Tactical Voting for Students

Well, the next General Election is finally upon us. As Conservatives, we are obviously aiming to retain our existing seats and turn as many blue as we possibly can. For many across the country, they are now looking at tactical voting methods and working out who best to vote for to keep the main opposition to a seat out.

So, what is tactical voting? In short, tactical voting occurs when an election sees two or more candidates standing and a voter supports a candidate who is not their preferred choice in order to prevent an undesirable outcome.

An example of this often takes place in Scotland, where in the majority of constituencies the two most popular candidates are the Conservative candidate and the SNP candidate. The SNP want to rip us apart and separate Scotland from the rest of the UK, so many Labour supporters opt to vote for the Conservative - and therefore most popular Unionist - candidate in order to ensure the SNP do not win that seat.

Another version of tactical voting is available to students, and this is the choice of where you cast your vote. Whilst we can only vote once at a General Election, students are allowed to be registered at both their home and university addresses, providing the all-important option of choosing which constituency they wish to vote in.

I would urge all students to examine the political environment in both of these locations and think carefully about where you want to vote. I personally always voted at home during my time at university as the majority was smaller at home, meaning my vote was more likely to deliver a Conservative MP.

Once you have considered this, check where you will be on the date of the election and apply for a postal vote if necessary.

If this is your first GE, enjoy it and get involved with local campaigns! Please consider your votes very carefully and do all you can to ensure a Conservative majority is delivered and that Britain is turned blue once again.

Amber Dunbar

Senior Scotland Analyst

"Number 10 door" by UK Prime Minister is licensed under CC BY 2.0