Tactical voting (Debate)

Tue 10 Oct 2023, 08:01

Yes Carl.  A resounding 58% of the population didn't even vote.  It was a question "allowed" by the Conservative Party that offered the choice between two systems of "first past the post".  It united those of us that want democracy with those of us that want to deny the majority a voice through "fptp".   

If you were in favour of a properly representative system you would have voted against the replacement of FPTP with AV on account of AV not being a representative system.

Mon 9 Oct 2023, 15:36

Philip,

Didn't Cameron allow Clegg to hold a referendum on replacing the 'first past the post' system back in 2011? The result was a resounding 67.90% for the 'No' vote...

Thu 5 Oct 2023, 07:20

I have long argued that voting should be mandatory ... with the additional provision that if "NONE" receives the most votes, the election must be re-run, without any of the candidates who stood in that election for a party with more than (say) 5 current sitting MP's being allowed to stand (to protect "single issue" and minority candidates). It would at least give constituencies like ours, with a massive majority for a sitting MP who is useless, a chance of removing them.

On another (related) issue, this seems an appropriate place to suggest to the person seeking horse manure on the Main Board that they might find quite a lot in Manchester this week...

Tue 3 Oct 2023, 19:54 (last edited on Tue 3 Oct 2023, 19:55)

A lot of people who used to vote Conservative have also been unrepresented since 2016, thanks to the folly of our previous MP who chose to call a referendum on EU membership in the forlorn hope that it would unite the Tory party on a subject that had divided it for the preceding sixty years.

While I am on my soap box, why didn't Nick Clegg insist on a bill to enact PR being the first piece of legislation of the coalition government? - Idiot!

As for Labour, I'm not sure that Keir Starmer is much more credible than the basket case who preceded him.

Maybe voting should be mandatory but with an option NONE of the above to send a clear message of disapproval?

There we are, I have upset everybody now! ;-)

Tue 3 Oct 2023, 18:10

Electoral Calculus predicts a 63% chance of a clear Labour majority in Banbury.

Wed 27 Sep 2023, 22:07

Thank you Christine.  I do understand that the Banbury seat is a possible Labour success.  I also think it might be a possible LibDem success and I wish that you would put aside your dislike of tactical voting because the result has been 14 years of awful divisive and destructive politics.  Remember that most people don't vote Conservative and they have been unrepresented for a long, long time.

The voters will try to vote tactically and it would be helpful if the parties behaved in a co-operative and positive way to take a centre path.  I was asking Labour to wake up nationally and co-operate.  

I personally don't see it as a given that they will win and I think it would help them to show a little more humility and stop splitting the vote.  There's no honour in that.

Wed 27 Sep 2023, 18:56

Mark, not everyone agrees with tactical voting. And generally I don't agree with it myself. Nor do all people who intend to vote Labour agree with all Labour party policies -- which can hardly be a surprise. 

However, I was responding to Alice's post about tactical voting and the need for Labour to "wake up" to realities. I thought this a really confused comment, since in the next General Election tactical voting in Charlbury would seem to point to the need to vote Labour if the voter wishes to get the Tories out. 

This won't necessarily be the same in any forthcoming Local Elections, since we will remain with West Oxfordshire insofar as District Council elections are concerned. It's certainly complicated, and also quite difficult to grasp the implications.

It's true that in the last local elections, the LibDems and Labour both did better than the Tories in the Banbury/Cherwell area. But most of the areas that voted LibDem in the last local elections will be in the new Bicester and Woodstock seat, and the new Banbury Parliamentary Constituency will also be enlarged to include Chipping Norton (very strongly Labour), as well as Kingham, Enstone and Rollright (currently Conservative) and Charlbury and Finstock. Tactical voting is certainly not going to be straightforward in the next set of elections!

Cherwell District Council is in the top 10 councils in England for high levels of debt for their size, a ratings agency report has recently shown. I think we should be relieved (whatever our own political inclinations) that Charlbury and Finstock will be remaining with West Oxfordshire.

Chris, I don't believe that a Banbury candidate for Labour has yet been identified. But I don't expect Labour to campaign on re-joining the EU, whatever the individual candidate might favour. The Labour Party conference is in a couple of weeks, and presumably policy towards the EU will be clarified at that point.  

Wed 27 Sep 2023, 17:37

My guess is that if Charlbury goes into the Banbury seat then Labour will have a better chance, not the case in  the Witney seat where the Lib Dems are the best bet tactically. 

Have Labour selected a candidate for Banbury? If so, I’d be interested in their views on rejoining the EU, now polls suggest over 60% of the U.K. population wish to rejoin, and views on introducing a proportional representation voting system which would change the country for the good going forward. 

Wed 27 Sep 2023, 17:05

With a lamprey like Evans in charge, how can anyone be surprised?

Wed 27 Sep 2023, 15:30

Just to respond to Christine about tactical voting.

I'm somewhat cynical about Labour in this area. They seem to be saying to other parties in marginal seats where Labour might win - "vote for us if you want the Tories out".

However they also seem actively hostile when others suggest tactically voting in seats where other parties (eg Lib Dem or Green) have a better chance of winning against an incumbent Conservative. 

Indeed Labour have suspended a longstanding member for making just such a suggestion.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/jun/30/compass-chief-says-labour-has-expelled-him-and-attacks-party-tyranny