The Joy Of Choice (How I'm Voting Next Week)

In every election since I was 18, I’ve voted. General elections, EU elections, referendums, local elections, PCC elections. I don’t remember that I’ve ever had the opportunity to vote in a bye election, but I’d have done that too. At my age it’s expected that I vote but back when I was 18, just like 18 year olds today, it was more unusual. (I think this is something that is often forgotten because the people that are leading the discussions, on both sides, are politics nerds - either politicians or political journalists. While I’m neither of those, I am like them in one way: I’ve always voted, albeit for different reasons, possibly.)

My voting history (I don’t remember every vote but I remember it enough to sum it up) is not one of unwaveringly party loyalty. I’m not Labour through and through, rather a term I first heard in 2015, I’m a “never Tory.” I usually vote Labour but I have certainly voted Green (I did in the last council elections for example), Liberal (back in the days before they merged with the SDP) and possibly LibDem before to oppose the Tories. I’ve never voted for someone whose policies I can’t abide, but I have voted for the person who has the best chance of stopping the candidate who will be the worst (in my opinion) for the country. And, to be honest, too often I’ve looked at the manifestos and been unimpressed.

That feeling of looking at the manifesto and feeling unimpressed is, sadly, true of Labour this year. I haven’t looked at the Tories of course, and don’t get me started on Reform. I did look at ADF because I hadn’t heard of them, but I ran away very quickly. I have some idea of what the Tories and Reform are offering because I stay abreast of the news, and it gets reported. I was never going to vote for either of them, the reportage has done nothing to change my opinion or even pique my interest. That hasn’t always been true, I have looked in the past, never with the intention of voting, but to see what they’re saying. The Tories have had some good politicians in the course of my lifetime but not now.

However, both the Greens and LibDems have manifestos that I found had a lot I agreed with. I honestly don’t remember the last time that happened. Two parties that I like? Inconceivable! Certainly unprecedented. I felt like I had a positive choice to make. It’s refreshing actually, I feel like I’m going to vote for someone for absolutely the right reasons for maybe the first time.

The exact reasons don’t actually matter. Essentially it came down to a balancing act, I have a slight preference for the order of priorities the LibDems put forward than those the Greens put forward. I wouldn’t be voting LibDem if there wasn’t a lot of green stuff in there, I should say that up front. Honestly, they’re quite similar - both have a lot of green policies, both have broadly similar increases in taxes, both have similar plans to help the NHS - but in the small differences the LibDems just edge it for me. I am certainly not going to think you’re wrong if you reach the opposite conclusion. And although I don’t think it’s going to make a difference - where I live they weighed the Labour majority, even when Boris was stealing Labour Red Wall seats on the promise of “Get Brexit Done” - I’d like to feel I voted for the party that beat the Tories into third place and irrelevance.