When Gyles Brandreth almost turned Guildford red

‘Most were very much in favour, until he showed them a photo of the party leader proposing these policies.’ Jeremy Corbyn campaigns as an independent in Archway, north London, in June 2024, before his re-election as MP for Islington North. Photograph: Matthew Chattle/Alamy

The blind polling of American voters (Kamala Harris’s economic policy slate more popular than Trump’s – poll, 30 September) reminded me of Gyles Brandreth’s excursion to Guildford in 2019 for The One Show on BBC One. He asked people in the town what they thought of a whole raft of policies, from scrapping university fees and restoring grants to having a 50% top tax rate, and most were very much in favour, until he showed them a photo of the party leader proposing these policies. This was, of course, one Jeremy Corbyn, and so they voted Tory. Another fine mess…
Deirdre Burrell
Mortimer, Berkshire

• No fewer than eight Zs in the quick crossword (26 September): zeppelin, zephyr, zodiac and zeal at the top, with Suez, ersatz, Chavez and Alcatraz at the bottom. Simply overzealousness by your present compiler, or is it a new Gen Z one?
Adrian Brodkin
London