17 DECEMBER 1965, Page 12

Over the Border

S1R,—Even if Donald Southgate is right in saying that in the 1951 election the numbers of Socialist and Conservative supporters were almost exactly equal, that still does not justify the result, which gave one side thirty-five more scats than the other.

But we do not really know what the electors' choice would have been had they been limited to choosing between Conservative and Labour, nor what it would have been if they had been free to vote for the candidate and the party they really preferred. without risk of 'wasting their vote' and letting in the candidate they wanted least.

It may well be that the 49 per cent vote for Labour in 1951 when it was thrown out of office and the 44 per cent last year when it was put back in office both misrepresent that party's real support; if so, it is just another indication that our electoral system is in urgent need of reform.

ENID LAKEMAN

The Electoral Reform Society, Creek Road, London, SE8