In terms of other conclusions, there are some things where I feel (predictably) different.

“How can a party govern without a popular mandate unless they work with other parties?”

This is true. But the question is which they would choose. Some parties (e.g. the BNP) are clearly beyond the pale. I think that a lot of likely Tory policies post election are damaging enough for any sensible progressive to rule out working with them entirely. Forgive my invocation of history; You will know of Ramsay MacDonald, and his ‘national Labour’ split from the Labour Party, made in order to go in with an anti-workforce, cut happy Tory government, after an enormous worldwide financial shock.

It seems to me that history may repeat this; only now the left-of-centre party prepared to work with them is that which arose from the Liberals and the SDP, and Labour is more cohesively anti-Tory within its own ambit. We still may end up with a big chunk of the purported ‘left’ putting through their despicable budgets for them, a la 1931.

For me, preventing heir measures from assaulting the population is absolutely key; for a variety of reasons I don’t believe that a Lib Dem MP would make any contribution to that. As in the days of MacDonald, an independent alternative backed by those who would be most profoundly affected is the only thing that can solve the problem.

Labour won’t work with the Tories. And constituents have my personal guarantee that if the Labour Party did make such a decision (as in Germany), I would resign my membership.

If elected, I would also work for a referendum on the various PR systems available to avoid people having this quandary in the future. In the meantime I shall be expecting all the Lib Dems in Labour/Tory marginals to stand aside for a tactical vote. Or perhaps that just won’t happen… in that sense, in one this system actually plays rather well for them!

Tom

“Equally, I’m sure that they’ve (Tories) got one or two good ideas somewhere.”
Name them!

Scrapping ID cards for one (assuming they would – but that’s the same assumption you make with any manifesto). Expensive, illiberal, and not justified by evidence.

I agree with you re the rest, though.

Theoretically, imagine if Labour got 40% of the vote in every seat, with the rest split evenly between the Tories and the LibDems. Would you really argue that was a sound basis for governing? 60% of the country being represented by someone they voted against?

You know what – I’m not afraid of the Tories. Yes, I’m sure they’ll do some stuff I disagree with and some stuff I’ll hate. Guess what – so will the Labour Party and LibDem. Equally, I’m sure that they’ve got one or two good ideas somewhere. That’s why coalitions are good. It prevents the excessive madness of a legislative program dictated by an “unbeatable” government.

Labour can’t win in Woking. I truly wish you the best of luck, but unless Woking has the most incredible swing ever seen – it won’t happen. Given the swing to the LibDems (nationally), they are the best bet in keeping the Tories out.

Don’t you see the futility of this? I want to vote for you! But the voting system Labour has been propping up for the last 13 years means I have to vote against my wishes.

Thanks for the comments – and good luck with your campaign.

On that, also, any vote that loses is effectively wasted under FPTP. Afterwards, if you picked a loser, you might as well ave picked any of the others.

With regard to upcoming stuff, surely it’s better to vote for someone who will rule out a programme of cooperation with the Tories? Otherwise you vote against them just to keep them in.

Good luck with getting involved though.

Tom

In this election it’s definitely *NOT* going to be a Tory landslide – the very best they can hope for is to form a minority government. Have a look at http://ukelectiontrend.blogspot.com/ for example – it’s just impossible for *any* party to get more than the tiniest majority this time round, and a Labour/Lib Dem coalition looks the most likely result.

Remember as well that the Lib Dems are taking votes not just from Labour but from the Tories – the Conservative share in the polls has *plummeted* since the debates, since people who were thinking of voting Tory. In your own seat of Holborn And St Pancras, for example, the anti-government vote will likely go to the Lib Dem candidate, who has a small but real chance of beating Dobson, so those who were thinking of voting Tory will almost certainly now vote for Jo Shaw.

(And as someone who unfortunately has Griffin as an MEP, I agree it would be terrible for him to get in in Barking. In the case of the BNP the important thing is just to get people out and voting at all – I’ve taken part in several Hope Not Hate events to try to get out the anti-BNP vote, and there I don’t care who they’re supporting so long as it’s not the BNP. )

None of this is to try to change your mind – you should vote for whoever you want to win in your seat – just to say that you shouldn’t worry unnecessarily. This isn’t 1983, and the very real concerns that existed then don’t exist now…

That said (and this is honestly my experience, not just partisanship) while I’m sure we have our fair share of bad ones, I honestly think that we do better in this regard than the other two parties, precisely because our strategy for decades has been to get councillors first, let people see we can be trusted in *local* government, and then try to get MPs in regions where we’ve got councillors. That strategy wouldn’t have been as successful as it has been, had our councillors been *that* bad.

(Of course if we have bad councillors in your area, the obvious solution is to stand yourself!)

A great article and all valid comments that resonate with me. In the past I’ve been a proponent of the wasted vote theory (although until recently I lived in a LibDem constituency – so I could vote LibDem and win!) but now I realise that in a Democracy no vote in a wasted vote and it’s more important to vote for who you want to win rather than to engage in Tactical Voting. Only by voting correctly do we show the true sense of the failure of the two party system.

So this time even though I know that the Conservatives might just beat Labour in my constituency I am going to vote on who I think should win, the Lib Dems.

One more point. I often get the feeling that the local parties let the national party down as I keep seeing multiple comments complaining about the poor quality of local councillors. It worries me about them on a national level

http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://static.natalian.org/2010-04-25/Conservative_Technology_Manifesto2010.pdf

We will be the first country in Europe to extend
superfast 100 mbps broadband across most
of the population. This is up to 50 times faster
than Labour’s planned broadband network.

Though they don’t give a time or plan how the hell they are going to do this. At least I can’t stuff very easily on the Con’s Web page.

Also locally the LibDems in my area have my a hash of Walton Road. Disgrace. :( A fellow cyclist died on the road due to its incredibly poor condition.