Sir – I was elected a county councillor with just 30 per cent of the popular vote cast in my favour.
The electorate of North Oxford are both sophisticated in politics, and well educated, with many nuanced views on different issues and the present first-past-the-post system of deciding the winner does not suit them well. It is fine for a horse race, but not to decide the political future of any tier of government.
As we enter a new era in politics, it is surely time to reopen the debate about how voters decide the winner of any election.
If a straightforward proportional system is too much for die-hards to accept, perhaps a great British compromise might be reached whereby contests with three or fewer candidates are decided by the first-past-the- post system, but those with more than three candidates use a proportional system to determine the winner.
John Howson, Liberal Democrat, St Margaret’s Division, Oxfordshire County Council, Oxford
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