General Election 2019

General Election 2019

General Election 2019

This election is all about Brexit whether we like it or not.. Our First Past the Post electoral system means winner takes all, sometimes by just a handful of votes. If we elect a Conservative majority government we will almost certainly be leaving the EU in a matter of weeks. We can prevent that though!

If you want Brexit – you vote Conservative (or Brexit Party, who are deliberately not standing in Conservative seats). This concentrates the vote. Result? Brexit.

If you want Remain – you can vote for one of several parties. This splits the vote. Result? Brexit.

If all anti Brexit votes are cast for the one candidate who has been identified as the best placed to defeat the Conservative or Brexit Party, this concentrates the vote and increases the chances of a win for that candidate.

Result? A People’s Vote and NO BREXIT!

IMPORTANT – There is only one tactical vote for each constituency! See below…

Tactical voting is particularly important here in Somerset, where most of the Conservative candidates support Brexit, so the Brexit Party is not standing. See here for lists of candidates in all the West Country constituencies.

General Election and Tactical Voting Q&A

Q. What is tactical voting?

Q. I feel uncomfortable voting for a party other than the one I belong to/prefer.

Q. Why are Somerset loves Europe advocating Tactical Voting?

Q. Are Somerset loves Europe selecting the candidates?

Q. How do I find out who to vote for?

Q. Will it matter if I do not vote tactically?

Q. What outcome is likely outcome if enough people vote tactically?

Q. There seems little chance of a Remain win in my constituency. What should I do?

Q. I don’t trust the Lib Dems. I dislike Corbyn. What should I do?

Q. I want to vote for Corbyn and a Labour government. Or, I want a Lib Dem government.

Q. Why don’t all constituencies have the same party as their tactical vote option?

Q. Why is there just one tactical voting recommendation for each constituency?

Q. I favour revoking Article 50 over a People’s Vote.

Q. If all remain voters voted Lib Dem, we would have a Lib Dem government.

Q. I think this election should be about Climate Emergency and getting Green MPs.

 

Q. What is tactical voting?

Tactical voting is when someone votes for a candidate they wouldn’t normally support in order to stop someone else winning. Return to questions

Q. I feel uncomfortable voting for a party other than the one I belong to/prefer.

We understand that loyalty to a party often runs deep and in a ‘normal’ election you should, of course, vote with your conscience. But this is not a ‘normal’ election. If a Conservative/Brexit government is returned with a majority, we will almost certainly be leaving the EU and under the worst possible terms. The only way to stop this is to vote tactically and to vote in numbers. We are asking all our supporters to set aside their party loyalty where necessary and vote to enable a ratification vote to stop Brexit. The MP in your constituency can be voted out in five years’ time (or less!). Brexit is a lifetime decision. Return to questions

Q. Why are Somerset loves Europe advocating Tactical Voting?

In this election, we are campaigning to ensure we return as many pro-Remain, pro-PV MPs as possible and this means we must ensure the Conservative or Brexit Party candidate does not win. This means we will have to vote tactically.

Some of us will be lucky enough to be able to vote to help stop Brexit by voting for our preferred candidate.

Unfortunately, a combination of the First Past the Post system and tribal voting means that some of us will need to ‘lend’ our vote to the candidate most likely to beat the Conservative or Brexit Party candidate.

For example, if it is neck and neck between a Conservative and a Remain-supporting party in your constituency and you normally vote for a different Remain-supporting party, you could ‘lend’ your vote to the tactical vote candidate to increase their chances of defeating the Conservative.

We are urging you to vote for the best-placed candidate to defeat the Brexiter.

Nigel Farage has decided to stand down all his candidates in seats where Conservatives won in 2017. This is a tactical manoeuvre to try to gain a majority for Brexit. The Brexit ‘Party’ will be standing in seats like Plymouth Sutton and Devonport in an attempt to oust the Remain-supporting Labour MP. Return to questions

Q. Are Somerset loves Europe selecting the candidates?

No. We are recommending candidates purely on the basis of an agreed set of rules-based criteria, using the output of a panel of tactical voting sites aimed at giving us a People’s Vote or stopping Brexit.

We have identified three categories for candidate selection.

A. Candidate qualifies under one or both of these criteria:

  • Incumbent and proven PV advocate/pro-Remain who will vote for a People’s Vote.
  • Unanimous tactical vote choice across our selected tactical voting sites*

* Important – PV and Gina Miller/Remain United are NOT including constituencies where they are confident a remain candidate will win/hold.

B. Candidate is the majority tactical vote across our selected tactical sites.

C. Constituency has no tactical voting recommendation or there is an ambiguous tactical voting recommendation across our selected tactical voting sites. Return to questions

Q. How do I find out who to vote for?

We will provide a list as soon as we can after all candidates are in place and all national tactical voting recommendations are in place. The list will be published on this website.

Please note that this list may be subject to change if circumstances alter. Please refer to it shortly before you mail your postal vote or on 11th December if casting your vote in person. Return to questions

Q. Will it matter if I do not vote tactically?

In many constituencies, tactical voting is absolutely critical. There are constituencies where votes for Remain-supporting candidates other than the tactical choice will result in splitting the Remain vote, allowing the Conservative to win. If all or most of the votes had gone instead to the tactical vote candidate, the he/she could/would have won. It would be particularly distressing to see a Conservative or Brexit Party win for this reason. Return to questions

Q. What outcome is likely outcome if enough people vote tactically?

It is impossible to say as there are so many variables, including turnout. However, if enough people take part, we would see a hung Parliament as the most likely outcome, which would be good news when it comes to stopping Brexit. Return to questions

Q. There seems little chance of a Remain win in my constituency. What should I do?

Vote with your conscience if there is no tactical recommendation. Vote tactically if there is a recommendation, but you can also do a lot more to help!

You can help in constituencies where there is a good chance of electing a Remain-supporting MP by joining our General Election Volunteer Team. Again, this is non-partisan but focused entirely on our strategic objective of returning as many Remain-supporting MPS in Somerset as possible so you could be helping a candidate from one party one day and from another the next. You can join the team HERE. (link will be available in the next day or two).

Return to questions

Q. I don’t trust the Lib Dems. I dislike Corbyn. What should I do?

Does it really matter when the alternative is a Conservative majority government and Brexit within weeks? Not really; you will be able to vote them out again in 5 years’ time, or most likely much sooner. Return to questions

Q. I want to vote for Corbyn and a Labour government. Or, I want a Lib Dem government.

Remember you are not voting for Corbyn, or Swinson, you are voting for YOUR MP in YOUR constituency. Your vote is only relevant to your constituency. Return to questions

Q. Why don’t all constituencies have the same party as their tactical vote option?

Because the tactical voting recommendation is calculated on a constituency by constituency basis, and does not favour one party over and another, or one policy over another. It is based purely on which remain/PV supporting candidate is most likely to beat the Conservative candidate in that constituency. Return to questions

Q. Why is there just one tactical voting recommendation for each constituency?

Because that is how tactical voting works. It works by concentrating votes and by avoiding vote splitting. Return to questions

Q. I favour revoking Article 50 over a People’s Vote.

You may well do, but it is not in your power to decide that. If you do not vote tactically you will enable a Conservative government and certain Brexit. It is ultimately up to Parliament to decide on how to deal with Brexit, and that is why the makeup of the new Parliament is so important. Return to questions

Q. If all remain voters voted Lib Dem, we would have a Lib Dem government.

You will never get all remain voters to vote for one party. Not all remain voters are as ideologically wedded to our cause as we are (or leave voters to their cause, for that matter), and other issues are more important to them. That does not mean they wouldn’t vote remain again in a People’s Vote. Return to questions

Q. I think this election should be about Climate Emergency and getting Green MPs.

Stopping Brexit is an essential precursor to tackling the climate crisis. A Johnson government will not prioritise measures to address the emergency and will be more likely to pursue policies which exacerbate the situation. Unfortunately, the first past the post system makes it almost impossible for smaller parties, including the Greens, to win a seat in many constituencies. But check the polls in your constituency just before voting. Return to questions

 

Up and down the country, people are agreeing to vote tactically. We need to pull together on this, or the future looks bleak for us all.

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