Why no mention of electoral reform?

Dear Sir,

I'm amazed, though perhaps not entirely surprised, that you managed to write your entire editorial on the local election results in last week's Chronicle without once mentioning electoral reform.

With fi rst past the post, our present system of voting and counting those votes, we get huge majorities on councils that do not refl ect the votes cast with the results that you so clearly portray.

When the electorate become unenthusiastic, to put it mildly, with the incumbent party it votes with its feet and the result is cataclysmic.

As you again mention, these new councillors need to fi nd their feet quickly and be careful not to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.

All or much of this could be avoided if we moved to a preferential and proportional system where minority parties are better represented and seats more closely match votes cast.

Perhaps in the fullness of time we will get such a system; until then we can expect these predictable scenarios to keep repeating themselves.

Yours faithfully,

(DR) PETER HIRST

Chairman,

Congleton Liberal Democrats.