How do you decide how to vote?

I find the whole thing such a dilemma; listening to a party political broadcast I am convinced that this is the way my vote will go, and then I listen to the next.... Every government seems to end its term in office with some triumphs and an equal share of disastrous outcomes, along with the usual list of unfulfilled manifesto promises. What's to do?

I vote cos I want to have a say in how my taxes are spent & I don't want them spent on private healthcare cos it ends up in well off people's pockets with poor service as a result. I want decent public services, respect for the poor, facilities for refugees, a proper NHS so I vote Labour, but I think under Keir he is moving it to the middle to avoid the billionaire owned newspapers saying what a load of unrealistic socialists labour are cos that does affect votes. Cos I live in a Tory safe seat next time I'm thinking of voting Lib Dem just to get him out, as a lot of us are doing

I vote for the party's policies and leader.
If their leader isn't definite about their policies or just tries to criticise other parties they don't get my vote

Recently i am exercised by the Trans question. I have no problem with adults deciding they are born in the wrong gender. However, i am a feminist from many years ago and know that nobody can simply decide they are now a woman and i stand by the side of JK Rowling, Julie Bindel
and other women who are fed up
about the way being a woman is being thrown into the dustbin. Next election i am going to ask EVERY candidate where they stand on this issue. I do think the Tories need a new leader. I do like Keir Starmer but wish he had a bit more charisma. The Lib Dems get my vote locally because they do a good job. Never nationally though. I am very interested in how people love the NHS but never mention its shortcomings and the shocking over abundance of jobsworth managers. I do appreciate the sterling work it does but it needs a thorough overhaul which both main parties are too frit to do just as they fail to tackle the enormous problem of social care. At heart i am a Tory but i am not oblivious of their failings. I despair that remarks like “all Tories are racist” are made by intelligent women just as judging all Labour voters to be lefty Marxists is plainly ridiculous. However, i may not be living in UK by the the next election. And as my mother used to say “Man proposed but God disposes” so i also msy have popped my clogs by then. I will do that questionnaire because trying to be open minded is important.

Lathyrus

What they do rather than what they say.

Which leaves me with nobody to vote for☹️

That criterion does make choosing who to vote for difficult.
If people were satisfied with what whichever government is in power has done, there’d be no need to change governments.

I used to vote LibDem, because they were the only party supporting Proportional Representation at the time with any chance of ever getting a say.
Sadly, in 1997 the reality of gm raised it's ugly head, which LibDems supported, so the only party I could vote for that year, was the Natural Law Party.
Luckily we had Green candidates ever since, except 2019, when they did a deal with LibDems, so I voted Labour. Sadly, in a Tory Safe Seat, even though the MP of 50 years retired, it was still a con walk over.
Think about that result, though. A vote of less than 44%, far less than voted to Remain, gave the cons a 'Large Majority'
And think about Germany for a minute. They had ONE leader for 16 years of some sort of stability, even though, through that period, they had several different coalition governments.
How many leaders have we had over that period?
Now, coming back to the Green Party, they have an extensive range of policies, covering everything to create a well being society, providing housing, care and everything people need, without exploiting the earth's resources to provide for people's greed. I'm not saying it is realistic to get an entire Green Government any time soon, but we need more Green MPs to provide balance and insight into what really matter, which is air, we can breathe and food and water, which does not poison us all.
Per MP, Torys get something over 30,000 votes, Labour over 40,000 and Greens over 850,000. Is that fair?

I'm working class. Only one way to vote. Always will.

I listen, look at manifestos and past performances. I also look for who wants to make the UK better for everyone not just themselves and their mates! After 13 years of shambolic leadership ( I say that tongue in cheek) by a government who take no responsibility for their actions and rewards failure , I could not vote conservatives.
I value our nations health, education and wellbeing too much.
For me it’s less about voting for a party than it is voting against an immoral bunch of incompetents .

Well it definitely won’t be labour as they don’t know what a woman is so that’s a no from me

I totally agree.

I share the concerns about the response of various Labour spokespeople on defining who/what is a woman.

Im in a red wall constituency, lost by 400 votes by the Good Labour mp at the last election. Voting other than Labour or Conservative is a wasted vote. I won’t be voting Conservative.

I listen to the election programm of the party I have voted for all my life, and unless I disagree violently on some major point I vote for them.

Usually, I look at what the few other parties I might consider voting for are promising ( we have usually eleven or twelve parties in Parliament at one time in Denmark) but finish up voting as I always have done anyway.

I will argue against both main parties and have since before I could vote. So I voted Liberal until they became Liberal Democrats. I enjoyed the Clegg/ Cameron era I think a lot more got done. I vote for someone who actually lives in the area in local elections so can be any party ( never Conservative not the right area) However I voted Conservative at the last election as I couldn’t bear the thought of Corbin and I live in a marginal constituency.

I don't make a decision based on individual issues. I am a socialist, so I look for a party that has strong support for the welfare state, is committed to improving the living standards of ordinary people and particularly of the poor, and opposes discrimination in all forms. If they were pro-nationalisation, that would be the cherry on top but that seems to be a step too far for the major political parties.

When Jeremy Corbyn was leader of Labour, there was a political party which reflected my views. Well, part of it did, but there was a large faction in the PLP doing everything they could to undermine that vision. Now we're back to a Labour Party that wouldn't recognise socialism if the latter jumped up and bit it, and I shall have to vote for them because at least they aren't the Tories.

I have voted for the Greens a couple of times but they don't often stand here, and I have voted tactically for the Lib Dems once or twice. Never doing that again, after Nick Clegg presented us with a progressive manifesto and then went back on it all by hooking up with Cameron, just to get into power. I did like his ideas, though, before he abandoned them.

It's all academical, anyway, as I have lived all my life in a Tory stronghold. My vote has never made the slightest difference and our MP is useless. I emailed him about the Triple Lock and about more financial support to reduce the waiting lists for cancer operations, and he never bothered to answer.

Bluecat: I don't need to post here because you have said it all for me, 100%.
I will probably vote Libdem as an anti vote. Anything that has a chance that isn't tory.
We need proprotional voting badly, to find out what the people really think

I dread elections but I always vote because I believe that if you don't vote they will eventually take that right away, especially if you're over 60. Problem is, none of the parties are the slightest bit interested in looking after the older generations. They try to be 'woke' because they think that will get the youth vote but the youth have better things to do. In the last seven years so so, they have become totally untrustworthy and corrupt. A bunch of 5 year olds could come up with better ideas.

When we had the con/lib pact we were offered PR. It was voted down.
There were no alternatives to the option we were offered. As I understood it, all votes were counted even if there. were candidates who I would not vote for under any circumstances. No negative votes. It is a pity we do not have PR as I feel it removes the extremes from any of the parties. I would have the hope that it would make for a more balanced government. Does anyone else think we had more balance with the con/lib and the lib/lab pacts?
I would feel happier to be able to vote for parties like the Green Party and hope that my vote wouldn't be wasted

No vote is wasted.The media always talk of overall vote for each party nationally, as well as constituency votes.

I've just taken the test, too (thanks for the link, Fanny) and am utterly unsurprised to find that I am even more anti our current, corrupt government than I was before. I've yet to physically meet anyone who will admit to having voted them in.

In my younger days, I voted for all the major parties at different times - never feeling totally comfortable with it. I am basically socialist and believe in healthcare being free at the point of need, education being based on ability to learn not ability to pay, and progressive and fair taxes and benefits. I tend to vote based on the party's position and policies and past performance and not on the strengths of the individual (sometimes therefore maybe through gritted teeth!). Being in Scotland, I have voted SNP for the last 10-15 years as I believe the Scottish people have the right to decide what's best for our future and what we vote here doesn't influence UK-wide outcomes ( eg Brexit and Tory governments in Westminster). I would consider Alba or Green candidates too, depending on circumstances at the time. In an independent Scotland, I might vote labour if they got their act together and were not connected to UK labour party. If I lived in England, it would be a challenge, but I could not vote Tory again no matter where I lived - too right wing by far now.

The Tories are the political wing of the elite - they give just enough to just enough people to keep themselves in power - wish I could remember who said that - anyone know?

Capitalism only works if everyone benefits and that doesn’t seem to have been the case for over 10 years. Wealth hasn’t just trickled upwards it has defied gravity.But then Tony Blair was never a true Labour man (New Labour??).

The quality of politicians is appalling, for some politics is a stepping stone to greater wealth and position.

If Screaming Lord Such were still alive and standing in my area I would vote for him - living in a blue baboon constituency I’d like to at least have a smile on my face when I vote. I will always vote - it took long enough for us creatures who are totally at the mercy of our floating wombs to be allowed to hold the pencil of decision.

I do rather wish that our political system allowed some of the smaller parties, and especially those with greener credentials (not just The Green Party) to get a bit more of a look in at election time. On the whole, although I know that it is probably a wasted vote in general elections, locally I almost always vote for an independent, because on the whole they actually DO understand the local issues much better than any ‘party-driven’ so-called ‘professional’ politician.

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Annie1, “A woman is a female adult, and in addition a trans woman is a woman. So that’s my view.” This from Keir Starmer a couple of days ago.

This statement will have an influence on how/whether or not I’ll vote next time.

I look at the candidates standing for election and read what each has to say. I also check the manifesto of the various parties, and (if applicable) the records of what they have achieved against what has been promised.
There is always some "disconnect" I.e. some difference between what I would ideally like the stated aims to be - and I try to go with the Party and Candidate that mostly closely represents the things I believe in.
I live in a very rural area, and have done so ever since my retirement in 2007. Very few Parties/Candidates actually do good things for rural areas (far more voters live in towns and cities) - so I also judge on those who fight to improve life in rural areas.
I regularly write to my local MP's (I have two, since I live in Scotland) and their responses, regardless of Party, play a big part in who I choose to vote for (or not, as the case may be).