To not feel the need to vote in the general election

[Imambaldi]

I can’t see the point in voting for any of the parties as I think they are all as bad as each other.
They historically change goal posts to suit themselves, pilfer public funds and get away with it, break the rules that Joe Public has to follow and I feel politics just stinks.

However, I don’t want the conservatives to get back in but dread to think what the alternative will be.

I’m in Scotland and we’re stuck with the SNP for years.
I’m at a loss how to vote tactfully to rid the uk of Conservatives and feel that on election day it will be a case of not voting at all or “ which numpty should I vote for?’

Of course you can complain - god I hate this smug little line being rolled out whenever anyone mentions not voting.

Our electoral system is not fit for purpose. It is only a small step forwards from the rotten boroughs of the 18th century and is designed to preserve the status quo and the balance of power in favour of those with wealth and influence.

As the line goes 'If voting ever changed anything, they'd abolish it'.

Voting in such a system is giving tacit approval to it and not voting is a perfectly rational choice that in no way means you can't complain about either the government that comes about from it or the system that produced it.

No, the Electoral Commission ensures that it's one of the most fair and democratic systems.
It is a long way from the Rotten Boroughs. One person, one vote, payment of MPs, accountability of Parliament etc.
I lived in the former Soviet Union and I find this attitude quite astonishing. Just baffling.

This is clearly cloudy crystal ball gazing, but there are just 18 days to go and my personal view is that we're on course for a very controversial 'win' for one particular party. I say controversial because in the electorates clamour to utterly dispose of the current Government and most of their MP's, we'll likely end up with a Government with a very unhealthy super majority with absolutely no effective opposition to hold them to account.

I could of course be entirely wrong about it all, but I've convinced myself of the outcome. From an entirely personal position, I can no longer vote for any party I do not believe in. To vote tactically for the least worst option or for a party I do not believe in, would just be a lie. To spoil my ballot would in my view, be a complete waste of my time as it will just end up in the spoilt bin with no further action. Personally, I feel desperately sad, but we are where we are.

@Crabpot Your argument about the note makes no sense. It is a tradition - both parties have always done it, as a political in-joke. The Tories will have done it before too. Things don't become a tradition without being done quite a few times...

And you are allowing the Tory press to colour your thinking. A 'supermajority' is not a thing in UK politics. A landslide win is a landslide - they happen, usually after one party has been in power too long and fucked too many people off. If Labour win it will not be controversial at all, it will be because everyone has had enough of the Tories. Labour will have a healthy majority and will be able to get lots of policies through quickly. That's again very normal with a popular new government. In five years the Tories can have another go at forming a Government, if they still exist by then.

To those who say "they're all the same" this might help you realise that really isn't the case.
https://www.shrewsburylabour.org.uk/labours-top-50-achievements/

Thank you, @Zonder .
All so good. The Good Friday Agreement was also pivotal. So much genuine achievement.

I’m in Scotland & not voting either.

To people who can't decide how to vote nationally, would it be worth looking more locally and weighing up the performance and achievements of your own MP over the last decade or so? Have they benefited your local community? Are things worse? Are they present and available to help? Or is it time for change?

If you don't vote, or if you spoil your vote you are effectively voting for whoever gets in. You're saying 'I don't like the look of any of these people' and then handing power to other voters (even people you really don't agree with) . I'd feel really uncomfortable doing that. There always has to be an option that is closest to your heart surely.

Thank you all for your replies. Although I’m still skeptical and a long time cynic, I’ll probably vote Labour, not to get the Tories out because they’re way down in my area.
To get the SNP out !

Here’s a handy little tool I found here on a MN other thread.

https://tactical.vote/

As also mentioned here too but I obviously missed it ! 😊

A small step from the rotten boroughs? What a tin pot notion. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about or how privileged you are. The men and women who fought and died for the right to vote along with electoral and welfare reform would be utterly ashamed of you.

More idea than you clearly.

Whose to say they wouldn't be more ashamed of you, happily sticking your head in the sand and believing you live in an actual functional democracy or thinking the fight is over when it obviously isn't.

I didn't say the fight was over and I'm certainly under no illusions. If you want to talk sensibly about the imbalance of power, the 1% rich who hold all the cards and the many other immoral issues in government and society then I will listen and probably mostly agree. However, to suggest that we are only a small step away from rotten boroughs is like comparing minimum wage work to working on a slave plantation.

The Financial Times model has the Gosport results predicted as:

Con - 33.8%
Lab - 28.1%
Reform - 20%
Lib Dem - 8.9%
Green - 7.1%

tactical voting could see a Lab win.

What can I say, we’re certainly closer to the rotten boroughs than we are to true representative democracy.

Look around you. Minimum wage work is gradually turning into a modern form of serfdom. Oh, and seeing as you mention slave plantations (so the US) legalised slavery most definitely still exists there.

If you don't vote you've got no right to moan about the way anything is done/run - politics affects everything everything! They are not all the same although I can understand anyone feeling disillusioned.

We owe it to the women who died for our right to vote, not to take it for granted

Every right to moan about whatever you want. Choosing not to vote because you do not believe in the system (because it’s massively flawed and nowhere near a true representative democracy) is a perfectly valid choice. The whole thing is a sham.

Maybe you would have to live somewhere with no democracy to appreciate the freedom and opportunity we have to participate in the UK.
It's one of the fairest in the free world.

Doesn’t say much about the free world really.

Maybe you would be happier not in the free world.

I can understand what you're saying, but given our reality now then voting is the only way we can have a voice in July. After that we can campaign hard for change if it's important to us.

Voting is the most noise we can make with our individual voices in July (and the best chance we've had to get our opinion heard in 5 years) and I hope we make it loud and clear.

I almost certainly will vote, but with no great expectations of anything important actually changing. It is the system that has failed most of us, but it still works for those in control and so they have no interest in changing it. Why would they?

I don't think any of them would know what to do even if they did wake up and realise that they're actually on the same ship as we are and there aren't actually enough lifeboats for all of them.

That said, I absolutely respect those people who actively choose not to vote or spoil their ballots (rather than those who can't be arsed, or don't want to think about it). In the end, I sincerely believe it will all prove futile anyway, whether you've voted or not.

Nothing will stop our decline - we are merely choosing those we want to manage it (badly).

And I won't moan about what follows the election because I've made the choice not to vote. No vote, no voice, my choice.

My personal view is, the General Election is already decided. My decision not to vote will make zero difference to the impending result. I absolutely couldn't care less what happens to the Conservatives, I admit, I feel ashamed to have voted for them in the past.

So I'm clearly a terrible person, dismissive of those that fought for our right to vote, albeit decades before I was even born. But it is still my right not to vote, especially if I think the choices put before me leave me with no confidence in the candidates ability to actually make a difference. Sadly, I've reached the point in my life where for me there's not a single party or candidate I have a shred of belief in.

I will wake up on 5th July with a new Government. I won't have voted for them and I'll have to live with the consequences of the new Government's policies probably for the next 15 years, but then I've had to live 5 decades with the consequences of the successes and failures of both the main parties over the last 50 odd years. I'm personally not very optimistic of the impending change in Government but that's how it rolls.

In my area it's pointless to vote as the tories will always get in here it's a very secure seat. There's a lot of wealthy people where I live

I think the men and women fought and died for the right to vote not the compulsion. Ironically it was about freedoms, not using their memories as a tool to beat others into complience.

Not voting is also an option for whatever reason. The turnout is an oft quoted figure, so is far from meaningless. I would certainly encourage people to vote but can fully understand why not doing so might best reflect their despair in politics. The pretence to get votes, the lies, continually broken promises, entrenched views, failure to answer questions. And of course as mentioned, effective long term disenfranchisement for some on all sides by the constituency system.