UK Election; Crunch Time and I couldn’t Do It.
I’ve been taking a close interest in the build up to the UK election. I wonder why sometimes, because our system is so cack-handed that it is all but impossible to make any serious difference to the outcome. It is only once every twenty years or so that the real difference occurs and a landslide victory results. Thatcher in 1979 and Blair in 1997 are two such in recent history.
Anyone reading this blog will realise that I am one of those strange beasts; a left-wing libertarian. No, such a thing is not an oxymoron. It is possible to have left-wing ideology without overweening state intervention in the minutia of our lives.
Anyway, that apart, I fell out with the Labour party. The war, the anti-terrorism legislation and systematic erosion of our civil liberties along with putting together the building blocks of a totalitarian state meant that as someone who is “old” Labour, I could no longer cast a vote for my Labour candidate and maintain good conscience. In our constituency at the last two elections the Tories came second. So a tactical vote would be best placed there. I have been steeling myself to do this. Steeling because the Tories are even further from my beliefs. However, unseating the incumbent MP was my short term aim - the longer term would have to look after itself.
All well and good. Until I stood with the ballot paper before me and the pencil hovering over it. My conscience got the better of me. I just couldn’t vote Tory. Almost without further thought, my cross landed beside the Lib Dem candidate. Have I wasted my vote? Who knows - but at least my conscience is clear.
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Comment by Jonathan
# May 5, 2005,
I voted Labour and my conscience is also clear. Our local Labour MP is a good chap and who am I to vote against him and all his hard work just because I don’t go a lot on the man in charge? If Labour’s majority is slim, Tony will be ousted within 12 - 18 months and hopefully someone more effective will be at the helm.Visit me @ http://iridescence.blog-city.com/