Fair’s fair

Published: 13, May, 2010

• BOTH the general and the local elections show yet again how the seats won by each party do not fairly reflect the votes for each party, because we still use the unfair and outdated system.
In the Camden Council results Labour is once again over-represented while the other three parties are under-represented. Labour now has 59 per cent of the seats with only 34 per cent of the votes, while the Greens have only 2 per cent of the seats with 12 per cent of the votes.
Or to put it another way, 11,000 Green voters get just one Green councillor, while 23,000 Conservatives get 10 councillors, and even they are under-represented.
If the result in Camden had been proportional to the votes cast (with Haverstock ward still to vote), the allocation of seats would now be: Labour 17, Lib Dems 15, Conservatives 13, Greens six.
The new government at Westminster must ensure that local government in England changes to a modern voting system capable of giving fair representation to all.
JOHN COLLINS
St Albans Road, NW5