Tactical voting is being encouraged by Labour Ministers and left-wing newspapers. In 81 of 116 Tory target seats, a tactical vote means a vote for Labour.
Ed Balls and Peter Hain have both urged voters to vote tactically this morning to prevent a Conservative government. Left-leaning newspapers, like the Daily Mirror and Polly Toynbee and Jonathan Freedland in the Guardian, have also encouraged tactical voting. The reality is that in nearly three out of four Tory target seats, a tactical vote means a vote for Labour.
UK Polling Report has a useful list of the Conservative’s target seats. After boundary changes, they require 116 seats to win an overall majority. Only 23 of these are held by the Liberal Democrats (20 per cent), two are SNP, while one (Wyre Forest) is held by an independent. The remaining 90 seats targeted by the Conservatives are Labour-held seats. Of these 90 seats, only nine* are three-way marginals where the Liberal Democrats could win with a swing of 8 per cent or less. In practice this means that the Liberal Democrats cannot win in 81 of the Labour-held seats targeted by the Conservatives.
The difficulty for progressives is that support for the Liberal Democrats – encouraged by the Guardian and Observer – is tipping the balance between a hung parliament and a Conservative government. An Ipsos-MORI poll of marginal seats published yesterday looked at voting intentions in 57 Labour-held constituencies where Tories need a swing of 5 to 9 per cent to win. They project Labour and Conservative to be tied on 36 per cent with the Lib Dems on 20 per cent – enough for Political Betting to say that it “points to Tory majority of 2”.
Entirely unreported are the 2005 results, which Ipsos-MORI publish in their nine page accompanying document: “Conservatives 31%, Labour 45%, Liberal Democrats 17%, Other 7%”. In these marginal seats, the Tories have only gained 5 points while Labour has lost 9 points including 3 points to the Liberal Democrats. Under our bankrupt electoral system, these Labour-Lib Dem switchers are effectively handing power to the Tories. Unless the Tories’ haul of seats falls below the psychologically important 300-mark, David Cameron seems intent on breaching convention and leading a minority government.
Any voters who are confused about how to “Stop Dave” can visit this helpful website and enter their postcode can use the Daily Mirror‘s guide to tactical voting while the “Torymergency!” website sort out a couple of bugs.
* Watford, Edinburgh South, Colne Valley, Northampton North, Bristol NW, Pendle, Aberconwy, Stirling, and Brentford and Isleworth.
UPDATE 13.59:
Thanks to Lib Dem commenter, Duncan Stott, who points out that the Lib Dem surge can help knock out the Tories in a series of Lib Dem target seats including Oliver Letwin in Dorset West (2.3 per cent swing required) and Liam Fox in Somerset North (5.9 per cent swing needed). There are also a series of seats where tactical voting for Labour could kick out incumbent Tories.
38 Responses to “The truth about tactical voting”
peter roberts
I normally support labour but what blair and brown have done to this country is discusting and treasonable thats why am voting BNP just like Hundreds of thousands of others. 12% at moment I heard.
Labour should withdraw candidates in Lib-Con marginals | Left Foot Forward
[…] seriously committed to building a ‘progressive alliance’ it might go further than simply urging tactical voting. A much bolder way for it to demonstrate its enthusiasm for a realignment of the centre left would […]
Alexandra Roche
#tacticalvoting guidance and why http://bit.ly/advD0S http://bit.ly/9BhgwF http://bit.ly/dq12mY ( http://bit.ly/b1iS3y via @JohnNor)
MariaE
I agree that people really do need to research this carefully, scrutinise the websites available (Hang Em is very anti Labour)and think through the implications.
But it takes two to tango with tactical voting. We have seen Labour members, supporters and even Ministers extending a hand to the Liberal Democrats. Yes, this is out of self-interest, maybe even desperation, but primarily because of a genuine horror at the Tory agenda.
In return, we have got a clenched fist(yes – I am aware of the Obama paraphrase). I hear no voices from the Liberal Democrat’s side suggesting, recognising, let alone promoting tactical voting in favour of Labour candidates. From Paddy Ashdown today on World at One to Lynne Featherstone yesterday on News 24 Campaign Show to Nick Clegg tonight, their statements are pretty unequivocal- vote with your ‘heart,’ for the party you believe in.
We have no way of knowing if we are indeed voting for a Lib/Con coalition. At local level, I believe most of the coalitions are Lib/Con rather than Lib/Lab. Whether the LDs would be a moderating force is really open to question (see your and others’ reports on local councils and John Harris in the Guardian). I really don’t associate my LD Council with much that is liberal or democratic, let alone progressive.
The framing of ‘real’ democratic legitimacy as based on the numbers of votes cast, rather than seats won complicates it further. Voting tactically – without a guarantee of reciprocity – could simply result in depressing the Labour vote and delegitimizing its claims.
Here in Richmond (Surrey) Borough, I reckon that most Labour supporters have almost always voted tactically: to keep the two Liberal Democrat MPs in Parliament and the LDs in control of the council. Every single LD leaflet we have received since the 1997 election boldly and clearly calls for tactical voting from Labour supporters. In today’s leaflet “Labour Cannot Win Here” is given as much prominence as the candidates’ names.
This time, some Labour supporters are thinking twice, despite the relatively good records of Cable (quite secure) and Kramer (a very close race). Some of us are now saying that if the Liberal Democrats are not even willing to prioritise keeping the BNP out in a number of constituencies, why should we ‘vote with our head’ in order to add to Vince Cable’s winning pile or to keep Zac Goldsmith out?
I think we need some feedback from the ground about what is happening on the ground in key marginals.
Politics Summary: Wednesday, May 5th | Left Foot Forward
[…] stop Britain walking blindly into disaster”. Left Foot Forward yesterday looked at the “truth about tactical voting” showing that the Liberal Democrats cannot win in 81 of the Tories top 116 target […]