English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg has called for tactical voting in order to make the Liberal Democrats the official opposition to the UK government. In a recent Twitter thread, Bragg explained that if the Liberal Democrats win more seats than the Conservative Party, they could become the main opposition to a widely predicted Labour majority. Quoting impartiality rules, Bragg has suggested media outlets would then ask the Liberal Democrats to comment on Labour performance in office – effectively ensuring that the Liberal Democrats hold Labour to account.
Bragg has described tactical voting to achieve this goal as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to move the Tories into third place. He also argued that people need to vote for the candidate most likely to defeat the Conservative candidate in their constituency, even if this means voting against a favoured or longstanding political party. Bragg has even shared the StopTheTories.Vote website to offer advice to those seeking to prevent the Conservatives winning.
The plan could see Liberal Democrats granted the right to six questions per week at PMQs, 17 opposition days to push their agenda and hold votes, and the first right of reply to the King’s Speech – significantly increasing “Brexit, voting reform, and environmental” issues’ prominence. The implementation of Bragg’s plan would see tactical voting have a significant impact with high-profile conservative MPs such as former Prime Minister Liz Truss, current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, and Jacob Rees-Mogg, Ian Duncan Smith, and Kimi Badenoch possibly losing their seats.
Bragg regularly comments on the political landscape, and recently spoke to NME about the Left Field stage at the Glastonbury Festival, which he helps to organise. Speaking in the run-up to the election, Bragg suggested that the stage was focusing on issues such as housing, immigration, accountability, and trans rights, stating that Lee Anderson had suggested the Tories would fight the election on trans issues and culture wars because they no longer had policies left
Read the full article on NME here: Read More