On 07/05/15 07:04, Jacko wrote:
No, vote for the party that has some chance of being
the government which proposes to do what you think
is the better way of doing things.

I could take a narrow view and vote for the individual who would be best
for the constituency. But the constituency is just a random lump carved
out of the inner-city; though I have lived here 30 years and have family
connections with the district for 80, its geography is not a place on my
personal mental map.
I could consider who would be be most useful and capable as my local MP.
But one of the disadvantages of living in a safe seat is that, unless at
least one of the also-ran parties puts up a rising star hoping for a
more winnable opportunity next time, there is little choice. And unless
the MP presumptive has form as an independent thinker rather than lobby
fodder a vote for the most competent candidate would be a vote for the
party I would least like to form the next government. (If they were of
their own mind it would be unlikely that they would have been parachuted
in to a safe seat.)
So the best I can do is lend a vote to the 'share of popular vote'
calculus. Which is still not an easy choice. Should I vote for a minor
party so as to keep a major party in mind of its promises, even though
the local candidate is clearly not creditable. Or vote for a governing
party who have my support but not without reservations and who could be
beaten into a third place by the loony-greeny left.