Day Two: Vote Day

I'm posting this early, and in fact I prepared this last night to post, because I wanted to post something early.

I've made some of my political feelings clear over the years I've been writing this, and particularly over this campaign. However, I want to stress first and foremost that it's important that everyone votes, no matter who you vote for. This is important and you can't have a say unless you make sure you have your say. Please find the time.

At this point, what is necessary to bear in mind is that we are not electing a Prime Minister - not directly. We are electing constituency MPs who represent parties, who have each chosen a leader. We have no say in the leader, and will definitely not in the near future. Unless you happen to live in one of the three constituencies of major party leaders, or the myriad others of minor party leaders, then the leader of the party is not necessarily what you are voting for. Make sure you know who your constituent candidates are - this is not a presidential election.

For my personal feelings, I would strongly hesitate to vote Conservative, and I hope that many more people share this reservation. While it is undeniable they have made progress, their ideology is unclear. Their intentions are unclear and it will always be hard to shed the 'nasty party' label. Ideological crowing as cuts to services, jobs and livelihoods are made is not the future we want to see.

On the other hand, the Labour party, despite their undoubted failings, made crucial decisions correctly that means economic meltdown did not occur. This cannot be denied, and should not be overlooked. The Liberal Democrats are new in public conciousness, but are not new to the scene. Their progressive approach and commitment to a fairer, more representatively democratic system is an admirable goal. I would argue that both of these two parties have good reasons to vote for them.

My final comment would be that people vote for what they want. We live in a multi-party system where we are constantly urged to choose between the top two, when there are many other parties available. We focus on who we want to evict from government, not who we want to elect to it, electing the 'least worst' candidate over and over again from the top two selections. If you constantly make the choice between the lesser of two evils, you are still left with an evil.

I urge everyone to vote for the candidate or party that best represents and embodies what they believe in, no matter their chances of parliamentary majorities, no matter their chances of seats or even contention in seats. If you cannot vote for who you want, then how do you ever expect a candidate to win who you want to win?

That's what I intend to do. The only wasted vote is one that you do not make.