HOW exactly do you figure out whom to vote for....

[tigerbear]

.... when you don’t believe wholeheartedly that either party will actually deliver any of what they promise?
... when you don’t really understand politics in great depth?
... when you’re easily swayed by certain points of each manifesto and by comments from friends/family on these points?

This is me at the moment, and I guess there are millions of others in the same boat.
I’ve just read each manifesto and agree with some points in Conservative and some in Labour, and read comments on social media from friends and agree on the advantages/disadvantages of each party, and I just keep swinging back and forth between the two.
Anyone else??

There's a website called something like vote for policies. If you're not into politics, forget trying to sift through all the spin on social media.

Voteforpolicies.org uk

As well as reading manifestos you can check the history of parties and what they’ve actually achieved.

Luckily (!!!) we have had ten years of Tory power so that’s easy to check for a start.

I have never been inclined to vote conservative but decided to fact check the claims that the Tories are the party for the economy etc. Turns out that it was actually nonsense and there’s not much between the two main parties.
I’ve also read a couple of books which explain the history of the Conservative movement. That certainly helped my thinking.

I'm like you Op, but I was advised to read this last night and it really helped. www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2019-50291676

Voteforpolicies, and look into your own constituency candidates - if your existing MP is a candidate you can check their voting record on theyworkforyou.com and see what you think of their views.

Definitely use the voteforpolocies website. I had a strong idea in my head of who I would vote for based on media and my gut but actually the things which are most important to me are actually served best by a different party.

Also have a look at tactical voting in your area to see how to vote if there is a particular party you really disagree with and you don't want them to win.

Thanks so much for all the replies, off to take a look at those sites.

I have no idea this time around.Non of the main parties inspire confidence,indeed the opposite.
I would have voted Green but they are putting on a poor show too and I really object to being labelled a Non man in their attempt to be all inclusive buy excluding Women

Vote for policies was really good. It takes you through the manifesto promises and gets you to pick but without naming the parties. I didn't know about this before. The results were interesting as I haven't finally decided who to vote for.

I think if you’ve read the manifestos you’ve done more than lots of people already. My dad made an interesting comment the other day... he said “ vote for the party who will do the most for you”. I thought it was interesting because I think you should vote for the party who will improve life for everyone ( as much as possible ). I’m voting tactically but without much hope as I’m in a pretty safe Tory seat.

Sadly for me I have to tactically vote to stop the SNP getting a seat here. It means that if I don't vote Tory then SNP could possibly take the seat and they're so, so much worse than the Tories (I know, I know!). Our Labour candidate is a nice bloke who does a lot for the area but he's not got enough support for a win.

Conservatives look like they are struggling in Scottish polls so you'd be better off voting labour, particularly if you like the candidate and the policies.

@AiryFairyMum depends on the constituency. Labour could potentially do well in Scotland as a whole but not in my area. Its a race between Conservative and SNP (but a lot higher Conservative amongst the two)
Our town was also a 77% NO vote in the Scottish referendum so that explains the high voting of Tories. They're the main opposers to wee Nippy Sturgeon's Neverendum.

Thanks again to everyone who recommended the voteforpolicies website. I’ve just done the survey, and found it really useful.

Trouble with "voteforpolicies" is that there's no critique as to how likely each party policies are to happen, whether they're affordable, etc etc.

Lots of people voted for the libdems in 2010 for their policy of not increasing tuition fees. Look how that turned out.

It's not so much Labour's policies that people are against - it's whether they will happen, the impact of the cost (i.e. potential high inflation, high interest rates, worsening exchange rates, effects on unemployment, etc), i.e. the ramifications, repercussions, consequences, etc.