Is this the right way to make my UK election vote count as much as possible?
Yes. Your vote is primarily there to achieve an objective first and foremost. Croydon Central is a classic 2-way marginal, battling it out between Labour and Tory, squeezing the Lib Dems to a respectable core vote of about 6000. This looks very promising for the Tories to take this seat comfortably this time, unless the Labour activists are in good enough heart to make a fight of it. There isn’t quite enough for the Lib Dems to take the seat, but a good result for them would be to shift to 2nd place and be much better positioned to take on the Tory next time. If you are Labour or Conservative, then you stay put. Likewise, if you support a minor party or independent, every vote increases their standing and likelihood of moving up the pecking order. My advice if you are a Lib Dem supporter, would be to help the campaign of the nearest candidate in with a chance. They have a bridgehead in SW London (Vince Cable is sitting MP for the Middlesex seat where I was born), so seats just east of
