The Metropolis

Vote small, and vote often if you really want to make a difference this election

Mike Pollitt | Monday 23 January, 2012 17:01

MayorWatch have an excellent post from Damian Hockney, the former UKIP mayoral candidate with the trendy artworld mashup name.

His main message (and here I paraphrase with some freedom): You dim-witted voters need to wise up to the alternative vote and stop wasting your first preferences on the frontrunners.

In Damian’s own words:

“…it seems that people often still vote for someone who is not their first choice because they can’t quite believe that the second vote is anything other than some sort of vague gesture of preference…It is as if no-one quite believes that your alternative vote counts, or that it has some downgraded junk status. Aaaaargh.”

He makes a series of excellent points about the way voters could use support for smaller parties to reshape political debate, while still ensuring someone vaguely competent gets in. I commend you dullards to read, absorb, and act on his words come May.

Damian Hockney at MayorWatch – Go figure – voters need to use the Mayor electoral system imaginatively

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