Why I'm voting for the SDP

No mainstream party deserves my vote

This is the first general election where I am spoilt for choice. I live in Canterbury and could quite happily lend my vote to Rosie Duffield. Time and again she has bravely stood her ground against the gender identity bullies. She’s a constant reminder to Keir Starmer that women’s rights are not negotiable. Being able to define women in relation to biological reality is a key issue in this election. If gender ideology is allowed to tighten its grip then so much is at stake: women’s rights, children’s safety, education, fairness in sport, sexual equality... I’d vote for Rosie on that basis alone.

But a vote for Rosie Duffield is a vote for the Labour Party. And despite some desperate, last minute wriggling from Starmer on what it means to be a woman, I am not convinced he means a word of it. What’s more, a vote for Labour is a vote for a technocratic government that will compromise on Brexit, undermine democracy by parcelling out more powers to unelected judges and quangos, and let woke run rife through every public institution, including schools. Labour talks ‘change’ but offers no plan for economic growth and no vision of a better society.

The real story of this election is the implosion of the Conservative Party. The only question that remains come Thursday is the sheer scale of the party’s devastation. This is something to celebrate. The party betrayed its 2019 voters by transforming from a semi-populist ‘Get Brexit Done!’ party under Boris Johnson to a technocratic failure under the appointed-to-post Sunak. It did this against the wishes of voters and its own party members.

Under 14 years of Tory rule, nothing was done to increase prosperity beyond the south east of England or to stem the influence of woke ideology within the public sector. The last government in particular thwarted the will of voters to see real, democratic change and have the issues they cared about - such as high levels of immigration - addressed.

So, neither Labour nor the Conservatives deserve my vote. In fact, I’d like to see both parties disappear from the political landscape and with it the technocratic mamagerialism they dwell within and the outdated ‘left’ ‘right’ framework we still rely on for making sense of politics. The whole political establishment deserve a bloody nose. A vote for a non-mainstream party is the way to go this election, followed by badly needed electoral reform to bring new voices and new ideas into parliament.

For this reason, I’ll be voting for the SDP on Thursday. The brilliant Luke Buchanan-Hodgman is our local candidate. You can find out more about Luke - and the SDP - in this great interview here.

The SDP Manifesto, Homecoming, is a superb document and well worth a read. It articulates a positive vision of Britain that allows the economy to grow and families to flourish. It unashamedly speaks to the national interest. Here are just a few highlights:

• The Human Rights Act will be replaced by a new Bill of Rights drawing upon the British tradition of liberty, free speech and free association and incorporating established principles such as habeas corpus and the rule of law.

• We will withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the Council of Europe, the 1951 UN Refugee Convention and all other international instruments which deny UK sovereignty.

• All specialist ‘Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’ roles throughout the public sector will be abolished. Public sector organisations will select on merit, and strive to attract the best available talent regardless of identity, place of birth, or upbringing.

• Natural monopolies such as railways, water, gas transportation and electricity distribution will be returned to public ownership.

• We will pursue an active industrial policy centred on productivity and investment and provide a long-term planning framework for the skills, technologies, energy resources and transport infrastructure required for economic growth.

• A national industrial strategy will be produced aimed at re-industrialisation, skills training, the reduction of regional inequalities, supply chain resilience, the creation of high quality jobs and the elimination of the UK’s trade deficit.

• The contribution of nuclear energy to Britain’s electricity mix will be increased from 12% to 40% by 2035. We will renew our existing nuclear plants and develop new large-scale Generation IV reactors and small modular reactors. Planning rules for the approval of new nuclear facilities will be streamlined.

• The fundamental aim of national housing policy shall be to ensure that young people seeking to start a family will be able to find a suitable, affordable home in which to do so.

• We will establish a British Housing Corporation (BHC) to oversee and fund the construction of 100,000 social homes per year.

• We oppose proposals that would allow someone to change their sex marker by self-identification only. The Equality Act and Gender Recognition Act will be amended to ensure that sex-based rights which require protection in key domains are not undermined by a change in sex marker.

• In the interests of Britain’s community relations and the survival of our hard-won welfare state we will vigorously resist the idea of ‘open borders’. Britain’s immigration policy must be skillsbased, needs-based, legal and subject to democratic control.

• Universities are for all. They will be expected to accommodate a wide variety of viewpoints, giving space for civil discussion without fear of harassment or no-platforming.

The manifesto’s commitment to academic freedom deserves a special mention. No other political party even discusses this issue. The SDP promises to defend:

• The right to express your own opinions without being silenced or intimidated by those who disagree with you.

• The right to be offended by what other people might say, but to respect their right to say it – and to get over it.

• The right to be treated as an equal, irrespective of colour, creed, age, social class, sexual orientation, nationality or biological sex.

• The right – indeed the duty – to challenge all established orthodoxies, even those of the academy itself.

• The right to an education which is politically broad, free of indoctrination and introduces a wide variety of viewpoints.

• The right to be able to hear outside speakers at university who possess a wide variety of views in a civil atmosphere and without harassment or intimidation.

• The right to be judged by your lecturers purely according to academic ability, regardless of how greatly your political views might differ from theirs.

For all these reasons, I am looking forward to backing Luke Buchanan-Hodgman and voting for the SDP on Thursday.