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It would be great if the web could help confirm a hung parliament, bringing about a coalition with Lib Dems who can demand electoral reform.

BUT before Tory scaremongers jump down my throat, even if it doesn't this time around, these websites will have a major impact on the next first-past-the-post general election. 5 years is a long time on the web, and given the average turnout, it won't take much to have a tangible effect on the way we vote and the outcome itself.

You are absolutely spot on Rory - that's why these campaigns need to simplify their message.

There are, admittedly, one or two constituencies where an independent or Green Party candidate has a chance. Everywhere else, the message should be simple: votd Lib Dem. It won't guarantee a hung parliament, but it will ensure more Lib Dem MPs and give Nick Clegg a bigger mandate to secure electoral reform. And it is a lot safer than voting in some complex, tactical way way to ensure neither the Tories or Labour have too much power.

It doesn't help that sites like Hang 'Em and Vote for a Chamge have diametrically opposite goals: Hang 'Em is focused on hurting Labour as hard as possible, while for Vote for a Change Labour is the default option. They are currently pulling in opposite directions and thus, even at their own small scale, risk canceling each other out.

I met Gordon Brown yesterday at Southampton University and asked him what he though about my idea to use the Internet to empower the public to Vote For Yourself and do away with politics. I got a typically long, bore for Britain answer, but he did allow that it was possible in 5-10 years.

The thing with any new idea is that you need time to feel comfortable with it – and unfortunately that’s the one thing that’s in short supply between now and next Thursday. The trouble with tactical voting, spoiling your ballot paper, not voting or making a protest vote (hopefully the Greens rather than the BNP) etc is that it’s ultimately a complete waste of time - a few thousand votes swapped is a drop in the ocean.

Look at our current system as horses, the Holy Grail of PR as steam and the Internet as electricity – let’s move straight to the Internet and use it to debate policies all the way through to fine details.

After a reasonable period, let’s say a month, you could have a few days for the public to vote and actually feel that their own views, perhaps altered by reading a persuasive blog or watching someone’s Youtube, are being accurately reflected in a consensus based law that would be well-thought out and properly debated. It could include quite drastic new measures eg it might be legalising drugs or building more prisons or combining the many different personal taxes – hey, we’re talking about rebuilding the nation here and the sorts of measures being proposed by the Big 3 (particularly in a coalition after a hung parliament) are not going to do this.

The Big 3 propose to continue sailing the sinking ship of state while the officer class swan about pretending that we haven’t hit an iceberg and while those who have direct access to the captain’s table are first in line for the lifeboats. Meanwhile everyone else is locked below deck bailing out. 100 years after the Titanic sunk, we do not appear to have made much progress either with the class system or with recognising that we’ve been lied to since day 1 and that this will continue until we use the democratic process to regain control of our own lives.

I was late starting my campaign, but the original plan was to endorse an independent in each constituency and stand a V4Y candidate where necessary. The plan now is still to endorse an independent, but where there is no such candidate to organise those constituents to vote Green or UKIP or LibDem. I will have a list up on the www.voteforyourself.org.uk website by next Tuesday showing who is the V4Y endorsed candidate.

Clearly the likely outcome next week is a hung parliament followed by a short-lived coalition so we’re going to be back here this time next year. By that time we’ll have some form of PR (and which version we get will be fun, will it be the real Holy Grail or a poisoned chalice?) and it is likely that we’ll get another hung parliament.

After years of wanting PR, getting V4Y instead is like losing a quid and finding a £50 note! Check out www.v4y.org.uk

It would help if count my vote actually displayed how many people had voted - my seat (currently tory) had 100% Lib Dem, but that turned out to be because only 1 person had visited it prior to me.
What would be interesting is a post election reflection, what will the site predict for each seat on the 6th may vs what actually happens as this sort of tool wont vanish and may be more popular next time, we need to know credability.
Vote match gave me a max % of 53 for one party (which I shall not be voting for as I dont like my local candidate) which prob says no party is anywhere near what I believe.

We're trying to do something very similar with www.twitvoteuk.org.uk. We're mapping out the opinions received by constituency, and you can see the results so far per constituency. We don't have any stance towards influencing the election in any way, rather to demonstrate the technology and ability that crowd-sourcing via Twitter can offer.

Agree with number 2. Realistically anyone who wants the minor party of their choice to actually have a genuine voice in the future should be voting for the Lib Dems, the only major party with a vested interest in electoral reform (and therefore the only ones likely to do more than pay lip service to it once the election is over).

I was surprised when UKIP told its voters to back the Conservatives. By doing so they're only supporting the system that shuts their party out. It would make much more sense for UKIP voters to back the Lib Dems, because if we can get electoral reform, UKIP voters will get more representation in future parliaments.

Add to that, that the Lib Dems have said they would have a referendum for any further transfer of power to the EU, which is something the Conservatives wouldn't do.

Other nations have the exact same political troubles we appear to have here in America. Recently the Britain Prime Minister was caught labeling Gillian Duffy, a former council worker, a bigoted woman. The remark has started quite a few controversy that may result in a hung parliament at their forthcoming elections. Gordon Brown did try to apologize proclaiming he was referring to a remark she made about their immigration issues. Sadly, Gillian Duffy supported Brown, and has now said she no more supports him anymore; making his opposition gain some ground.

There's also the huge youtube backlash against Murdoch trying to make sure a hung parliament doesn't happen. Have a look at 'A Hund Parliament is Death':

Here is the list of the top 100 constituencies where your tactical vote could prevent a Tory majority:

Twit it!

LOL... of course I had to google it myself to check it out (your blog comes up in the yahoo search results for hung parliament now too by the way Rory - even in Uganda!)... and you're right about the 'certaing lingerie retailer'.. that was funny!

Given the current level of in Britain, I personally think the UK is well on its way to a hung parliament without any help. Ironically the same citizens that are so frustrated with the incumbents are likely to be the ones contributing to the hanging.

If it ain't broke don't fix it. The black metal box, bit of paper and stubby ball point works with virtually 100% reliability and costs very little Compared to the likely budget overun and reliabilty of any national IT scheme only a maniac (or someone with shares in the IT company) would seriously suggest replacing the polling station with the PC.