Picture the scene, and bear with me.
You’re sat in a coffee shop, hand wrapped tightly around a large coffee because, well, life is exhausting.
You overhear, on the table next to you, two friends having a catch up. One, holding a large mocha (not relevant, I just fancy a large mocha), says to the other, ‘I’m thinking of voting for the Green Party! I’m really behind their stance on banning all blood sports, including trail hunting to protect nature!’
You smile to yourself - good! A lively discussion on the 2024 manifestos ahead of the election!
But then, you feel the shift in the air, the silent pause, the rumbling of pressure radiating from the table, the surface tension of the coffee barely holding, and then, the other person spits out:
‘But that’s a wasted vote!’

What in the world is that about??
The concept of ‘the wasted vote’ is a quagmire of vicious political repetition. To put it shortly, this common phrase is much more destructive than people seem to think when they say it out loud. Allow me to demonstrate:
You decide that voting for the Liberal Democrats - you really resonate with their stance on fair housing. You voice this opinion to someone.
‘It’s a wasted vote!’ they say. Oh, okay. I guess you’ll vote for Labour or the Conservatives instead then. No big deal. But wait:
What if everyone is repeating this pattern, all over the UK? How can any other party outside the Conservative, Labour and maybe Lib Dem expect to gain any seats when there is this repetition of the ‘wasted vote’?
The numbers:
In the 2019 elections, 47,568,611 people voted.
Of those people people:
13,966,451 voted Conservative
10,295,912 voted Labour
19,609,829 voted for other parties
A surprising number of people seem to be plumping for a party outside of the blue/red battle in the UK, so why aren’t these parties gaining more seats in the general election?
I would argue that the ‘wasted vote’ comment has a surprising amount to do with it.
If every time someone wishes to vote outside of the most common parties, they are reminded that their vote is ‘wasted’, they are much more likely to change their decision. If this is happening all over the UK, there is little hope that other parties can make it into parliament in a leading role.
This is why this stance is so destructive. It’s a brutal cycle of no other party being able to get more than a foot in the door, because voters are being told that to vote for them is a waste of time, and, more importantly, a waste of their say in how the UK is run.
So, what can be done?
For one, we can stop using the term ‘wasting your vote’. The point of the election is to maintain democracy in the UK - how can we be expected to choose between the many parties that apply whilst also keeping an eye on how others perceive us?
We can also read manifestos. This may seem like an obvious point, but there seems to be an awful lot of family loyalty in voting - i.e., if your parents vote conservative, you too may vote conservative out of expectation. Make sure you’re up to date on what each party is promising, and make an educated decision!
And finally, VOTE FOR THE PARTY YOU WANT. Truly. Even if it’s the fabled Monster Raving Loony Party who promote ‘vote for insanity’, amongst other things. It’s your decision, so vote as you wish, and scold people when they try to tell you that your vote is ‘wasted’. The only wasted vote is the vote not cast.
This leads my quite nicely to my final point. At the time of publication, it is three days until the election.
MAKE SURE YOU VOTE!
Do not - and I can’t believe I am writing this at the end of this article - waste your vote by not voting!
GENERAL ELECTION: THURSDAY 4TH JULY 2024
VOTE!