I guess it depends what constituency you are in. In mine (Hitchin and Harpenden) the only real choice is Labour or Conservative. In my cousins (North Devon) the leading two parties are Lib Dem and Conservative, so in that case Lib Dem may not be a wasted vote.
Last election it was either Conservative or Labour for me, hence I voted Labour.
Do you consider voting for fringe parties in the Europeans or Local elections? I would, especially for the Europeans, may be for the locals though I tend to vote far more on local (or single) issues than ideology there. For example, any candidate that supports building 10,000 new homes between Hitchin and Stevenage (essentially linking the two towns into one big city) isn't going to get my vote regardless of what else they stand for.
I would in this case, I don't think party is important at this level - in my view both are very splintered anyway (in Europe, you've got so many parties and independents from different countries) and at local level, I do base my vote on local issues alone....for the same reasons as you.
Edit - It's only at General Elections that I think party counts, as I would be voting to try and get a party into Government more than the candidate I'm actually voting for here.
John Maynard Keynes Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone
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This message last edited by snoopster on 4/22/2004 at 4:38:44 AM.
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