The term “tactical voting” has been thrown around a lot during the run-up to the snap election – but how many Britons are actually planning on backing the party they think has the best chance of beating the group they dislike the most? Brits traditionally vote with their hearts, or their wallets, or their time-honoured tradition – but this General Election feels entirely different as Brexit strains traditional party loyalties and an air of political cynicism seems apparent across the country.Pockets of left-wingers determined to deprive Boris Johnson of a majority have drawn up plans for a last-minute cross-party alliance to urge people to vote tactically.
And the strategy is also set to be used on the right by many Conservative voters living in constituencies where the Tories are the least likely to win.
Tory traditionalists living in Labour-dominated seats would do better to give their vote to an independent, Liberal Democrat or Brexit Party candidate to keep Jeremy Corbyn out of Number 10.
But when it comes to marginal seats it is a completely different story.
Nigel Farage has fiercely defended his decision not to bow to pressure to stand down candidates in seats not won by the Tories in 2107.
While he claims his group has a good chance of mopping up the Labour and Lib Dem vote and having their first MPs elected to Parliament, critics have said he will split the Brexit vote.
Examples include the Kensington constituency, which Labour won with a majority of just 20 votes ahead of the Tories in 2017, and Newcastle-under-Lyme which saw the Conservative candidate beaten by just 30 votes.
An 11th-hour plot by opposition politicians aims to appeal to voters who want anyone but the Tories to come out on top.
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Naomi Smith, Best for Britain’s chief executive, said: “This election is on a knife-edge, and, if enough Remainers hold their nose and vote for the candidate with the best chance of stopping the Tories, we’re heading for a hung Parliament and a final-say referendum.”
Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson said her party was “in good health” despite a suggested squeeze in the polls ahead of Thursday’s election.
She added that she would not resign if her party ended up with fewer MPs, stating: “I’m absolutely here to stay and I’m excited about the future.”
Ms Swinson insisted the Lib Dems’ revoke Article 50 Brexit policy was a “good policy because it’s honest about what we would do” and said it was what many traditional Labour voters were looking for.
She told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “It’s also a policy which is popular.
“If you look at the YouGov polls for people who want to Remain, that’s the preferred policy. Indeed even among Labour Remain voters, it’s more popular than the Labour policy.”
Meanwhile Mr Johnson has resorted to calling voters in a bid to whip up votes as the race enters the final stretch.
He was joined by Cabinet members Dominic Raab, Michael Gove and Theresa Villiers at the Conservative Party offices in Millbank, central London.
The group phones votes for a chat about their concerns and reiterated the party’s key election pledges.
