26 OCTOBER 1974, Page 4

Sir: We now have a Labour Governmen t because whereas the

Labour PartY polled within 200,000 of its FebruarY total Ph million Conservatives stayed away and some 700,000 (possibly els° Conservatives) who in February voted Liberal did likewise. Taking int°, account the larger number of Liberal candidates this latter figure is probablY an underestimate. Naturally the question of leadershie has arisen. Unbelievably the name er William Whitelaw is being bandied about as a successor. Surely this is a sick joke. It is only marginally less ludicrous than to suggest Mr Carr or any other of Mr Heath's discredited team. It serves no purpose to put a new label on a bottle of sour wine. A change.of personality will not suffice. The policies must go as well; particularly the European policy which has divided the Tory party and alienated it from the electorate. At the least the Conservetives must now fall in with the Referee' dam as the only way of resolving thelr difficulty. They must also go back to the presentation of a clear economic alternative in economic affairs and leave socialism to those who believe in it. . As the Socialists are likely to been o. ffice for several years the opportunitY is clearly presented for Conservatives t° cut back the old unsatisfactory growths and start again from the bottom. There is only one figure, undoubtedlY

Tory, not tainted or corrupted i hYt

involvement in the recent past, who it, the same time has the intellect, tee stature and the experience to lead tee Tory Party back on to the right path. It Is not necessary to name him. EverYbetlY knows who he is — everybody that Is, except those shadowy figures loosele

called the Conservative Hierarchy. .

As long however as Conservatrvee allow themselves not to see what Is plain to be seen so long will the flounder from disaster to disaster, ana incidentally make the largest single contribution to the socialisation 01

Britain. K. L. BaileY North Kent Monday Club, Crossings, Bickley Road, Bromley, Kent