Tory Election Woes "Compounded" By Tactical Voting, John Curtice Predicts

The Conservatives’ election woes in seats they are hoping to defend could be further compounded by tactical voting, according to polling expert Sir John Curtice.

The veteran elections expert, and professor at the University of Strathclyde, said that tactical voting was evident earlier this year at the local elections, and harked back to 1997, when the local and general elections both saw people picking tactically. 

Speaking at an event on Wednesday night organised by Unlock Democracy and Make Votes Matter, Curtice said that some of the polls suggest there is “tactical voting” and “tactical switching” going on. 

“The honest truth is that it doesn’t look as though you need to gang up on the Conservative Party” for them to be defeated “because that’s the direction it’s going in anyway,” he told the event. 

“Some of the polls do suggest that tactical voting is going on, that tactical switching is going on.” 

In recent months polls have consistently shown Keir Starmer's Labour Party to be significantly ahead of Rishi Sunak's Conservatives, but some seat-by-seat figures are suggesting that the Lib Dems in particular are making advances at the Tories' expense. 

Curtice explained: “A couple that I’ve gone through in detail you can see the Liberal Democrats advancing - insofar as they are advancing anyway - they’re advancing in places that they’re second to the Conservatives, and Labour are doing rather better.” 

“That problem the Conservatives have of their vote falling away more heavily in where they’re trying to defend, is potentially going to be compounded by tactical voting.” 

The summer General Election comes off the back of heavy Conservative losses at this year's local elections, which saw them lose hundreds of council sets, as