In effect I was totally disenfranchised.Shortly after my arrival in New Zealand the politicians here had the courage to move from the blatantly unjust first-past-the-post system to an MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) system in which we have two votes, one for an individual and one for a party. We already have PR in the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly. So why should elections to Westminster be left with an unjust system? The urgent need for reform was demonstrated with Labour winning a majority of seats which such a small percentage of the vote.All parties need to recognise the strong case for reform. The Conservatives traditionally against reform in Westminster should realise that it is in their interest to change the system which has an inherent bias against them.NICOLA DYKESCAMPAIGN CO-ORDINATOR CONSERVATIVE ACTION FOR ELECTORAL REFORM, LONDON SE1 Lessons from New Zealand Sir: From the time I joined the British army in 1960 until I emigrated from Britain to New Zealand in 1985, I voted Liberal in every general election. It also fails to produce a stable correlation between votes and seats.The Conservatives introduced STV in Northern Ireland and it will be used in the local government elections in Scotland.

Our electoral system is weighted against the voter as votes are more valuable in marginal constituencies. However, it may just as well be right-wing Conservatives with UKIP and BNP. Smaller parties would spring up and may be needed to form a government. They may be fair and reasonable or bigoted and extreme: a “Capital Punishment” party must be a possibility.At least at present we vote for a party which has a manifesto that will be implemented if it reaches government. At present, politicians come together to form parties which are in effect coalitions put together before the election because they know it is the only way to get into power.With PR, coalitions would be put together after elections.

The present major parties may well split up and a potential coalition may involve left-wing Labour with Lib Dems and Greens. We would need to be ready for a big change in the process of forming a government. Voters elect MPs from lists drawn up by blank-faced party bureaucrats, making it impossible to hold individual MPs to account: Blaenau Gwent could never have punished Labour in favour of Peter Law under PR. This makes the government as a whole less accountable.JULIET SAMUELFARLEY HILL, BERKSHIRESir: If we were to have proportional representation, then the make up of the government would more accurately represent the number of votes cast.However, it would not just bring the present parties into power. This would also happen on a lesser scale with the Green Party, UKIP and, more ominously, the BNP.In addition, PR breaks the strong constituency-MP link. By investing in more attractive, better connected and more integrated waterfront development, cities like Bristol, Glasgow, London and Newcastle are starting to re-focus around their waterfronts, seeing them as an asset not an obstacle. Consider, for example, the “Paris Plage” and its success.A waterfront is frequently a city’s raison d’?e, but seldom its best loved or cared for feature.

These new and exciting projects to open up waterfronts, attract people into new areas and re-align cities are starting to bear fruit – making places that people want to visit and use, linking existing squares and public spaces back to the waterfront. In architecture and urban design, going back to the roots is often the best way to realise the future.. It’s not only British commentators who are surprised by Tony Blair’s decision not to attend the VE parade in Moscow along with other heads of state; it’s the other heads of state themselves. A British Prime Minister, fresh from a third electoral victory, presumably eager to reassert himself on the world stage as chair of the G8 group of industrialised nations and soon to be president of the European Union – it just doesn’t make sense that he should stay busying himself in Westminster.

Manifesto promises become a joke, because they will have to go through weeks of horse-trading before ever passing into law. Smaller parties such as the Liberal Democrats gain disproportionate power, since they can make a pact to vote for whichever party gives them the most concessions. In order to get any legislation through, parties have to make deals with one another. This either involves scrapping important reforms or amending them out of recognition: for instance, the Liberal Democrats might support ID cards in return for abolishing tuition fees.This takes the real decision-making even farther from the electorate, since important concessions are made by unelected political advisers, until finally a bill’s spine is removed and it is deemed harmless enough to go through. PR leads to an even greater distortion of the electorate’s will than the current system.Under PR, it is nearly unheard of for any party to win an absolute majority. Where, incidentally, everyone else already has an incredibly annoying voice.”"I think Jack Straw has the most incredibly annoying voice,” said the Major.