Starmer’s Labour supporters continue to annoy me by insisting that we should vote Labour to get the Tories out, but they won’t tell us what they would do if they were in power. Gaining power is the be all and end all for them, they want to “make a difference” but the only difference they’ll make is a different party in government!

Starmer’s supporters are willing to expel socialists from the party but they still expect us to vote for them, I’ve yet to hear a cogent reason why we should!

In my opinion Tories will lose the next election, but that won’t mean that Labour has won even if they’re the largest party in Parliament. Smaller parties and independents can take enough seats from both major parties that neither is unable to govern without some form of coalition. I hope that will be a socialist coalition.

I don’t know how I will vote in the next general election, it will depend on who the candidates are. I may abstain by writing “none of the above” on my ballot sheet, Starmer has set a precedent for abstaining. It’s not the same thing as not voting but Tories are making it difficult for me to do that. Voting place for local elections was too far for me to walk, especially as was unsure how I would vote. Voter ID could also be a problem, my bus pass is acceptable but the photo – short haired and clean shaven – bears little resemblance to my current appearance.

I’m in a safe Tory seat anyway, so my vote wouldn’t make a difference. My current MP won’t be standing, I understand he’s been offered a peerage on the understanding he doesn’t accept it yet so as not to spark a by-election, but he’ll probably be replaced by another Tory however I vote.

Which brings me back to my original question: Why should I vote Labour? We’re constantly being told that people need a Labour government when what we need is a socialist government. I’ld vote for a socialist, however difficult it might be and how little difference it might make, or express my view of the candidates by voting “none of the above”.

This is different from a protest vote, I don’t believe in them. I tried that once in New South Wales, along with many others, but it backfired on us. We voted for independents to express dissatisfaction with the Labor Government, we wanted them returned with a reduced majority. But independents took more seats from Labor than Liberal and we ended up with a Liberal Government. It’s what prompted me to join the Australian Labor Party and try to influence policy. Of course, Liberals thought they had won and had a mandate to pursue their policies when in fact Labor had lost.

I envisage the opposite happening in the next U.K. election. I think Tories will lose but it doesn’t mean that Labour will have won if smaller parties and independents gain enough seats to make it impossible for Labour to form a government without some sort of coalition. That’s why I’ll be looking very carefully at the candidates in my constituency. It may be that the Labour candidate is most likely to take the seat from the Tories, but I don’t believe in strategic voting either so it’s not a good enough reason to vote for them. Voting isn’t like betting, I’ld bet on the most likely result but vote for the result I hope for.