Embracing political homelessness in the upcoming general election

Asad Zulfiqar
Nov 6 · 4 min read
The choices facing the British voter: Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour, Jo Swinson’s Liberal Democrats, Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party or Boris Johnson’s Conservative Government. Image: Daily Express

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re not the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition. You’re probably not a CEO in charge of over a hundred employees, or pulling in a six, seven or eight-digit salary. You’re also unlikely to be living hand-to-mouth; you probably have a consistent bedroom. In all likelihood, you aren’t very much more or less prosperous or distinct from the “average Briton,” who according to the Office for National Statistics, is around 40 years old, earns just over £25,000 if you’re a woman and just over £31,000 if you’re a man.

As an average Briton, then, you may be among those increasingly feeling as though your country is slipping away from you. Powerlessness, apathy, hopelessness are all feelings which have been crashing in waves against the gradually eroding cliff-face of our national consciousness, wearing us down for three years until the majority of us feel fed-up; done with it all.

The precise moment you stopped caring may be different from your jaded peers. Some of you may’ve stopped caring after the most recent Brexit extension, fed up by the ceaseless can-kicking the process seems to have become. Some, like me, lost their nerve following the European Elections, seeing the two major parties perform woefully.

Others among us may have seen the first or second Brexit extensions, March 27, 2019, and April 10, 2019, respectively, as being the first big sign of things to come, or not come as it were. Particularly prescient perhaps, are those who immediately identified invocation of Article 50 on March 29, 2017, as embarrassingly premature and inevitably leading to the omnishambles we’ve all been suffering through ever since.

Far be it from me to steal from you the solace of despair. Wallowing, however, might make you miss the special circumstances this upcoming general election presents you with.

According to analysis from the Financial Times, this election will require an unprecedentedly low majority in order to win certain seats, thanks to the advent of new political parties following Brexit. Since 1918, only 7 seats have been won on majorities of less than 30%; according to Focal Data, 15 seats are forecast to be won with majorities of less than 30% in this election. Two seats are even forecasted to be won with a majority of less than a quarter of votes cast.

This is a strange election. Conservatives are talking about not voting Conservative, the Liberal Democrat leader is insisting she can be Prime Minister, John Bercow is no longer Speaker of the House. There is a sea change happening, making the time ripe for an upset.

The politically homeless among us must not allow our apathy to retain our ballot. However, it is perhaps ill-advised to vote along Brexit lines. If you’re a Remainer, a vote for the Liberal Democrats could lead to a Conservative government and thus a No-Deal Brexit. If you’re a Leave voter, voting for the Brexit party could diminish the Conservatives and allow Corbyn into Number 10. Politics this year is brought to you by MC Escher.

Instead, vote along policy lines, especially if you feel your loyalty to your own party has waned. This might be the election you finally realise you’re actually a Green voter. The benefit of voting along policy lines is that often, if a party’s votes can be attributed to a particular set of policies, then even if another party earns the right to govern, they may adopt those policies, just as the Conservatives did in 2015 with Ed Miliband’s Labour manifesto.

It’s akin to liking football without supporting a team. You’re not bothered if Arsenal wins or loses, you’re more invested in watching Mesut Ozil silkily skip past an entire backline or unlock a defence or, perhaps, build affordable housing. Plus, it gives you a chance to enjoy the campaigning period not as a door stepper, plying others with your views, rather, as a Beauty Pageant judge, weighing up parties on the merits of their arguments and the aesthetics of their conduct.

You may have been a Conservative voter before, but how palatable do you find a party that lampoons victims of the Grenfell fire for lacking common sense? How unsightly is a Labour party which is lax on anti-Semitism? Weigh it all up, list your pro’s and con’s and enjoy the added value your vote will carry in this most turbulent of times.

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