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Originally Posted by philip.j.fry
So because they have an extremely low probability of forming a Government a vote for one of these parties is worthless? I disagree, democracy means being able to make a choice based on ones own values and a vote can never be wasted. The parties that you have lumped together actually represent the entire political spectrum and if you really want to get a clearer picture of the ideologies that people are voting for then it would be better to split the options out. Plus you forgot the 'I'm going to spoil my ballot paper' option  |
I never saw the poll as being about anything so lofty as ideology ... merely a simple opinion poll exercise aimed at getting an idea of what Parliament will look like on May 6. To that end, separating out the minority parties, who between them have little more than a dozen seats of the 650-odd available, would be a little futile.
I don't think a vote for Plaid Cymru or the SNP is wasted - both parties contest seats that are winnable by any of the major three and have enough support to actually win in some constituencies. A seat gained by the SNP, for example, is a seat lost to Labour, Tory or Lib Dem. This fact is not lost on the big three and it helps ensure they bear in mind that Scottish/Welsh issues can't be ignored.
In Northern Ireland, however, it's a different matter. Voting is split broadly along sectarian lines and the only real changes are between the moderate and hard-line versions of unionism or republicanism/nationalism (I've never been entirely sure about the difference between those). The mainstream UK parties don't get a look in, so it's hardly worth their time crying over seats they might have won. If the electorate of Northern Ireland were ever to stop navel-gazing and sending MPs to Westminster on the basis of single-issue protest politics, then things might be different. As it is, if I lived in Belfast I don't think I'd even bother to get out of bed on May 5 for all the difference my vote would make to the UK.
And so to the Greens, UKIP, and others ... well, even the Referendum Party's promised hammering of the Tory vote turned out to matter little in the end once all the votes were cast in 1997. Unless and until our electoral system changes none of these parties stand much chance of winning anything, and with their candidates polling 500 or 1,000 votes at best, they stand little chance of even influencing the policies of the major parties who know that very few seats rest on such a slim majority that 500 votes could have swung it for them.