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Change is overdue

I’m so fed up with politics right now. Yes, I’ll be heading to the polling station on December 12 to vote in the general election.

However, you only have to look at the state of British politics to realise that the current system isn’t working.

Change is long overdue. December’s general election must be the last in British history to use our failed voting system - first past the post.

Why? Because it skews the results in every constituency, including Swindon South have failed to offer an alternative to Lib/Lab/Con.

That’s why people in Swindon should call on all their candidates to back proportional representation. We need a parliament in which seats match votes, where people feel fairly represented and not locked-out of decision-making.

That’s why I support Make Votes Matter, the movement for PR. I urge all voters to get behind the campaign for fair votes. It’s time we channelled our anger into winning real democracy.

Ask your parliamentary candidates to Pledge for PR. Apart from anything else it would encourage people to vote if they believed it could change something with the option to vote for alternatives to the status quo.

Richard Symonds, Shaw

Thank you to all

Swindon Guide Dogs would like to thank everyone who came to our Charity Christmas Coffee Morning on Saturday, November 23, at The Crown, Stratton.

Through your generosity we raised an excellent £946.

We would like to thank Danielle, Emma, Taniya and all the staff at The Crown for their help and support.

Alan Fletcher, Swindon Guide Dogs

Let’s see MPs CVs

In most walks of life, it is customary to present a CV (Curriculum Vitae) when applying for a job. This outlines what the candidate has done in their lives so far.

As most politicians appear to regard being an MP as a ‘career job’, rather than being a representative of (all) their constituents, would it not be interesting to know what the present candidates have achieved in their lives prior to entering the political arena?

This might be a better criterion for judging where to put one’s cross at election time, rather than on their promises of what they might do, if elected?

Malcolm Morrison, Prospect Hill, Swindon

Treated with contempt

Devizes has been a Conservative seat for the last 95 years.

And at all elections this century there’s been a five-figure Tory majority, currently over 20,000.

Which means that, unless you’re a Tory, your vote doesn’t matter.

Conservative Central Office is well aware of this and have parachuted Danny Kruger, Boris Johnson’s political secretary, into the constituency in the sure and certain knowledge that he will take over from Claire Perry.

The constituency and its voters have been treated with contempt by the Conservatives and Mr Kruger is complicit.

So we have the illusion of an election here, as in far too many constituencies up and down the country. The election in our constituency is a sham, as it is in all safe seats.

It’s a democratic mirage. My vote will only count in this constituency when we scrap first past the post and introduce some form of proportional representation, which is used in Wales, Scotland, the Irish Republic and across much of Europe.

We may not see PR in my lifetime but the fight for it needs to take off. I’ll be part of it and I know I won’t be alone.

Mike White, Orchard Grove, Chippenham