Those who win by tactical voting, lose by tactical voting. That was one of the lessons of the local elections which took place on 1st May 2008. The means seen by those of a Leftist persuasion as an effective method of denying electoral success to the Conservatives, has been found to be a two-edged sword.
In the London mayoral elections, the proportional representation-a-type voting system chosen by New Labour was supposed to have given the alliance of the centre/centre-left a permanent in-built majority, but the assumption that such an alliance would always “do” for the Conservatives has been demolished.
One of the material miscalculations by the Left was an ingrained belief that the electorate was largely liberal-left and tribal. It is not. In essence it is liberal-conservative with a fairly flexible attitude to group loyalty. The mood of the electorate shifts with the times and with the circumstances. Thus, if it perceives a government, any government, is tired, corrupt, incompetent or no longer fit for office for what ever reason, eventually it will confound any voting system or any tactical alliance designed to maintain the status quo.
The general sentiment that evicted the Conservatives from power in 1997 was first and foremost anti-government, not anti-Conservative, even though that defeat was turned into a rout by the “anyone but a Tory” Labour and Liberal Democrat alliance. Times have changed and Labour will reap what it sowed.
Sauce for the Labour Gander is not sauce for the Tory Goose