Tactical voting in Sheffield

[Stoatwobbler 10]

It's more a case of boots on the ground, you'll get a lot of eager volunteers in Sheffield and they're hardly likely to want to go up to Scotland and probably wouldn't be welcome by some Scots anyway. In the current electoral atmosphere it's the only seat in Sheffield that has a realistic opportunity of changing hands so it's unsurprising that both Labour and Lib Dems are going all in. Even in South Yorkshire as a whole UKIP are on the march but polls don't show them getting anywhere near the Labour incumbents with UKIP topping out at 22%.

 

It might be that people are just very keen to volunteer to get rid of Clegg. Of course it could be shortsightedness from Labour as well.

 

Here's another article about former Conservative candidate for Sheffield Hallam John Harthman endorsing Clegg

 

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/15/former-tory-candidate-tells-sheffield-hallam-to-vote-clegg

 

A former Conservative party candidate for Sheffield Hallam has written to people in the area telling them to vote for the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, in order to prevent a Labour win.

 

In a letter sent out by the Lib Dems as part of their election literature, John Harthman – who stood against the rival party’s last MP in the constituency, Richard Allan in 2001 – says that Clegg was “incredibly brave” to put “the country’s interests before his own party interests” when he went into coalition with the Conservative party at the last election.

 

“Conservatives in Sheffield Hallam have a choice,” the letter reads. “We can stick to our narrow party interests and vote for a Tory candidate who won’t win, or we can vote Nick Clegg to make sure that Ed Miliband’s Labour candidate doesn’t sneak in through the back door.”

 

Harthman argues that it “is in the best interests of the people of Sheffield Hallam and the country as a whole” that Clegg is returned as MP for the constituency, “so I’d urge you to give him your vote in May this year”.

Edited April 16, 2015 by Stoatwobbler
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[smiggs 10]

I don't mean trying to un-seat Sturgeon, I can't see that happeneing.

 

but alot of their Scottish seats are (supposedly) under threat of being taken by SNP, surely it's worth the effort to keep 20 seats Labour rather than take 1 Lib Dem.

 

I just get the feeling they might win a couple from other parties then loose ten times more and look a complete mess when the results come in :(

 

That's the whole narrative of the past five years in British politics Labour are gaining seats in England but losing in Scotland.

[Ms Macbeth 70]

There are other ways of looking at this. As a Labour supporter in Hallam, I welcome the opportunity at last to vote for my first preference and know that it could make a difference. And for Labour to gain a foothold in Hallam would be really significant, when you think how many years it was a safe Tory seat.

If the situation changes over the next 2 weeks, it may still be necessary to vote tactically for the Liberals. In my view the economically illiterate Conservatives must not be let loose; their response to the BANKING/FINANCIAL crisis has been totally inadequate; we must not forget that in 2008 Osborne and Cameron were still saying that there was too much regulation of the banks and financial sector.

JohnE

 

Just how most non Labour voters feel in the rest of Sheffield I imagine.

[bungleboy69 98]

There are other ways of looking at this. As a Labour supporter in Hallam, I welcome the opportunity at last to vote for my first preference and know that it could make a difference. And for Labour to gain a foothold in Hallam would be really significant, when you think how many years it was a safe Tory seat.

 

Well said that person from another labour voting family in Hallam...

 

Lots of people I've spoken to who voted LibDem last time are voting Labour this time - great news!

[InigoMontoya 10]

Just how most non Labour voters feel in the rest of Sheffield I imagine.

 

Really?

 

Like Sheffield Central - where Richard Caborn (with a little help from one ACL Blair) turned a Labour majority of nearly 20,000 to one of under 200 for his successor?

 

If disaffected Labour voters defect to the Greens this time around - almost certainly having more in common with their manifesto than they ever did with the LibDems - then it could be close again)

[Mad Hatter 10]

...Labour have thrown a lot of money at unseating Clegg. An amount I would be interested in knowing personally. They are doing everything they can to unseat Clegg...

 

The Labour candidate has put a lot of time and money into unseating Clegg. It's not a Labour marginal - so Labour HQ hasn't devoted resources to Sheffield Hallam.

 

What's interesting is that all the growth in support is down to the candidate and his volunteer base is largely students. Consequently, it's rather outside the national trends. Personally, I'd say Clegg will just squeak back in, but it really is too close to call at the moment.

[geared 300]

his volunteer base is largely students.

 

ah yes Students were mightily unhappy about the rise in tuition fee's so I can understand their support for Labour now.

It's in the Labour Manifesto, in Black and White:

 

We will cut tuition fees from £9,000 to £6,000

 

I wonder if that is an election pledge Labour will bother to keep??

[woodmally 10]

Will the Tories in Sheffield Hallam now vote Lib dem to keep out the Labour candidate ? Could well happen.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/election-2015-32313846

 

Possibly its always been a toss up between them two. Though Oliver Coppard seems quite Blairite and corporate so will win over people.

 

He was high up in the Dearn Valley regeneration project I think.

[geared 300]

The polls put Labour in front in Hallam, and Clegg seems a little bit no plussed about it all.

The same polls paint a bad picture in Scotland tho, with it looking like Labour might loose 90% of their seats up there to SNP.

 

We might end up with Cons and Labour both with roughly equal numbers of seats in this election, then what??

[JFKvsNixon 11]

The polls put Labour in front in Hallam, and Clegg seems a little bit no plussed about it all.

The same polls paint a bad picture in Scotland tho, with it looking like Labour might loose 90% of their seats up there to SNP.

 

We might end up with Cons and Labour both with roughly equal numbers of seats in this election, then what??

 

I can't see the Lib-Dems and the Conservatives getting more seats than the SNP and Labour combined.

 

So it looks like even though the Conservatives might get a small win, it's going to be a struggle to see how they'll be able to claim power, because Labour and the SNP will just oppose any measures that they'll try to introduce leading to an eventual vote of no confidence.

 

So even though Labour are losing the seats, the seats aren't going to a rival party.

 

And for what it's worth I think that Clegg will hang on to his seat, just.

[stressconsul 10]

Labour has not prioritised Sheffield Hallam, in spite of what the forum fantasists may say, no extra money has been spent here. Oliver Coppard has worked hard to get boots on the ground, many of them students, still outraged at Lib Dem lies. I will be voting for Coppard and will be delighted to see Clegg swamped by his own duplicity.

[WalkleyIan 10]

If you've got a spare 9 minutes or so

 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/video/2015/apr/16/nick-clegg-sheffield-hallam-general-election-video