Tactical Voting
Under the First Past the Post electoral system, the candidate(s) receiving the highest number of votes in each constituency are elected. This system is used in the UK during general elections and in some local elections, such as those recently conducted in England. An alternative approach is the system of proportional representation, which aims to allocate seats in a manner that reflects the popularity of various parties. Both the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd in Wales employ systems of Proportional Representation. Historically, first-past-the-post has been seen as advantageous for the Conservative and Labour parties. It poses challenges for smaller parties whose votes are distributed evenly across different regions, making it difficult for them to secure seats. This dynamic effectively prevents potential competitors to the Conservatives and Labour from succeeding electorally. Consequently, due to this situation, voters may hesitate to support these smaller parties from the outset.
Under the First Past the Post electoral system, the candidate(s) receiving the highest number of votes in each constituency are elected. This system is used in the UK during general elections and in some local elections, such as those recently conducted in England. An alternative approach is the system of proportional representation, which aims to allocate seats in a manner that reflects the popularity of various parties. Both the Scottish Parliament and the Senedd in Wales employ systems of Proportional Representation. Historically, first-past-the-post has been seen as advantageous for the Conservative and Labour parties. It poses challenges for smaller parties whose votes are distributed evenly across different regions, making it difficult for them to secure seats. This dynamic effectively prevents potential competitors to the Conservatives and Labour from succeeding electorally. Consequently, due to this situation, voters may hesitate to support these smaller parties from the outset.
Therefore, as voting the way you wish to can be rendered pointless under the First Past the Post electoral system, the only other means available to the electorate to have any meaningful agency is to vote tactically. Tactical voting is a strategy where voters support a candidate other than their first preference to prevent an undesirable candidate or party from winning, It provides an option in which one does not feel you’ve “wasted your vote” upon parties and candidates that are unlikely to win in a specific constituency. However, it is an act couched often in negativity and is a tacit admission that votes in certain constituencies and wards do not count as much as others. Groups like the Electoral Reform Society argue tactical voting is a “symptom of a failing system” and hence advocate for a replacement electoral system such as Proportional Representation (PR), to make tactical manoeuvring unnecessary.
Last Thursdays local elections in the UK saw a large degree of tactical voting. Dissatisfaction with the current Labour government has lead to a significant surge in votes for Reform UK. However, voting in Council Elections during midterm is often perceived as a protest, hence this can be interpreted as a tactical vote. It sends a message to the government but such a vote may not be repeated during a General Election. There has also been tactical voting to prevent Reform UK candidates from gaining office locally. Reform UK generates strong negative feelings among some quarters of the electorate, who are willing to set aside their own party loyalties to block them. Reform UK is more susceptible to effects of tactical voting as their support is spread unevenly across the country, rather than concentrated in “safe” political strongholds. It is also something the party is particularly truculent about calling tactical voting a “conspiracy of the establishment”.
I voted tactically in last weeks local elections. I have no love for the Conservatives or any other political party, considering them all unfit for purpose. However, I did not want the local council, which is run relatively efficiently, falling to into the hands of Reform UK who are ill equipped in all respects to run a civic institution. So I voted for the incumbent party as it was the “least worst” option. Had I spoilt my ballot in a self-indulgent act of “ideological purity” the loss of the vote could have allowed a Reform UK candidate to gain a seat. There literally was only a few votes in it. However, the outcome affords me no pleasure whatsoever. It’s a deplorable situation when I have to cast my vote based upon what is the least awful option, rather than voting for a candidate or party in which I am genuinely invested. I am reminded of the words of Winston Churchill.
“Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”
