Former MP speaks out about tactical voting in frank video

26th November 2019

The respected former Southport MP John Pugh has intervened in the tactical voting debate by posting his frank views on Facebook in an outspoken video.

Mr Pugh explains how he beat the Conservatives in Southport four times by appealing as a Liberal Democrat to the non-Conservative majority. He backs it up by pointing to the record, and claims there will never be a Corbynist or Socialist majority in Southport:

Failure to realise that now, he argues, will ensure a Tory victory as it did in 2017.  

“That’s bad in itself given the right wing lurch of the Conservative Party,” says Mr Pugh. “As Southport is one of the seats they need to win, however, it really matters. It could determine whether Boris Johnson remains as Prime Minister. Most tactical websites wisely suggest people vote for our Lib Dem candidate John Wright to stop Johnson.”.

However, Mr Pugh argues that that involves people voting with their heads as well as their hearts.

“Paradoxically, the Labour candidate making her third unsuccessful attempt to win Southport could be the very move that hands the keys of Downing St back to Boris Johnson on December 12th, because a socialist majority in Southport simply doesn’t exist.”

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