25 AUGUST 1973, Page 5

Voting Lib era l

Sir: it is just possible that you may be right and that if Mr Enoch Powell had been standing in person, the Liberals would not have won one recent byelection (after all he can only stand at one place at a time). Perhaps Mr Powell would like to try his hand at Berwick on Tweed? The fact remains that at Rochdale, at Sutton and Cheam and at Ripon candidates did stand who sponsored the full Powellite programme — and look what happened to them.

suPpose• that political commentators have to find some comPlIcated explanation of all political Phenomena. It would be too easy to record the simple fact that people have started voting Liberal because they want to elect Liberal MPs, Ivor R. M. Davies 80 Middle Way, Oxford