For most of my lifetime the Conservative party has won elections because the progressive wing of politics has been split and our system of elections allows minority parties to win (Siân Berry says Labour shift to right could help Greens hold Brighton, 21 July). There has not been a Conservative government which won a majority of votes nationally since 1959.
However, most of these governments were of a moderate, right-of-centre nature, owing to the fact that the extreme right repeatedly failed to take off. Eventually, when this ceased to be the case with the advent of Ukip and its successors, the party was dragged to the right and we have seen increasingly radical and ideological governments – as vividly documented by Andy Beckett (Even Britain’s free market bible has turned on the Tories. Do they have any friends left?, 20 July).
Siân Berry may be right: the Labour party is now being dragged to the right too, following the Tories. Maybe a new era will see Labour challenged by the Greens. As with Ukip, and again under first past the post, the insurgents do not need to win any seats in the Commons to have a disruptive effect. As there seems no prospect of adopting a fairer electoral system, maybe it’s time for the Ukip effect to be applied to Labour. This would require us to stop voting tactically and go all out to maximise the vote on the left.
Jeremy Cushing
Wiveliscombe, Somerset
