I am surprised David Quarry should suggest “most UK voters” do not understand the Alternative Vote (Letters, July 8).

I would suggest, on the contrary, that it is the only system, apart from first past the post, that is generally understood.

Questionnaires inviting punters to place items in order of preference are commonplace, and are surely understood by everybody.

Furthermore, I would suggest most people could not name more than two systems of proportional representation.

Whether they want either of them or care about them is a matter for conjecture.

I note small political parties peddle only their own favourite system. They never ask what voters want. If they ever did, that is what I would call “real political reform”.

I dare say most people would prefer to be represented by MPs who are incorruptible, truthful, and honest.

Judging by newspaper correspondence columns nationwide, few believe that this can be effected by any political party.

If candidates were proposed by sponsorship of their fellow citizens, rather than by the present cash- down lottery, it might encourage the participation of the kind of dedicated members who served this nation long before the advent of self-serving political parties.

William Dixon Smith, Welland Rise, Acomb, York.