Voting with my heart

Some constituencies in Wales will see Labour lose votes. Where there's no chance of a Tory MP, Labour will leak their Left leaning voters to Plaid and their Brit Nat, culturally conservative worker votes to Reform. Reform are a bigger threat to Labour in Wales than they are in England. Looking further down the track, I think Plaid have a good chance of winning the biggest share of the next Senedd vote - I can see Plaid, Labour and Reform winning 20%+ each. I think we're going to see a shift in voting in Wales.

Indeed Ben Wildsmith, Wales has already sold itself down the river! With ‘Welsh Labour’, dressed up in the new half-dragon posters rejoicing in the coronation of those invited white settlers like Alex Barros Curtis ( who? dunno! Starmer found him somewhere round Fairwater, , and Vaughan Gething seems to know him) we can look forward to Jo Stevens denying she ever supported Wales case for HS2 money and settling for devo-mini for the Welsh Senedd, and Gething kow-towing to her as the Senior Welsh politician. You farmers, plant those trees if you want a smell of those Labour grants. And as for that electrified railway across the North Wales Blue Wall, forget it. Wales-shire, here we come, English Labour’s on a roll.

Voters should never ever be guilt tripped into voting for any party. We are being presented in this election with only two choices Labour or Tory. No matter how much a person hates the Tories asking someone to vote for a man who has abandoned virtually all his pledges and on live radio endorsed siege tactics and then sent his minions out to tell us to disbelieve our eyes and ears will be a step too far for a number of voters. I fear the country will be facing a situation where people are initially overjoyed to be rid of the Tories only to realise they now have Red Tories, but this time with more nastiness, more viciousness, and more crackdowns.

Two reasons why I won't be voting Labour in this election. 1) Keir Starmer and 2) Jo Stevens. I live in the constituency represented by Jo Stevens and whilst I was prepared to lend my vote in both 201 and 2019 to Labour because of Jeremy Corbyn (starving, destitute people trumps independence sometimes) I am not going to vote for a party led by someone who has completely sold out on the promises he made when he stood for election as leader, or a party represented by someone who is now more or less denying that Wales exists, and who, in any case has shown complete contempt for the Welsh language, both in constituency communications and in reply to correspondence in Cymraeg.

In this election, I *want* to vote with my heart. I *want* to vote for my natural political allegiance of Plaid Cymru, despite all the issues in Plaid over the last few years. But in this particular Westminster election, with the parties poised the way they are, from my point of view I face a rather simple choice: I can allow the Tories to continue to hold office, or I can vote for whichever party in my constituency has the greatest chance of keeping the Tories *out*. Yes, I’m going to commit the apparent sin of invoking the ghost of Thatcher here, but the reality is that we are still suffering the consequences of her administration. The ramifications of her economic policies are being played out right now, every time someone dies alone in a hospital bed because there aren’t enough nurses to care for them; every time a working family has to queue up at a food bank because their combined pay is no longer enough; every time someone’s cancer treatment is delayed. Ultimately I honestly don’t care whether Starmer’s incarnation of the Labour Party meets my idealised vision of a progressive left-wing party. They have a credible chance to form a strong government and can oust the disgraceful excuse for “public servants” that have been inflicted on us for 14 long years. None of my beliefs about sovereignty for Cymru, or having true proportional representation, or anything else, are in any way diminished or made less important by me voting for Labour. I have the chance to help rid this country of the Tories, even if only temporarily. When the patient is bleeding to death your priority should be to stop the bleeding, you can worry about their broken arm afterwards.

Nicely put, Ben There are very few (actually, I would say Zero) seats in Wales where the Tories can win, so it is safe to vote for a party whose progressive policies you like, rather than *having* to vote Labour to keep the Cons out. In every constituency in Wales you can vote Green or Plaid Cymru. Read what they have to offer and see which one inspires you with the most hope

Mr Wildsmith offers a series of significant arguments, but nonetheless I instinctively hesitate to uncritically accept the suggestion that as a voter I should routinely prioritize 'following my heart' in casting my vote over employing some prior objective practical and tactical calculation. First, because unless you're a very politically tribal individual - and, dare I say, a not especially reflective voter! - there are always likely to be some policy strands to which your party has committed itself but which you yourself don't especially favour. But, more importantly, in deciding how you'll cast your vote, you surely have to pay at least some heed to Otto von Bismarck's maxim that 'politics is the art of the possible; the attainable - the "art of the next best"'. Sure, you can place your 'X' against the name of the Plaid Cymru candidate as a matter of principle and conviction, but if you happen to live, say, in Usk or in Connah's Quay, the actual likely impact of your vote must surely be one factor in your decision. And, alongside that, also some consideration as to whether casting your vote another way might contribute to the achievement of something more attainable, even if it's only 'next best'. When Mark Drakeford led the Welsh government I was pretty sure that, though he was a very committed Labourite, he was also very conscious of the requirement laid upon him to put the interests of Wales first - just as, years ago, I felt pretty much the same about the late Rhodri Morgan. So, had this forthcoming Westminster election been taking place when Mr Drakeford was still first minister and bearing in mind that I currently live in a part of Wales where Plaid has never remotely come close to victory, I'd probably be backing Labour next Thursday. I certainly won't be doing that now, because Drakeford's history, in his place we've got Vaughan Gething who is fatally weakened by acceptance of that ill-judged campaign donation and appears to be another Alun Michael-style Labour apparatchik. and because Jo Stevens has made it clear that a prospective Starmer government has no real interest in developing Welsh devolution. But in principle I still hold to the view that sometimes there's a case for prioritizing voting with your head over voting with your heart.

Another excellent article Ben, I’m pretty much in complete agreement with you. Labour are going to win and the immediate feeling will be joy the Tories have been absolutely decimated. *However* it then won’t be long until mass buyer’s remorse kicks in. Yes the Tories are going, but really substantial chunks of their policy will remain and be similarly managed by Starmer’s One-Nation Red Tories. Like you, I’ve heard it all too that I should be frightened into voting Labour. When you’re left regarding them on the same par or similar to the Tories it’s kind of liberating; the “Tory enabler” line doesn’t land. It’s not “grown-up” to accept all of Starmer’s u-turns or think you’ll vote for him because he’s just saying what Tory voters want to hear in order to switch, then he’ll govern like ‘proper’ Labour. The route of both scenarios is that Starmer is fundamentally dishonest - in a similar vein to Gething and Boris. I miss the days of principles and arguments winning the day. I don’t like the football style my team must win regardless of what our policies are syndrome that Labour is rife with. I’m voting with my heart, I’m voting Green. My Plaid candidate lost me in a recent hustings and I was 50/50 Plaid/Green before attending. We can all have a progressive future if all those of us who want it actually vote for the parties offering it, rather than endorsing the two-horse American style of politics we’ve fallen into nationally.