Why Conservative party dominance isn’t such a mystery | Letters

Readers respond to an article by John Harris on why the Tories are riding high

John Harris’s excellent article (The Conservatives are now the party of England. Changing that will be hard, 14 March) unfortunately mapped out our political future for the coming years. The Conservative party is dominant because since winning the 2010 general election, it has faced no real credible opposition. You only have to look at the inept politicians who have served in the cabinet over the past 10 years, Chris Grayling chief among them, and still Labour couldn’t convince the public to vote for it.

Infighting in the Labour party has played into the Tories’ hands. And, backed up by their rightwing media friends and benefactors, they have brilliantly delivered their message to their core voters, while at the same time gathering up disenfranchised Labour voters with untruths based on the benefits of Brexit.
Stuart Carruthers
Lewes, East Sussex

• There is no mystery about why the Tories are still riding high, despite all their failures. In the Bernwood ward of Buckinghamshire council, where the Conservatives are said to have held power for over a century, three Tories are opposed by three Labour, three Green and three Liberal Democrat candidates. Until the anti-Tory forces in England, can collaborate – perhaps by each standing in one-third of areas – the Tories will always win.
Roderick Floud
Haddenham, Buckinghamshire

• Please, John Harris, spread the word that Conservative dominance is inevitable without electoral reform.
Kate Allen
Guisborough, North Yorkshire

Letters

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Divided over Corbyn’s decision to sack Owen Smith | Letters
Letters: Hazel Davies thinks plotters on the right of Labour would rather see the party lose seats than work under Corbyn, Dick Leonard is shocked by his decision and Michael Woodgate checks the small print

Letters

26, Mar, 2018 @5:12 PM

Article image
Stop Jeremy Corbyn’s mistrial by media over antisemitism | Letters
Letters: More than forty senior academics write to condemn what they see as an anti-Corbyn bias in media coverage of the antisemitism debate

Letters

02, Apr, 2018 @5:05 PM

Article image
Local election verdicts: too much negative spin? | Letters
Letters: Reactions to the polls in England include Denis MacShane on Westminster and Dr Ian Saville on canvassing Jewish voters in Barnet; plus Plymouth, South Cambridgeshire, and Ukip’s fall

Letters

06, May, 2018 @5:21 PM

Article image
Brexit’s impact on local elections | Letters
Letters: Colin Montgomery wants ministers to admit that the effects of Brexit will be felt for years. Les Bright says negotiating teams should clear their diaries and make a compromise

Letters

03, May, 2019 @3:55 PM

Article image
Local elections and how to maximise the power of the progressive vote | Letters
Letters: David Nowell on the problems of leftwing alliances, William Bartram on the need for Labour to work with the Lib Dems and Greens, and Charlie Owen on Labour’s vote share under Jeremy Corbyn

Letters

04, May, 2022 @4:41 PM

Article image
Frustration and anger at Labour’s election disaster | Letters
Letters: Readers respond to the party’s poor performance in the Hartlepool byelection and council polls

Letters

09, May, 2021 @3:47 PM

Article image
Local elections and what the results might herald | Letters
Letters: Former Tory MP Keith Raffan on why he’s voting Labour; ex Green party leader Natalie Bennett on the vital importance of effective local government; plus letters from Roy Boffy and Dudley Miles

Letters

02, May, 2018 @4:44 PM

Article image
Brexit lessons for Labour to learn from the local election results | Letters
Letters: Readers interpret last Thursday’s votes and what they mean for Labour’s stance on leaving the European Union

Letters

05, May, 2019 @4:33 PM

Article image
In Hartlepool, the majority was silent | Brief letters
Brief letters: Local elections 2021 | British values | Cooling towers | Giant wood moths

Letters

07, May, 2021 @3:37 PM

Article image
Lib Dems are the true pro-EU party | Letters
Letters: Leading Lib Dems Vince Cable, Tom Brake, Ed Davey and Caroline Pidgeon set out their anti-Brexit stall

Letters

05, Mar, 2018 @6:06 PM