Do you vote for the party or the individual candidate?

Always vote for the manifesto that is most closely associated with my values. That is what the next 5 years are going to look like.

Individual MPs have very little autonomy (if any) and so not a lot of point in voting for an individual.

It depends on the circumstances prevailing at the time of the election.

If I don't like the party in power, my vote would go to an opposition candidate who can help get rid of them. If the leading local candidates don't look as though they will do that, it may involve voting for a minority party who seemed likely align themselves with a caring party if they were elected.

If I were happy with the party most likely to get a majority and be in power, I would choose someone who was, or would be, a good constituency MP, with links to the area and a home there, and a reputation for promoting their area and looking after their constituents, as well as for understanding what legislation was good for the whole country, and who was prepared to speak out about abuses of power in high places.

Party.

I would only vote for an individual in local elections if they are standing as an independent with no party affiliation. MPs and MSPs have a party line to follow, as WWM2 says, so what their party stands for is the important consideration for me.

Party who I think represent my interest and outlook for the near future.

I vote tactically in general elections because my favoured party has no chance at all of winning the seat locally.
I’ve also got reservations about proportional representation, because candidates are often political appointments, rather than locally rooted people, and because minority parties have supporters, however extreme they are, PR can result in totally unsuitable people purporting to represent your interests - the ‘regional list’ has a lot to answer for.

Usually, especially GEs, the candidate I vote for is my choice both as person and party

I vote for the party Nanna in Scotland there is only ONE Scottish party to vote for /The others are unionist parties with no power as they have to conform to their westminster masters .
Only ONE party has Scotlands interests at heart as witnessed by their policies which mitigate the effects of WM policies here.There is a child payment for all up to 16 years old which has been lauded as a major aid for families suffering the tory cost of living crisis and austerity
Free bus travel for up to 22 year olds in low paid work or education ,
over 120 00 new homes ,housing association and council .over 70% are for social renters
UPWARDS of 20 MILLION trees a year planted to offset our carbon footprint
More nurse,doctors,dentists per head of population than the rest of the UK
and they are better paid...we have had virtually NONE of the strikes that have happened in England
We have public water
we have public owned trains...we only need to get control of the English owned tracks and we can make real progress,new stations and old being reopened regularly
Its not utopia and I'm not implying it is theres a lot to do to counter 300 + years of misrule from WM
We will gain our freedom like the scores of other countries who have thrived when they left union rule.
Aimed this at Nanna as she didn't appear to know Scotland wasn't a region of England in a previous thread

I vote for the party which best represents my values. However, I do know that the water can be muddied if an MP is assiduous in working for his constituency. The MP for the constituency next to mine is amazing, both on a personal level for local people and in raising matters in the House that are relevant to the area. He is a Conservative. He will be reelected next time whatever happens elsewhere I'm sure.

A bit of each here.
It looks like the next GE will be easy for me. Our Tory MP is quitting (age 40) and an out of town celebrity has been flown in. There is only one local person who looks like they can do the job and so I'll vote for them.
The parties all seem to me to be very middling. Not much between them.

The person normally.
Our lovely MP has been ousted out due to boundary changes as she was in direct competition with another MP who won the hustings vote for the new area.
Luckily she been adopted for another area not too far away.

Also Scottish and of course I vote for the party at every election as this is the only way forward for me if I want to escape the Westminster government, which I would be crazy not to. Eventually, if we persevere, we will attain out Independence.

I always vote for the party I feel would do their best for the whole country. I would never vote for an individual who may belong to a failing party.

Party

I vote for the party that seems to have the most feasible manifesto, although time after time - whatever party gets into Downing Street - I'm lucky if even a handful of their extravagant promises are delivered.
And I would like each party to make their candidates sign a binding agreement that if they switch party loyalties, once elected, then they stand down and their constituency holds a bye election.
It isn't fair on the voters who send them to Parliament to slap them in the face by switching parties.

Party
In local elections then the person within the party’s candidates

Party.

As I've usually lived in constituencies where my vote doesn't have any effect on the result I've spent years voting for minority parties because I think they need some encouragement.

At the next GE I'll definitely be voting for a majority party.

At local level I have voted for a candidate because they were so good at their job, despite being a member of a party I am opposed to.

At national level I vote, not so much on the manifesto. Manifestos are all mother love and apple pie and designed and written to be as woolly and getoutable as possible.

To be fair manifestos cannot be anything other because no party can know what catastrophic event may knock it sideways at any moment - COVID, Ukraine etc etc.

I vote for the party that best represents my personal political philosophy in its own philosophy. For example. Is anything more immutable than the rapid capitalism of the Conservaative party or mindless socialism of the Labour party?, Those features will never change where manifesto promises and mere leaves in the wind.

A bit of both- but the Manifesto is paramount. This time I shall be voting tactically.

Tactical voting usually. We need a decent PR system for UK general elections so that everyone’s votes count!

I think my reply would be much the same as Monica's, but she has put it much better than I could.

My MP was in post when I moved here. He does a great job locally and is very involved with the constituency. I vote for him because he looks out for our interests and uses his influence to improve things here.

If he stands down then it'll be a look at the manifestos.

I would vote for whoever I think is best for our constituency.
A party that is worthy to form a government should not need tactical voting.

Manifesto’s are nothing more than smoke and mirrors, parties are not bound by them.

I start with local issues and then wider debates.