best for you and the country.
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ask yourself whose policies are the best for you, your family, friends, neighbours and country…the world??
I live in Mole Valley, Surrey. A vote for a Labour here would be a total waste. You must know this, please point out that tactical voting is what it says. Tactical. (And I’m a strongly left Socialist about to abandon these doomed islands for a life on a Greek one.
Who says a vote for Labour there is a waste?
You do.
And why?
Because that’s what you’ve been told.
You make my point for me.
Vote for the policies you want – not for a second- or third-rate candidate you think might beat someone whose own support base isn’t known yet.
Tactical voting only works if you know how everybody else is going to vote. Vote for what you want, not for what you don’t, because you think that it might stop somebody else, who you don’t want, from winning. What is the point of that?
Where I am registered, there have been only 2 M.P.s, in 50 years; both Tory. Why should I vote £abour? Because that’s that I want. Why should I vote for somebody else, because I don’t think that £abour will get in? Or why should I bother voting, if the Tories are only going to be returned? Because that I what I want. If enough people stand by the courage of their convictions, rather than what they think they will achieve, by voting against what they think other people will vote for, we might, at last, overturn the Tory monopoly but you have to believe it. My vote will not be wasted, even if the Tories get back in and you don’t know how everybody else will vote so, vote for what you want!
Didn’t the Greek economy collapse and you want to go somewhere with a leader worse the May?
You never know when a safe seat is suddenly no longer safe, Stafford was always safe tory, had been for decades, but when the tories parachuted in some bloke they wanted to get a seat, called David Cameron, he got walloped by a local solicitor standing for Labour. the labour bloke retained the seat before losing it, this election we might see another change so never take anything for granted and voting lib democratically anywhere but the south west isn’t likely to get you anywhere.
We had a lovely young lady from the LibDems knock the door, even with the Vote Labour/Dan Lodge posters in the window and ask if I’d consider voting for their candidate. I told her that I wouldn’t vote for anyone from her party as, in my opinion, they had betrayed the British public in 2010 by going into coalition with the Tories and then rolling over on their manifesto promises and letting the Selfservatives have free reign to inflict misery on the poor and the sick.
Good post, Mike. I have never voted tactically and am certainly not about to start now.
A very good post, Mike.
I had a similar conversation with a friend, who told me she would either not vote, spoil her ballot paper, or vote tactically in the elections but, when I asked her why these choices, she told met, ‘because in our area Plaid Cymru have the majority of the votes, and so voting any other way would be a waste of my vote.’
But, as I told her, if enough people voted for Labour here, then we might actually get a chance of having a Labour MP to fight for us at last!
I really despair sometimes :(
but what if there is no labour candidate for your constituency? not that WE dont have one in mine, just interested….on other sites ive been told to vote tactically for lib dems which i wouldnt, after the 2010 shambles with them if i was in that situation.but what DO you do in that situatiobn? also, theres a petition to get my labour MP out. 1 because she voted against brexit(as did i) but they say she wants to stop it happening, plus she is a blairite , now to me because i want labour and corbyn to get in, i have to bite my lip and vote for her even though i do not approve of her trying to oust corbyn (or being part of the few who did try) however i do know she is good for this area, a dillema eh? i will vote for her but ive run out of ideas as to what to say to people trying to get her out as our MP.
Labour have a candidate in all constituencies, except in Northern Ireland where the party system is entirely different.
As for your MP, just ask those people which party, and which policies, are preferable to Labour’s.
so why are so many on the forums saying they DONT have a labour candidate?are they lying? i never know who is who isnt lying or if they are even, on those sites tbh. can tell when teresa may and other politicians lie. its so blatantly obvious. but this one beats me if what you say is true Mike and ive no reason to think otherwise myself.in which case these people whose statuses/messages/comments say they DONT have a labour candidate must be lying.
but to what ends?
Disinformation. Confusion. Anything to prevent a Labour government, I would imagine.
ah right,. ok. that sounds feasible.