TACTICAL VOTE 3

WHERE TORY SUPPORTERS SHOULD HOLD THEIR NOSES AND VOTE FOR A MINORITY PARTY TO KEEP LABOUR OUT

IN THESE eight seats, the Tory candidate has little hope of victory — so the best chance of keeping the Conservatives in power nationally is to vote for a third party in order to deny Labour the seat. Here’s how…

VOTE LIB DEM IN … 68. Sheffield Hallam

many tory voters will have mixed feelings about the Coalition years — and nick Clegg in particular. yet there is little doubt that voting for him in his Sheffield seat is the best way to deny Labour a ‘gain’ here. in 2015, Clegg won with a reduced majority of 2,353. the tory candidate was a long way behind. (2015: LD 22,215, Lab 19,862, Con 7,544).

69. Cambridge

the city is the 17th most marginal seat in the country but there is little chance of the tories prevailing here. Labour’s Daniel Zeichner has a majority of just 599, with former Lib Dem mP julian huppert bestplaced to defeat him. (2015: Lab 18,646, LD 18,047, Con 8,117).

70. Burnley

the Lancashire mill town is not natural Conservative territory but the Lib Dems’ Gordon birtwistle does have a chance of unseating Labour’s julie Cooper — with help from voters who plumped for the tories last time. (2015: Lab 14,951, LD 11,707, Con 5,374).

71. Bermondsey and Old Southwark

thiS southerly flank of Central London, scene of Saturday’s terror attack, isn’t going to turn blue in a hurry but tory voters can help Lib Dem Simon hughes unseat Labour and win back the seat. (2015: Lab 22,146, LD 17,657, Con 6,051).

72. Cardiff Central

the river taff will run dry before the tories win Cardiff Central, but there is a prospect that Lib Dem candidate eluned Parrott could unseat Labour’s jo Stevens with a bit of help from the Welsh capital’s diehard Conservatives. (2015: Lab 15,462, LD 10,481, Con 5,674)

VOTE GREEN IN … 73. Bristol West

Given that the tories came fourth in bristol West in the last election, they might consider supporting Green candidate molly Scott Cato in what is her party’s biggest target seat and so help unseat Labour mP thangam Debbonaire. (2015: Lab 22,900, Green 17,227, LD 12,103, Con 9,752).

VOTE PLAID CYMRU IN … 74. Arfon

PLaiD Cymru leader Leanne Wood is not exactly everyone’s cup of tea, but given the impossibility of a Plaid Cymru government in Westminster, Conservative-minded voters might consider lending their vote to Plaid Cymru’s former leader, hywel Williams, in the arfon constituency, since Labour, but not the Conservatives, have an outside chance of catching it. (2015: PC 11,790, Lab 8,122, Con 3,521).

75. Ynys Mon

there is a closer battle still just across the menai Straits where Plaid Cymru’s ieuan Wyn jones is just 229 votes away from capturing the seat from Labour’s albert owen. a bit of tactical voting here could potentially make the difference between a Labour and Conservative government. (2015: Lab 10,871, PC 10,642, Con 7,393).