Lib Dems - Why don't they have a chance?

[Lionnose]

Just that really? I keep talking to people who say 'I don't really want to vote Labour, I'd rather vote Lib Dem but I'm doing it as a tactical vote as the lib dems don't have a chance'

Maybe it's just I'm talking to a small group of people who all live in the same area so thought I'd ask a wider audience. If everyone who wanted to vote lib dem did would this make them have a chance? I'm sure there is a lot more to it than what I know and I'm interested in hearing more about it.

I saw on a previous thread that they don't have a chance of creating a government is that because they don't have enough MP's with experience and they'd not be able to manage it even if they miraculously won?

Because we have a FPTP system, rather than proportional representation.

I'm still wavering as I know the Lib Dem candidate in my constituency doesn't have a chance of getting in, but we are a really marginal seat, and my desire to vote for them is not quite as strong as my desire to make sure we don't get the current Tory incumbent in again.
There's very little I've heard from the Labour party (locally nor Nationally) that is making me want to vote for them, and in my heart of hearts I think we should all vote for the candidate we want.

In my constituency, Labour don't have a chance. It's Conservative or Lib Dem here.

That's the problem with a first past the post system. If you don't vote for one of the "top two" parties in your constituency, then your vote is essentially wasted. So you always tend to end up with two dominant parties.

Having said that, it's not impossible that Lib Dems will be the second biggest party after this election. Unlikely, but not impossible. Currently being predicted by electoral calculus!!!

Because they don’t know what a woman is and Clegg’s shady dealings with Facebook/Meta are Tory-like behaviour. Voting for LibDems is voting for Tory-lite corporate-political blob.

I have to say I don’t understand this.

in 2010, the conservatives had the most seats. I would have thought it to be extremely wrong for Ld to have formed a coalition with labour - meaning that the (conservative) party who got the most seats was not actually in government at all.

Ld were reasonable and rational to enter that coalition imo. My dh always votes Ld and the coalition didn’t change that.

They have a chance of being the Opposition party and having Shadow Ministers and being the party on the benches opposite Keir Starmer at PMQs

The important thing is to vote for them where they can win.

No, in our area the labour and lib dems get almost equal amounts so yes one party needs to be picked to beat the conservative candidate but why are they picking labour if they all prefer the lib dem?

Thank you to everyone for your responses, it is really interesting to read other opinions

Labour are a better conduit for left wing politics in this country, which is why they are the party we must all get behind. A shame for the Lib Dem’s because their policies on turning round Brexit and LQBTQIA+ rights are far more admirable than labour even, but somebody has to fall by the wayside.

I do too but I'm voting with my head this time. The tactical vote in my constituency is Lib Dem. Labour and Green are nowhere so if I want one less Tory MP in Parliament then I need to vote Lib Dem and I flipping well am. With knobs on.

@ItsTapasTime I feel like we are in a similar constituency then. Which makes it all the more confusing to me why people voting labour when they want to vote lib dem when it's very unlikely either will beat the conservative.

It's very tricky isn't it, because if the conservative wins here it would probably be better if everyone had voted for who they actually wanted to show the parties what the rest of us actually want to change in the country and which party we support the most. But I also see that it's worth the tactical vote (still confused why people seem to lean to labour being the tactical vote in our area) in the hope that someone/anyone can beat our current conservative

After some of the people that the Tories made Ministers I don't think that last argument will wash.

If enough of us vote tactically to get the Tories out The Lib Dems could well end up being the se I d biggest party in the House of Commons and firm the official Opposition who ask Keir Starmer questions at PMQs on Wednesdays. They will also be the Shadow Ministers for everything and get all the briefings from civil servants.

There are also Opposition Days where they can put forward their own legislation.

IF we vote Lib Dem enough in all the places they can win.

IMO (and in my area) they've never got the balance right in terms of establishing their political identity. They do not look convincing and so people don't listen.

They might have good ideas, but they prioritise secondary issues or what they think people ought to be concerned about, instead of focusing on what they are actually concerned about.

In towns like mine, where most people are mentally and politically lazy, they are invisible.

I've always thought there was a lot to say for some form of proportional representation but recent events in Scotland have given me pause. The SNP government has been propped up by the batshit Scottish Greens who have ended up with power and influence far beyond the proportion of the Scottish electorate who voted Green. The first past the post system means you are voting for a person as well as their party and you can consider whether the candidate is a fit and proper person to be an MP. All forms of PR mean some people get elected from a top up list and they are not subjected to anything like the same amount of scrutiny during the election campaign.

I now think that like democracy itself the first past the post system is the least worst system we could have for our elections.

FPTP would have made recent Scottish elections absolutely hilarious. 90+ SNP MSP's in a parliament of 129.

It would have seen the back of pointless grifters like Murdo Fraser and Annie Wells, so perhaps not entirely a bad thing.

Do any of the current polls show area specific results or are they all general votes?

I just did a vote for policies thing, came out Lib Dem, Green and Labor tie! So I looked at the details, and align more with Lib Dem, plus I recognize the candidate and liked his statement, he is clearly local, knows the issues and has good life experience.

We are a tory strong hold, I doubt we will get them out, I want our representative out as I have had dealings with him over the years and think him diabolical. Last time around Labor and Lib dem got about the same vote. But I don't know what people in my area are thinking this time around.

If it helps, the Lib Dems are even worse than Labour on gender stuff, so if the choice is between Labour and Lib Dem and you care about women's rights it's better to vote Labour. It's a horrible choice because they're both woeful on women's rights but the Lib Dems are far worse.

Yes, good point. I am an expat Scot with family in Scotland. I regularly visit and play ferry roulette in the hope of getting over to the island where my Mum lives. We should have had a new ferry years and years ago, but it's still a long way off. The SNP are a bunch of incompetents, and that's the kindest form of words I can come up with.

How many ferries did Labour build back in the early 2000's when the fleet was already overdue for replacement?

I like the Lib Dems and for once in my life there's a (slim) chance that they might overturn the humongous Tory majority where I live. They beat Labour into 3rd place at the last election and have gradually grown their local support.

I'd vote for Labour though if they had a better chance of toppling the Tories here.

It's all about being tactical and getting the Tories out this time isn't it. I'd vote for whoever I had to to be honest.

Luckily here it's very clearly Lib Dem who are the challengers to the Tories so it's an easy choice.

I think it depends where you are OP. I live in a Lib Dem/Tory swing seat and the Lib Dems are VERY active (and always have been tbf). They have run the local council for over 20 years. It's got to the point that even though officially Labour have to stand, (it's in their constitution apparently) in the last 2 elections the candidate "selected" has basically said "vote Lib Dem" 🤣 and they don't actively campaign at all.

Love it

You could well be right that the roots of this go back to the Labour era. All I know is that the SNP have been in power for a long, long time and have not been competent.

The ‘coalition’ showed just how much the LIb Dems could be trusted. Not at all.

I live in a solid Libdem constituency, won't be voting for them due to their stance on gender. I once asked a Libdem canvasser if he could tell me what a woman was, he said he couldn't answer that. If we had an SDP candidate I would be voting for them, as I did in the mayoral elections. Still dithering......