• Election 2015 badge

Should You Vote Tactically In The General Election?

Unsure about whether you should vote for your first-choice party or vote tactically to keep a different party out? Our guide can help.

by Tom Phillips, Jim Waterson, Paul Curry
William Warby Flickr: wwarby / Creative Commons / Tom Phillips / BuzzFeed

The UK goes to the polls on Thursday – but even if you know which party you want to vote for, you could still be faced with a tough decision at the ballot box.

Rui Vieira / PA WIRE

What if your favoured party can't win in your constituency? What if a party you really hate wins your seat because you voted for a party that had no chance? Could you help stop that by voting for a party that isn't your first choice but has a better chance of beating the party you want to keep out?

So we've built a tool to help you make your decision.

Just enter your constituency name, or your postcode, below.

Then choose which party standing in your seat you'd ideally like to vote for; which party would be your second choice; and which party you're most keen to keep out of your seat. We'll tell you whether you should think about switching your vote.

Just a second...

Enter a constituency or postcode:

Checking who is standing...

What are your preferences?

I'd like to vote for:

I'd consider voting for:

I'd like to keep out:

Here's what we think:

Apologies to readers in Northern Ireland – because of the slightly different nature of the party system there, this won't work for you. Sorry.

To create this, we ranked each party's chances in every seat in England, Scotland, and Wales. Our assessment of each constituency is based on national, regional, and (where available) local polls, the results in 2010 and at subsequent by-elections, and reporting and analysis from BuzzFeed News and other outlets.

However, the nature of Britain's electoral system means that there's always local variation and uncertainty – so you should treat this as a guide, not as gospel.

If you think we've got the state of play of your constituency wrong, email tom.phillips@buzzfeed.com.