Quintin Jardine's blog

I’ve been trying very hard for the last four weeks to avoid blogging about the election, and all in all, I reckon I’ve done fairly well. But when I read this morning that the execrable Ed Balls and his colleague Peter Hain, another guy I’ve never been able to admire, or even like, have been urging Labour voters to vote Lib Dem in certain seats, I could restrain myself no longer. If anyone needed proof that the Black Pearl is sinking they need only cast an eye upon those two rats, as they head for the lifeboats.

That said, I have been facing up to the issue of tactical voting over the last couple of days, as I contemplate the postal ballot paper on my desk. My constituency, East Lothian is in an interesting state. In 2005 the Labour majority fell from a flattering 10,000+ to under 8,000, with the Lib Dems in second place. But, two years later in the council election, the SNP ran the Bolsheviks very close in the popular vote and emerged with the same number of seats. Since then, East Lothian CLP has had a small civil war, which resulted in the sitting MP being deselected at the last minute, and replaced by a relative unknown. So, I’ve been asking myself, what’s going to happen this time? First, I’m certain that the Labour vote will slide further; the days are gone when my Granny’s budgie would be elected if it wore a red rosette. After that my gut feeling is that the debates must have an effect, and that Alex Salmond’s  complaints over his exclusion will be shown to have been justified. I expect the Lib Dems  to benefit from Labour defections because of the Clegg effect, and that this will slew the outcome.

So I found myself pondering; since my main hope from this election is that Captain Barbossa will walk the plank, should I, in a once in a lifetime gesture, add my vote to the bandwagon?

I considered it seriously, I admit; for about fifteen minutes. Thing is, since the 1980s I have detested the Lib Dems, for the Janus-like flexibility of their platform, and for their willingness to spout utter falsehoods. Take for example, Clegg’s claim this week that the election is ‘a two-horse race’. Come on, son, if anything is clear, it is that there are now three runners in UK terms (as there are in East Lothian, since the Tories have no chance here. Labour has not gone away; it’s plain daft for Clegg to assert that. Indeed it is still slightly ahead of his party in most polls). Clearly, the Lib  Dems haven’t changed in 25 years; they’re still liars and dissemblers. Therefore, the conclusion of my personal debate was this: if the price of Barbossa’s demise is my setting my principles aside and voting for a crowd I loathe, it’s one I’m not prepared to pay. I’d sooner see Labour survive than do that.

So, my vote is cast, and sealed in the envelope, ready to be handed in, since I’ll be here on the day. It’s gone to the SNP, even though my bet would be on a Lib Dem win in East Lothian with a majority of around 1,000. Yes, I expect my party to lose, but I’ll feel good about myself even if it does . . . and that is what democracy is really about, Messrs Balls and Hain.