For several years I’ve voted tactically in elections where “my” party has not stood a chance of getting in, and I’ve wanted to keep a Tory out. Â I’ve been successful in that, and I do believe there’s a duty not to waste a vote on a hopelessly ideological gesture that fails to recognise the flaws of the system or is rooted in an naive belief that there is no real difference between the two front runners.
It wasn’t always like this. Â The first time I voted, I elected the candidate whose campaign I’d worked for, who lived in my constituency, and who swept into power along with a Labour government with a huge majority. Â It was idealism and pragmatism in happy union. Read the rest of this entry »
