To vote Tory to stop UKIP?

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My constituency is a marginal. Current polls show 36% Tory, 33% UKIP, 18% Labour 10% LD, with a +/- 3% margin of error.

My personal preference would be Labour, but if I vote for them UKIP might take the seat.

Even though I hate the very idea of voting Tory, AIBU to vote for them anyway just to keep UKIP out?

(Really really detest, abhor and loathe UKIP)

I suppose it depends if the 'orange bookers' are still in charge. They appear to be quite close to Cameroonian Toryism.

I don't think the Labour party are particularly desperate to work with the SNP either.

Labour are keener to work with the SNP (outside Scotland) than the Libs. Nobody will ever trust the Libs again. Getting into bed with them would be a massive betrayal in many people's eyes. Particularly at grass roots level. And labour is nothing without the grass roots.

Icimoi - correct we don't have unrestricted immigration but the Conservaties made a pitch that Labour were crazy with the allowed levels of immigration and pledged to reduce levels to the tens of thousands and didn't nothing. Cameron also promised an in out EU Referenum and did not deliver. The immigration figures are in the hundreds of thousands per year. Over a decade that is many millions, enough to reshape a country.

Giddy on zac - yes agree, hardly a surprise that the left are socialist but one would not expect generation of left wing bias in academia and media.

We are in a very strange situation in this country. A socialist system larger than Soviet Russia with more than half the economy being the State (! Read that again for anyone for whom it didn't sink in) and at the same time a generation who can't afford houses due to rampant housing speculation and market controls thereby requiring more state intervention by a state going broke. And such situations exist because of manipulation of the free market like Bank of England interest rate setting policy I.e. The state. We have an unhealthy left meshed in with free trade that results in a spiral into an abyss.

If you help to kill off UKIP (which is what will happen if Farage doesn't win a seat) do us all a favour and do it.

The Tories will try and avoid a coalition with UKIP as they are too much of a wildcard and will hold them to random. If it comes to a confidence vote, UKIP would support Cameron over Miliband or they'll try and force a second general election anyway (so therefore wouldn't want to go into coalition with the Tories themselves anyway).

So don't believe the noise about a Tory / UKIP coalition anymore than a Labour / SNP one.

The only party who gains in a coalition is really the Lib Dems. And even then, at the risk of pissing off the party faithful even more.

well if UKIPs idea of persuading voters is to treat them all as stupid ignorant 'mothers' who need edumacating by wise bigots it's yet another reason to vote anything but UKIP

The immigration figures are in the hundreds of thousands per year. Over a decade that is many millions, enough to reshape a country.

That fails to take into account the very large numbers of immigrants who leave after a few years, or even sooner.

We are, as has been pointed out often, a country of immigrants. We have been nothing but enriched by waves of European, Irish, Jewish, Asian and black immigrants. Any reshaping has been highly beneficial. Current immigration is a net gain to the country in financial terms.

If Labour works with SNP and it's a disaster it will affect them for years to come. And Tories absolutely won't work with UKIP. They're far too unpopular and it wouldn't be worth their while. I think the best outcome would be another Tory LD coalition. Anything but Ed Miliband as PM.

Icimoi - it's a complete deception and lie that this is a nation of immigrants traditionally. Before 1950, less than 0.1% of the population were non-native (all of the demographic history is laid out in the book, "A Nation of Immigrants?".

If net migration is zero, this can mean millions of natives are leavin the country and millions of people from very different cultures are entering. This still dramatically changes the nature of the country.

People are just playing logic games by using these arguments.

Have you actually read the different manifestos and not just listened to all the misinformation in the media. There are potted versions a click away on the internet. Read what they REALLY say and vote with your heart. In this election no one knows how it is going to go, so don't take too much notice of the polls.

Reading the thread immigration into this country for last year was 625,000 people leaving 327,000 so net immigration 298000. The EU now comprises 28 countries who have a no borders policy so anyone can come and live and work here from those countries in Europe. If we had unlimited jobs, houses, school places, healthcare, nursery places, apprenticeship s, road spaces, then no problem. I think we should help all those fleeing from terror but economic migration?

Madge you are entirely correct. These people are acting like robots constantly reacting to a script "we can't be racist". "Those people are blaming everything immigrants" "we are a nation of immigrants."

Their script just blatantly ignores the unsusiatinability of millions of immigrant coming to the shores of European countries and the associated cultural changes for which their robotic script says "change is good". "We must all be part of the transformation".

Madge - I have read all the manifestos and really want Labour - but not SNP. Don't want Tory and definitely don't want UKIP.

Spires - Unless you are Welsh and all of your forefathers (and foremothers!) were then you are not a native Briton, you have Angle/Saxon/Roman/Norman/Danish/French ancestry so yes we are a nation of immigrants, and damn proud of it too

Vote for who you want in power. If you vote Tory, you vote Tory - everyone who votes for a particular party has their reasons. (Voting to "keep someone else out" is actually no different to voting because they promise to protect/save/change XYZ. You are still voting Tory)

And it would be nice to have a sensible exchange of views about some of the policies rather than mudslinging.

UKIP have some good and bad ideas, as do all the parties. A real discussion of the issues instead of any mention of UKIP resulting in screams of "racist" etc might help us all. Insults and ridicule achieve nothing.

But, OrangeVase, if we don't talk about racism in the context of UKIP that would be wholly misleading. It is absolutely central to the party and, unfortunately, it is also central to their attraction to most of their supporters.

Maybe, but nothing is achieved by simply dismissing people's genuine concerns about overcrowding, school places, feeling alienated - whatever as being "racist".

Racist is therefore used as an ultimate insult and closes down discussion. Along with other insults.

There are genuine issues that need to be addressed and people who need to be listened to.

There is racism present, no doubt but there is racism in the other parties too. (The recent scandal in Bethnal Green had racism in spades but it was played down). It is helpful to look at why people are racist. (Not time to go into many reasons now - but ignorance is one and fear and feeling threatened another)

Immigration is mainly about capitalism. It concerns cheap labour. It boosts consumption so the big companies sell more and the economy does better.

The people who don't do better out of it see no way out - and get accused of racism when they complain.

It is late now - and I am working in the morning - but I'll come back to this thread tomorrow at some point.

That doesn't always work in our FPTP system though. I live in a Tory safe seat area, and though I would like Labour to get in, tactically my vote will be most useful in my area if I vote Green.

Sorry, that comment was to OrangeVase re voting for who you want in power!

manic the tory south Thanet candidate is ex UKIP, an ex leader so there is nothing between them. I honestly think UKIP are the far right side division to mop up all the disillusioned tories who think the party isn't "right" enough.

I live in a Tory safe seat and up til now would vote Tory

I am thinking of voting Libdem but I'm concerned that they may form a coalition with Labour and I really don't think I want labour in, not that the Libdems have a cat in hells chance of getting in here!

There is no point me voting for the local candidates as they are standing for their town council and not the town council that I live in

Hi Gator - I know what you are saying and I live in a relatively safe 2-way constituency - a vote for any other party is unlikely to affect the result - this time. But I will not vote for someone I don't support.

But what I am saying is that a vote for X is a vote for X - whatever your reasons. You might choose a party as the lesser of two evils but to a large extent any vote for a party is like that as no-one agrees 100% with all the policies of a party.

If you don't want a Tory government , don't vote for a Tory MP. If you do, that's fine, vote and be proud.

What is likely to happen in Scotland shows that things can can change if enough people vote for what they believe in - but not if they don't.

Personally I hate the FPTP system and voted against it in the referendum we had on the subject. Not enough people felt that way though.

I'm not a great fan of tactical voting (mainly because I think that it wouldn't be necessary if the UK had a sensible voting system) but given the figures in the OP I might hold my nose and vote conservative.

Not so confident as some that the Tories wouldn't get into bed with UKIP though! Given news articles in the last couple of days I think they will do literally anying to cling onto power. And of course regardless of whether they enter a formal coalition it is likely that UKIP would support a Conservative led coalition on many policy issues, and in a vote of confidence.

I'm a life long Labour supporter living in South Thanet. I couldn't bring myself to vote Tory, even if it meant Farage didn't get the seat. Tbh it look like my family will have to move. I will be mortified and embarrassed to say we lived here if UKIP win ??

But why should we watch immigration by the millions and parts of our country turn into India, Africa, the far-East. I am a well travelled person and nothing haunts other cultures