Voting plans

[liv]

So I have applied for a proxy vote (first time I've done that) because I'm unexpectedly going to be away on European election day. This means I need to inform my proxy of my voting decision. I am at this point genuinely undecided between Green and Lib Dem, so I'm open to persuasion.

Pros of Green:

• They're part of a sensible alliance in Europe.
• They are having a massive upsurge lately and it might well be the right time to vote for them
• They have actual policies pertaining to European as well as national politics.
• I do in fact care quite a lot about averting environmental disaster, and that is a properly international issue which the EU is best placed to deal with.

Cons of Green:

• It might be tactically wrong and split the Remain vote in a way that would have bad consequences.
• They're actively against economic growth.
• I massively disagree with them about some key issues like nuclear power and genetic engineering, but honestly those things are a low priority in this election.
• They're pro euthanasia, and that for me negates their generally sound policy on disability.

Pros of Lib Dem

• In theory I agree with lots of their policies.
• They're committed and effective Remain campaigners. I think a Lib Dem vote might be the best shot at keeping us in the EU.
• Lots of my friends are Lib Dems and an increased vote base for LD would make them happy.
• If, as is likely, we end up leaving the EU and the MEPs never actually get to take their seats, a swing towards Lib Dem is likely to have good effects on national politics.
• I'm basically a centrist / moderate / liberal at heart, not by the nonsensical definition of taking an average position between pure evil and happy rainbow unicorns, but by the actual definition of not wanting extreme drastic change or revolution.

Cons of Lib Dem:

• They have a really bad track record of actually carrying out their policies once elected.
• They are afraid of collaborating politically because it backfired badly previously.
• I don't have a clear picture of whether they're likely to be effective in Europe, if we do in fact stay in the EU long enough for MEPs to matter.
• They're not consistently anti-austerity.
• They're super white, even though in principle they're pro immigrant.

Things I don't care about: the expletive 2010 national election. 2010 was a long time ago and the whole political scene was massively different. I understand why Labour people keep harking back to it, because they did unexpectedly well against the Tories, they had a reasonable and generally respected leader, and if only they could fight 2010 all over again, they'd probably do really really well. But turning the clock back is not an option, and Labour being a reasonably plausible Westminster opposition party from 2010-2015 is utterly irrelevant to Europe.

So I am not likely to be convinced by the argument that Lib Dems might form a coalition with the Tories (ludicrously unlikely at European level and probably at all). Nor that they formed a coalition with the Tories in the past and failed to oppose Tory policies and are therefore "tainted". Since 2015, which is the more relevant time period, Lib Dems have been as useful as Greens and the regional nationalists (and massively more useful than Labour as the official opposition) in actually opposing bad government decisions.

I also 100% don't give a shit that the Lib Dems used a naughty word in some of their election campaigning, BTW.

So I think mostly I want advice on tactical voting here. If it matters, I am voting in the East region. But if someone wants to point me to a really critical policy difference between the LDs and the Greens, that could be persuasive while I'm on the fence.

Comments

[lovingboth]

In what way did Labour do unexpectedly well against the Tories in 2010?

I suspect the best option is to wait 12 days and see what the regional opinion polls say then.