Thread by @eurosluggard

Thread: Why are Lib Dems stuck on 7-8% when both Labour & Tories so poor/extreme atm? Easy: under FPTP, vote often counts more if used negatively. 1/

You might be a natural supporter of Lib Dems or Greens or whoever- but know they have little chance of getting elected in yr constituency. 2/

So if you can’t get the MP or the govt you want, what do you do with your vote if you want to have some kind of impact? 3/

Well, provided you’re lucky enough *not* to live in a safe seat held by the party you hate (or fear) the most, you still can have an impact. 4/

If yr objective= stop party you hate/fear from getting big maj, rational response= vote for party with best chance of beating them locally= often other big national party. 5/

That IMO is why, despite being complete shitshows atm, both Tories & Labour polling around 40%. It’s why they both scored 38-40% in #GE2017. 6/

Sorry, Owen, it’s not cos 40% of ppl are enthused by prospect of Oh-Jeremy-Corbyn becoming PM... 7/

...and sorry, Theresa, it sure as hell ain’t cos 40% of ppl fancied a Tory govt mindlessly pressing on with a slogan-based #MillwallBrexit. 8/

It’s cos 20-25% of ppl wholeheartedly support each of your parties. And another 15-20% are *desperate* to avoid the other lot getting in *at any price*. 9/

And, cos of the disgrace that is FPTP, you can either piss away your vote by voting “positively” (for the 3rd or 4th party that actually reflects your views)... 10/

...or you can exert some influence by voting ‘negatively’ (purely to deny the hated “Tory scum” or the feared “Marxist terrorist sympathisers” a majority). 11/

For many under FPTP, best you can hope for= voting for a party which is (at best) your 2nd choice to deprive your least-favourite party of a majority. 12/

What a depressing, unrepresentative, demotivating, negative electoral system FPTP is. #MakeVotesMatter #PRNow #KillFPTP 13/

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Imagine if we could use our vote by casting it for the party with the best policies, rather than having to calculate how to stop the party with the worst policies. I’m a crazy dreamer! 😢 14/14