Close Menu
    One in five voters say they are voting tactically at the 2024 general election
    United Kingdom

    One in five voters say they are voting tactically at the 2024 general election

    Share.
    View 15 Comments

    15 Comments

    1. MimesAreShite on

      i understand the short-team appeal of tactical voting, but in the long-term it circumscribes our political options and funnels votes to established parties representing increasingly narrow and staid political visions.

      parties establish themselves by gradually building up their vote share and seat count; voting for a party that cannot win in most constituencies now is necessary groundwork for that party ever becoming politically relevant. a vote for labour was a wasted vote in most constituencies in, like, 1910, but people voted for them anyway as part of a process that led to them getting to a place where they could form governments 14 years later. if people were as obsessed with tactical voting as they are now, we’d all still be voting for the Liberal Party.

      there has never been a safer election to vote your principles rather than tactically. labour are going to win. if you like the greens, vote for them.

    2. bagofstolencatlitter on

      There is not much other option if you don’t like the two main parties, not with our shit 19th century first past the post system.

    4. jasterbobmereel on

      I have usually voted tactically, as the party I want does not stand a chance where I live, and the party I don’t want would win if I don’t vote for the party I am ok with

    5. TheEnglishNorwegian on

      I plan on voting tactically while also prioritising PR. But it honestly feels pointless as the Conservatives have a huge lead.

      Last time I checked it was a toss up between Reform and LibDem for 2nd, doubt either have a real shot at winning.

    6. Hot-Bicycle-8844 on

      Voting tactically meaning a vote for conservatives is a vote for labour

    8. MrP8978 on

      My MP at the moment is Hollobone. I wouldn’t give him the steam off my piss, let alone my vote.

      They won’t get in where I am, but I’m voting Green just like I did in the last GE.

    9. realmofconfusion on

      My constituency (Skipton & Ripon) has had a massive Con majority for years (almost 60% of the vote at the last election).

      Current polling has Con on 31% and Lab on 30%, with (unfortunately) Reform and Lib Dem a distant 3rd and 4th.

      All Lib Dem voters there should vote Lab, just to get the Tory nob out. This is the guy who in his leaflets tried to pass himself off as a representative of the people by having his name immediately followed by his “gong” (CBE, one short of a knighthood). What a prick. I really hope he loses.

    10. Woffingshire on

      I think that this election is one to vote tactically at tbh. I don’t particularly mind who gets in (Reform not included) as long as it gets the tories out.

      Come next election I’ll go back to voting for the party I actually want.

      It’s better to have the party I agree 75% with win, than it is to vote for the one I 100% agree with, and ending up with the one I 10% agree with winning.

    11. No-Strike-4560 on

      Well I’ll be ‘voting tactically’.

      Usually vote lib dems but may need to vote labour this time to help get rid of them.

    12. Original_Bad_3416 on

      I live in a Tory area. What can I do to ensure Tory’s won’t get in? Spoil my ballot?

      For information, in the SE which Labour aren’t even bothering to contest.

    13. bulldog_blues on

      *raises hand*

      In a PR system I’d vote for Labour, but in our constituency the only party with even a faint chance of ousting the Tory MP is Lib Dems. Helps that the Lib Dem rep for our area is a genuinely decent guy with lots of experience.

    14. NeverGonnaGiveMewUp on

      I live in a Labour safe seat. I used my postal vote to vote Green. Not because they have a chance but because I like their policies and hope in some deluded way it might shift the eventual winners towards more green policies.

      In short it’s absolutely wonderful that my vote counts for shit. I can vote with the safe seat Labour, or I can abstain. Either way my constituency will be Labour as it has been since 1974 (adjusted for boundary changes)

      I’d absolutely love to live in a marginal.

      Fuck first past the post.

    15. Ticklishchap on

      I live in a ‘Blue Wall’ constituency which is also part of SW London’s ‘Yellow [Fib Dem] Belt’. I gritted my teeth and voted (postal vote) tactically for the Fib Dems, a party I genuinely dislike and despise. The thought of Sunak and the ‘culture wars’, coupled with the spectre of Farage, finally forced my hand.

      Otherwise, I would have given the Greens a try.