tactical voting

British  

noun

1. (in an election) the practice of casting one's vote not for the party of one's choice but for the second strongest contender in order to defeat the likeliest winner

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Example Sentences

One of the contributing factors to Blair’s landslide victory in 1997 came from so-called tactical voting, whereby some voters put aside their political preference and vote for whoever has the best chance of defeating the party they oppose the most.

From Seattle Times

Tactical voting has reemerged and was evident somewhat in Thursday’s elections where Conservative candidates lost out to other parties, not just Labour, but also to the centrist Liberal Democrats and also to the Green Party.

From Seattle Times

One of the contributing factors to Blair’s landslide victory in 1997 came from so-called tactical voting, whereby some voters put aside their preferred political party and back whoever they think is most likely to defeat the Conservative candidate.

From Seattle Times

Prof Bale references the 1997 election as an example of successful anti-Tory tactical voting in a general election, but says it worked in-part due to a "so-called pact" between previous party leaders.

From BBC

But he added there was "no need and no wish" for a pre-election pact with Labour at a leadership level, noting that polls show increasing levels of tactical voting anyway.

From BBC