Guardian: the long march to May

Editor
Guardian

Your leader on "The long march to May" fails to mention the futility of the election campaign for most of the electorate. Under First Past the Post, Governments are chosen by swing voters in a handful of marginal constituencies, who form less than 1% of the total electorate. In safe seats, the incumbent MP is a shoo-in, and all votes cast for other candidates have no representation in Parliament. This is understood by the electorate, as is shown by the fact that turnout is inversely proportional to the majority of the sitting MP. The general election in safe seats is a highly expensive and pointless opinion poll. Rather than abstaining from the ballot, the best that anyone can do in safe seats is to vote for the party that stands for sustainabilty, equity, and a massive investment in work designed to conserve energy.


Dr Richard Lawson
Green Parliamntary Candidate for Weston-super-Mare