Should you vote tactically?

Labour will only increase spending on the NHS by £4.2bn - which the IFS describe as “a very tight settlement”

Labour is “not spelling out” how much they would cut unprotected departments by

Labour have provided “disappointingly little” information on what they would borrow

It doesn't seem that cut and dried to me, JessM.

This constituency is about as safe Tory as it gets, so I was in a quandary about how to use my postal vote. It's all done, dusted and posted and I feel that my conscience is clear.

Some elections it does not make a huge difference which way you vote as the parties are not that far apart. This time however is very different. The UK is in a financial hole that has got deeper in the last 5 years due to the very slow recovery. If a Tory led government is returned there will be extreme cuts to public services including NHS, benefits relating to disabilities and social care for elderly. The vulnerable will pay the price and pay very heavily.
The recent Institute of Fiscal Studies analysis of the manifestos clearly indicates that if we want less austerity and therefore to preserve the NHS in something like its present form, then Labour is the best option.
So if you are at all worried about the prospect of public services being reduced to a level that has not been seen since the 1940s, then vote tactically to keep out the Tories if you possibly can.
(If on the other hand you are a millionaire or you have enough money to emigrate and pay for health care in the country you settle in, then take your choice.)

You could always move, magpie, in time for the next election.

Sillyoldfool I agree with you!

I live in a safe Labour seat, unfortunately Conservatives have no chance here so I will be voting UKIP who just might have a chance of winning.

Haven't even got the A1 dualled yet, hilda. Who is your MP?

Any Guardian readers? The NHA on the front page today, because Cameron fixed it so that Clive Peedell wasn't invited to the hustings in his constituency. Headline "Why is Cameron afraid of this man?"
Got the NHA more publicity than they could afford to pay for. Thanks, Cameron.

I had postal voting stuff through the post the other day. In our town there are only candidates for the Conservative Party and the Lib Dems. No Labour!

Anyway, I feel I cannot possibly vote for either of the available options. What a dilemma.

I shall probably send in a spoiled paper.

This is a farming community, therefore the Conservatives always win the seat. Our local candidate wants to dual the whole of the A69. I am in favour of this, so I will probably give him my vote. He has done well for this constituency during his term in government. That being said, I have been known to vote tactically, particularly where I used to live. I don't think it had any bearing on the result however.

For the first time ever - mine will be a protest vote.

Politics has got so spiritless and dull that I wish we could shake the whole lot up. Serious reform is needed.

In my newspaper this morning somebody suggested that Labour and Tory should go into coalition. I'm thinking that this could work. The big advantage would be that these 2 main parties could then agree jointly to set out a future plan for things the electorate deem to be important - NHS and Education. Instead of planning for 5 years, as at present, this could be extended into the future and would save so much change going on all the time. All these changes are demoralising for staff in these professions

It's not good for the country for there to be a big upset, which is most likely to happen, but sometime soon, those who govern us have got to wake up and come to their senses!!

There is no party that is likely to unseat the Tory here, so I will just vote with my beliefs and at least have registered the fact that there are those who share that party's views.

Roll on PR!- then our votes will count.

Took some stuff to the dump/recycling centre this afternoon. I didn't see a single Labour Party flyer attached to a lamp-post but there were plenty from three other major parties.

I can imagine a conservative fully believing that Conservative Party policies would cut poverty. I don't think we need to doubt her sincerity. Whether she's right and they would is another matter. I'm not convinced that Green Party policies would cut poverty either but I don't doubt their sincerity.

Shouting you electioneering canvassing again, Pension60 ?

Message deleted by Gransnet for breaking our forum guidelines. Replies may also be deleted.

So what the Green party say is pie in the sky, but not a Tory signing up to cutting poverty?
If she's signing up to that, she's in the wrong party. I wonder if her bosses know.

As I've said to you before, durhamjen, there's no need for sarcasm.

I'm sure we're all well aware of your opinion of the Conservatives, but I still don't see why their candidate shouldn't sign up to support cutting poverty whether he or she has a cat in hell's chance of being elected or not.

What a surprise, ana.

The Tory candidate has a 1% chance of being elected, less than the Green Party.
Tories do not cut poverty. They create more.

Your post makes no sense to me at all durhamjen. I don't know what it is that the Tory candidate has signed up for, but if it's to cut poverty isn't that a good thing?

Easy date to remember. It's my birthday.
Just emailed my MP about cutting poverty. I find it strange that the Tory candidate has signed up to it. She obviously thinks she will not get in, so will not be held to account.

I think he was scared. No real reason given, though he's of retirement age. A few days later he and his wife were asked to leave a local pub (not sure if there's a connection).

He was not in my opinion a good constituency MP and any time I wrote to him I was not happy with his reply - eg on gay marriage - so frankly it wouldn't matter which party he represented, he'd never have my vote. His attendance at Westminster was disgraceful.

The new SNP candidate is ruffling feathers with inconsiderate parking of the battle bus!
He recently replied to my enquiry about TTIP assuring me on the SNP stand re NHS, but not addressing my concerns about anything other than that.
I feel another email coming on.........
You have 3 days left to move north of the border and register to vote!

Unfortunately, I'm 60 miles south of the border, mcem. Otherwise I could vote SNP as well. However, that might make me a floating voter.
Was that Labour MP scared?
My parents were lifelong tory voters, too, until Blair persuaded them he was one of them. Only once.
I was talking to a friend today, who lives somewhere we used to. She said there was no point in voting as the Tory MP always won. So I told her about the website. The Ashcroft poll gives a 0% majority for the incumbent. She's now going to vote.

Thanks for that*DJ*. As I expected the prediction is that my constituency will switch from Labour to SNP thus matching the other city constituency. The Labour MP stepped down almost at the last minute.
My father, who voted Labour only once (in the post-war election) was a lifelong tory voter. He said that a donkey could stand here and would win as long as they had a red rosette.
Changed days!

A list of marginals.

may2015.com/category/seat-calculator

The result of Thatcher ideology, tegan; there is no such thing as society.