General Election: I have made my decision
I've been having a dilemma over who to vote for in the upcoming General Election, but I have now decided. Basically, it boils down to me historically supporting the Liberal Democrats and my views lining up more with theirs than any other main party. I've done the Vote for Policies quiz just to make sure I am indeed still in line with Lib Dem views and confirmed that I come out on the side of the Lib Dems, and Nick Clegg seems like an alright sort of chap who I wouldn't mind being in charge, especially when given the options of the other two.
However, my local MP Jeremy Corbyn is a pretty decent chap as well, but is inconveniently in the Labour party. I do not especially want the Labour party to continue in power (though I also don't support the Conservative party and don't really want to see them in power either), and I wanted to support Lib Dems nationally.
I've thought about it a lot, done a reasonable amount of research, and decided that I will be voting for the MP who I think will best represent me in my constituency, even if he is in the "wrong team". He's gone against the party whip a lot when he disagrees with Labour and I like that. I also like that he disagrees with them on much of the stuff I disagree with them on. I used the quite cool site TheyWorkForYou which conveniently has all four PPCs represented there, and again, came out on the side of Jeremy Corbyn. Also, he has held this seat since the year after I was born (1982), received 52% of the vote in the 2005 election, and is unlikely to be budged now, so my voting for Lib Dem isn't going to achieve much (and I'm sure the Lib Dem PPC for Islington North is a decent sort of guy as well, but he's awfully young and therefore inexperienced compared to Corbyn, so I'd have more confidence in the latter).
I like egadfly's Voting Algorithm, and I agree with strawberryfrog in this case that Jeremy Corbyn satisfies the first rule. So my decision has been made :)
Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with the local election choice. I'm thinking of voting for the three Lib Dem candidates here instead. I applied for a postal vote to guard against not being able to make it for whatever reason on the day itself, so I want to have this decided and in the post by Tuesday.
However, my local MP Jeremy Corbyn is a pretty decent chap as well, but is inconveniently in the Labour party. I do not especially want the Labour party to continue in power (though I also don't support the Conservative party and don't really want to see them in power either), and I wanted to support Lib Dems nationally.
I've thought about it a lot, done a reasonable amount of research, and decided that I will be voting for the MP who I think will best represent me in my constituency, even if he is in the "wrong team". He's gone against the party whip a lot when he disagrees with Labour and I like that. I also like that he disagrees with them on much of the stuff I disagree with them on. I used the quite cool site TheyWorkForYou which conveniently has all four PPCs represented there, and again, came out on the side of Jeremy Corbyn. Also, he has held this seat since the year after I was born (1982), received 52% of the vote in the 2005 election, and is unlikely to be budged now, so my voting for Lib Dem isn't going to achieve much (and I'm sure the Lib Dem PPC for Islington North is a decent sort of guy as well, but he's awfully young and therefore inexperienced compared to Corbyn, so I'd have more confidence in the latter).
I like egadfly's Voting Algorithm, and I agree with strawberryfrog in this case that Jeremy Corbyn satisfies the first rule. So my decision has been made :)
Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with the local election choice. I'm thinking of voting for the three Lib Dem candidates here instead. I applied for a postal vote to guard against not being able to make it for whatever reason on the day itself, so I want to have this decided and in the post by Tuesday.