Sir, – Despite being a regular reader of The Irish Times I've somehow missed the "pro-Labour and SNP articles" described by Derek M Reid (May 12th). In fact, Mark Hennessy's coverage of the election for your newspaper has been consistently balanced and perceptive, far more so than the coverage by the majority of the British press.
The “silent majority” which has delivered an overall Conservative majority, albeit a slim one, amounts to 37 per cent of the electorate. So much for fairness. – Yours, etc,
BILL REDMOND,
Edinburgh.
Sir, – The result of the UK general election has resulted in a chorus of disapproval from left-leaning commentators and publications about the injustice of the first past the post voting system and the democratic legitimacy of Mr Cameron’s victory with a 37 per cent vote share (11 million votes).
First, it should be recalled that a proposal to abolish the first past the post system and replace it with a form of proportional representation was put to the British electorate in a referendum in 2011 and was overwhelmingly rejected, with 68 per cent voting against it.
Second, it should also be recalled that the Labour Party under Tony Blair won the 2005 general election with just 35 per cent of the vote and two million fewer votes than Mr Cameron received last week. Funnily enough, there was no rush to question the legitimacy of that result.
It seems that those raising this issue are not unhappy with the electoral system, but with the democratic decision made by the British people. – Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH,
Dublin 3.