Why you don’t have to vote tactically if you put your heart in it – Jayne Dowle

I’M not going to vote tactically today, but I’ll certainly be crossing my fingers and hoping that the long game plays out.

You might disagree, but I’m fortunate that my sitting MP in Barnsley East has been Labour’s Stephanie Peacock. She’s not a super-controversial figure, unlike her colleague Dan Jarvis in next-door Barnsley Central who is also Sheffield City Region mayor.

I’ve given the situation a lot of thought and I’ve concluded that I’m prepared to compromise. At the same time, I’m able to stick to my principles.

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That said, the party Ms Peacock represents bears little resemblance to any version I’ve ever voted for before. I’ve felt the wrath of its online trolls personally, and it was very intimidating and upsetting.

Will you be voting tactically in today's election?Will you be voting tactically in today's election?
Will you be voting tactically in today's election?

However, the only thing I can do is to look both forward and back. Jeremy Corbyn is 70 years old. He’s the current leader, but he isn’t the Labour party in human form. I’ll just say that and leave it there.

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My political memory is long enough to recall the threat of Militant in the 1980s when people were exhorted to vote tactically in favour of SDP/Liberal Alliance candidates. In 1987, my pencil wavered but veered towards Labour in the end. It was my first general election and I felt the significance of the moment.

Labour's Stephanie Peacock is seeking re-election in Barnsley East.Labour's Stephanie Peacock is seeking re-election in Barnsley East.
Labour's Stephanie Peacock is seeking re-election in Barnsley East.

I suppose that many people uncomfortable with the choices in front of them today will simply abstain or spoil their ballot papers. I can’t do that on a point of honour because women fought so hard for the vote. Also, I swear my grandmother – who reminded me of this quite regularly – would come back and haunt me.

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I suppose I could vote Lib Dem in protest at Ms Peacock’s commitment to Brexit. However, I disagree strongly with leader Jo Swinson’s proposals to legalise cannabis – it’s socially irresponsible.

Has Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn been a help or hindrance to his party?Has Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn been a help or hindrance to his party?
Has Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn been a help or hindrance to his party?

And I’m not prepared to tell my own grandchildren that I was too squeamish to put up a proper fight in 2019. I respect anyone’s right to vote for whom they please, but I don’t think that Boris Johnson is morally equipped to be Prime Minister.

Other local people may think differently.

At the last election in 2017, Ms Peacock achieved a majority of 13,283 votes. However, at the same time, support for the Conservatives in our constituency almost doubled, with their candidate taking more than a quarter of the vote. Read into that what you will.

I’d love to know Ms Peacock’s private view on Brexit. I could be wrong, but I suspect that her support is as much a pragmatic intervention as it is a personal commitment.

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In March, she quit as an Opposition whip over calls for a second referendum, saying she had been elected to honour the 2016 result. Barnsley overall voted massively in favour of leaving the EU. In her letter to Jeremy Corbyn she wrote: “I believe the people spoke in 2016 and we need to enact their decision.”

By doing that, she technically gave local Brexit party supporters what they want. If they turn out in droves today and reduce her majority significantly on the grounds that the Labour party has become an ultra-left-wing organisation led by an out-of-touch metropolitan elite, I hope that the lesson is heeded.

It isn’t dutiful constituency MPs such as Ms Peacock who should be getting it in the neck; it’s the leadership of the party that needs to pore over the results in every single constituency and ask themselves the relevant questions.

However, I’m not going to tell them what those questions might be. Neither you or I or even the most knowledgeable political experts can accurately predict what’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

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If I really wanted to, I could agonise over the philosophical difficulties of casting my vote for a candidate who does not represent my own view on leaving the European Union. I’m not going to do that either because, as a nation, we have to look at the biggest picture.

If anything, our position over Europe has become a self-contained, stand-alone matter. If we leave with a deal, no-deal or even hold another referendum, life must go on around it.

I’m beginning to think of Brexit as an iceberg isolated in a swirling, chilly sea of the NHS, child poverty, raising educational standards, investment in the North of England, the threat hanging over HS2 and a whole raft of other issues that I’m worried about if Boris Johnson is returned with a sweeping majority.

That’s why I’m going to cross my fingers and follow my heart. It’s as simple as that.