Councillor Steve Galloway is quoted in the Evening Press opining that the BNP will never be serious candidates in York (Almost A Fifth Would Vote BNP, April 18).
I very much hope that he's right - but, if so, that's no thanks to his
party. It has long been a cornerstone of Liberal Democrat policy to
"reform" our electoral system into one which uses a form of proportional representation.
Such an electoral system has, for example, enabled the BNP's French counterparts to win a significant and steadily increasing level of representation in that country's legislature. Therefore, if the Lib Dems had got their way, it's very likely that BNP MPs would have been elected by now.
To a certain extent I share their frustrations with our current electoral system - especially so, given that I am a Conservative supporter.
The Tories polled more actual votes in the last General Election than Labour, but under our current system Mr Blair is still in Number 10.
But that's a relatively small price to pay for an electoral system which for centuries has proven very reliable at keeping extremist crackpots from both the right and the left away from any serious power.
The consequence of destroying that system is something which anyone who is contemplating a vote for the Liberal Democrats should bear in mind.
Leo Enticknap,
Bootham,
York.
Updated: 10:24 Thursday, April 20, 2006
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