On a bright winter’s day in St Andrews, Miriam Eyre explained why she planned to vote tactically at the general election. A student of English and Spanish at St Andrews University, Eyre hails from York but has registered to vote in the UK’s most marginal seat – North East Fife. “I’ve registered to vote here as it’s more of a marginal seat than York,” Eyre told openDemocracy, explaining that her home constituency is the York Central seat, a Labour stronghold. She adds: “I thought my vote would count for more up here.”
Eyre was among around 200 people who had marched through the Fife coastal town, famed as the home of golf and the place where Prince William met Kate Middleton. Eyre was on a climate change protest, one of more than 100 held across the UK on 29th November 2019, and the noisy march finished at West Sands, a beach immortalised by the Oscar winning film Chariots of Fire.
As Eyre spoke to openDemocracy political parties contesting the North East Fife seat gave speeches on the beach outlining policies to address the climate emergency.
